Longtime France manager Didier Deschamps is flying back to Boston on Saturday to rejoin his team after missing Friday’s 4-1 defeat of Norway to attend his mother’s funeral back in France.

“I have big thoughts for Didier. We are happy that he comes back,” France assistant Guy Stephan said after overseeing the win that clinched Group I with a perfect nine-point group showing. “He will be with us tomorrow at training. Our duo will be reunited and we will get ready for the big games coming up.”

Deschamps will have a few days to acclimate before France takes on a to-be-determined third-place finisher in their round of 32 match June 30 in East Rutherford, N.J.

France, who are the betting favorites to win the World Cup at +400 according to DraftKings, finished group play at a World Cup with a 3-0-0 record for the first time since 1998, scoring 10 goals and allowing two.

Deschamps, 57, has coached France’s national team since 2012. He led Les Bleus to the 2018 World Cup championship and a penalty-kick loss to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final. He was France’s captain when they won the 1998 World Cup on home soil, finishing with a then-record 103 international caps for France when he retired from international play in 2000.

–Field Level Media