Deschamps is one of only three people to win the World Cup as a player and manager – alongside Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and West Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer.
His longevity as manager is also rare in the current era – having led the national team for 14 years.
He won 20 of his 26 World Cup games as France boss, only losing three times – including this defeat by Spain in Texas.
As a player or manager he was involved in over half of the games France have ever won at World Cups – and the only two times they have lifted the trophy.
Only three teams before now have reached the quarter-finals at least in four successive tournaments.
They lost to Argentina on penalties in the 2022 final, coming desperately close to being only the third team to retain the World Cup.
More might have been expected from this side with joint tournament top scorer Kylian Mbappe, plus Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and rising star Michael Olise of Bayern Munich, in front of an established defence and midfield.
“There was extra motivation for all the players at this World Cup to give Didier the ending he wanted, and deserved,” said former France striker and BBC pundit Olivier Giroud.
“He deserved to exit by the big door. He did not quite manage that but he is still a great, for what he has already done in his 14 years.
“His record does the talking for him.”
Giroud, who won the 2018 World Cup under Deschamps, added: “I think he is like a second father for some players, like a second dad.
“For me it was not quite like that, but he gave me so many times his confidence, and I tried to repay him on the pitch.
“This makes us very close and because we won that World Cup, we are linked forever.
“I always call him coach.
“When you are in the national team, you don’t have much time to work on tactics and each manager has their philosophy.
“For Didier, his was more like ‘you are big players, I leave you some freedom on the pitch’. He gave some instructions too of course, to keep the balance, so you always knew where each player would be.
“The biggest thing he taught us was his desire, and his drive and ambition to be the absolute best and to win every single game. His competitive mindset was so clear.”
