Didier Deschamps reveals timeline for decision over whether to remain France manager

The head coach has taken Les Bleus to two finals but will not rush his choice over whether to remain

Didier Deschamps will decide in January if he will extend his decade-long spell in charge of France.

The 2018 World Cup winner will meet French FA president Noel le Great next month to determine his future and insisted that delaying a reaction was not a consequence of losing the 2022 final to Argentina on penalties.

Le Great said earlier this month that it is up to Deschamps, who also reached the final of Euro 2016, if he stays on.

And the 54-year-old said: “Even if we had won I would not have replied tonight. I am very sad for my players and staff. I will have a meeting with the president at the beginning of next year and then you will find out.”

Deschamps admitted his side were below par at the start of the final, as Argentina assumed a 2-0 lead before a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick took the match to penalties, which Lionel Scaloni’s side won 4-2.

He added: “If you look at the match as a whole, those 70 first minutes we were playing a very aggressive and dynamic opponent and we weren’t up to the same level. Nevertheless, we managed to come back from the dead and made a magnificent comeback from a very difficult situation.

“I went through a lot of different emotions and there are some regrets because we were so close. There are a number of reasons why we weren’t as good as we could have been. We were perhaps lacking a bit of energy.”

He congratulated Mbappe on becoming only the second player, after Geoff Hurst, to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

He said: “It was the World Cup of records tonight. Many players broke records in this World Cup and Kylian has really left his mark but unfortunately not in the way he would have liked and that is why he was so disappointed at the end of the match.”