• ‘Image and unity’ of game affected, FFF president says

• It will consult sacked former Fifa official Kevin Lamour

The French Football Federation’s president, Philippe Diallo, said Gianni Infantino had “seriously damaged the image and the unity of football” as he announced the end of France’s support for the Fifa president’s re-election.

The FFF’s executive committee unanimously voted on Thursday to withdraw its backing, which had been formalised at the end of June. Diallo referred to “events during the World Cup” which had “flagrantly gone against the way we believe our sport should be run” and to Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan, which was revealed in July and scrapped after a widespread backlash.

Paris Saint-Germain have drawn both of their league games so far and Monaco pose a tricky task on Friday

“It’s like we’re at school,” Luis Enrique quipped as he entered the press conference room, hearing the journalists respond in unison to his hearty bonjour.

His remark was fitting on the eve of Paris Saint-Germain’s first home match of the season, which lines up nicely with France’s rentrée, the term for the nationwide return to school and the office at the start of September. Although the new campaign is in full swing by now, the team have had to wait several weeks before making their return to the Parc des Princes, where they welcome second place Monaco on Friday night.

• Four-year deal agreed with successor to Deschamps

• ‘I have so many emotions, I am ready for the challenge’

For Tuesday’s front page, L’Équipe simply went with “Il revient” – “He’s back” – echoing the newspaper’s 2005 headline when Zinedine Zidane came out of international retirement. At the time, the midfielder’s upcoming return was seen as a major boost to Les Bleus’ ailing World Cup qualifying campaign. There was a similar sense of anticipation now as the roads around the French Football Federation headquarters in Paris were closed off for Zidane’s unveiling as head coach. A crowd of France fans had gathered outside by the overground Métro tracks with flags, flares and drums, as more than a hundred journalists and TV cameras were ushered into the building.

The fact that Zidane would be next in line to lead France after Didier Deschamps had been an open secret for several years and by the end of the World Cup his arrival was all but confirmed. The new head coach entered the press conference room on Tuesday morning only minutes after his appointment was confirmed by the FFF’s executive committee, but the feeling in France was that the occasion was a couple of decades in the making.

With the head coach having released the handbrake, his side were far superior compared with four years ago in Qatar against the same opponents

The scorelines may have been exactly the same, but the stylistic gulf in France’s two World Cup knockout performances against Morocco could not have been greater.

In the space of just a single tournament cycle, Didier Deschamps has embraced a vastly different style, one based on a freeform attacking line. As a one-two punch from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé sent the team into this year’s semi-finals, the 57-year-old’s tactical reinvention was once again vindicated.

Sí, se puede – yes, we can – was the chant that rang out from the 55,000 Ecuador fans as their team’s final group match kicked off. Despite a flat start to their World Cup campaign, there was a genuine belief that an upset against a full-strength Germany was possible. They had no other choice: having been shut out by Eloy Room’s heroics for Curaçao, Sebastián Beccacece’s side had to win to progress.

This time, a stirring performance earned La Tri a famous victory against an error-prone Mannschaft. Gonzalo Plata’s 77th-minute strike sparked wild and emotional celebrations, assuring their place in the last 32 as one of the eight best third-placed team.

Platini among former players to accuse captain of creating distraction as Deschamps defends captain’s right to speak

“If there’s one wish I have, it’s for you to ask my players about the opponents, about football,” Didier Deschamps told journalists after announcing France’s World Cup squad. “I understand that you might feel obliged to ask other questions, but they’re not there to answer them.”

Deschamps has found himself batting away questions about off-pitch matters beyond his scope before his final tournament as head coach. He has sought to protect his players from media scrutiny while insisting they are anything but sheltered from the wider political issues surrounding this tournament.

It was a season to remember for Vitinha, Pierre Sage and Florian Thauvin but one to forget for Paul Pogba and Nice

By Get French Football News

“I like feeling the match go through me,” said Vitinha at the end of December. It’s an apt way for the 26-year-old to interpret his role at PSG, given that everything the team produces on the pitch involves him in some way or another.

Pierre Sage has done a great job at Lens and the Coupe de France final next Friday offers them another shot at glory

By Get French Football News

By the time Paris Saint-Germain finally travelled to Lens on Wednesday evening, they had all but wrapped up their fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title. Their six-point advantage, bolstered by a clear lead in goal difference, was already insurmountable with two matches remaining.

