France head coach Didier Deschamps will miss his team’s final 2026 World Cup group-stage match against Norway after the death of his mother. Multiple outlets report that the French Football Federation confirms Deschamps is returning to France following the news he received on Tuesday morning, with plans to attend his mother’s funeral. As a result, he will not be on the touchline for the game, and the match will be overseen in his absence.
France 24 reports that assistant coach Guy Stephan takes charge for the fixture. Other sources similarly state that Deschamps will not be able to be on the bench and that he leaves the tournament environment to handle family arrangements. The reports also note that France is already through to the knockout stage, and the game is still part of determining positions within Group I. The overall accounts converge on the same circumstances: a family bereavement leads to Deschamps’ absence from the Norway match.