The match at the Stade Bollaert was billed as a top-of-the-table clash but the decision to push it back until the midweek before the final day of the campaign had devalued the occasion. Had the match been played when it was initially scheduled, at the start of April, a win for the hosts could have closed the gap to just one point with five matches remaining.

PSG’s win against Nantes gives them a four-point lead on Lens, but now have a gruelling schedule to play through

By Get French Football News

“The title is still in play. Lens aren’t giving up,” warned Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos after his team’s comfortable 3-0 win over Nantes on Wednesday night. Nantes put up a fight early in the match, and even had what would have been an equalising goal ruled out for offside, but they eventually caved to defeat at the Parc des Princes.

With five rounds of games to play, PSG have a four-point lead over Lens, who they meet in the penultimate fixture of the campaign. “This is a tough league but we haven’t had a challenger like this in other years,” added the Brazilian defender. “Lens are really having a great season. It’s good for us. It keeps us working hard and focused until the end of the season. We don’t have time to dwell. We’ll be playing every three days.”

Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki, Désiré Doué, Hugo Ekitike and Marcus Thuram all played their parts in wins against Brazil and Colombia at the weekend

By Get French Football News

“It feels strange to be speaking as though I’m one of the old guys, even though I’m not,” Kylian Mbappé said while on France duty this week. As he wraps up his third year as captain and closes in on a century of appearances, the 27-year-old forward seems to have finally grown comfortable in his position as the team’s leader.

“Nowadays, I fully realise the role the coach and my teammates are expecting me to have,” Mbappé said. “I was the star of the team in 2022 and in that position everyone concentrates on you and wants to look after you. Now, it’s the opposite. I’m the one who has to look after the others. Some of them were still kids when I was turning professional.”

Fabien Galthié hopes ballet excursion helps side put Scotland loss behind them for Saturday’s Six Nations finale

A night at the opera may not be to every Frenchman’s taste these days, but for Fabien Galthié the outing will have been an integral part of his team’s Six Nations finale preparations.

Two evenings out from their clash against England, Les Bleus were set to leave their training camp to watch rehearsals for a performance of the ballet Romeo and Juliet at the Opéra Garnier in central Paris. “It’s important for us to take a step back,” the head coach explained. “We’re going to be meeting the lead dancers, watching them at work, speaking to them, and experiencing that legendary venue.”

Club’s former owner leads the polls in spiky mayoral race but is accused of putting forward ‘nothing of substance’

Karim Benzema doesn’t often involve himself in French politics. At the end of January, though, the striker gave a glowing endorsement of Jean-Michel Aulas, the former Lyon president who is leading the city’s mayoral race.

“He has everything it takes to do well,” Benzema said in a video played on the news channel LCI as Aulas was being interviewed. “He’s someone who people listen to, he knows where he wants to go and he has a lot of experience,” the former Real Madrid player added. The Lyon-born striker was later joined by Bafétimbi Gomis in showing support for their former boss.

• France 33-8 Italy

• Wing scores in eighth consecutive match

France pulled clear at the top of the table and kept their grand slam ambitions on track with a hard-fought win against Italy on Sunday.

The Azzurri had unfinished business in Lille. It was two years ago in the northern city that Les Bleus, still in the midst of a post-World Cup hangover, escaped with a draw after being outplayed by the visitors.

Paris FC put up a good fight at the Parc des Princes on Sunday but this derby does not yet feel like a rivalry

By Get French Football News

The first of two Paris derbies in the space of eight days gave Paris Saint-Germain a chance to make a statement against their upstart neighbours. The tifo display in the Parc des Princes – which read “Paris c’est nous” – could be read as both a nod to the clubs’ shared history and a reminder of the one-sided nature of the derby.

For a few years, they were the same club. Paris Saint-Germain are the result of a merger between Stade Saint-Germain and Paris FC in 1970, which the latter split from a few years later. PSG were soon winning trophies but Paris FC went through decades of obscurity before emerging as Ligue 2 regulars in the years before they were taken over by the Arnault family and Red Bull.

Former defender on his challenge as sporting director at Ligue 1 club and using Arsène Wenger as an inspiration

Returning to Brittany was the obvious choice for Laurent Koscielny. Having left Lorient for Arsenal in 2010, the former defender is back at the Ligue 1 side as the sporting director.

“My wife and I were keen to come back, it’s a beautiful region, and the people are welcoming and kind,” the Frenchman says of the seaside town, known for its annual Celtic music festival and military naval base.