The France national football team manager was first established on 25 April 1964 following the appointment of the country's first national football team manager Henri Guérin. Before this, the France national football team was selected by a selection committee, a process in which the French Football Federation would select coaches and trainers from within the country or abroad to prepare the side for single games and tournaments, but with all decisions ultimately remaining under the control of the committee. From 1904–1913, the USFSA headed the committee, which was referred to as the Commission Centrale d'Association. The committee was controlled by André Espir and André Billy and featured little to no physical preparation for upcoming matches. In 1913, the Comité Français Interfédéral, a precursor to the French Football Federation, took over the committee following the USFSA becoming affiliated with the organization and secretary general Henri Delaunay took control.

Following the creation of the French Football Federation, the committee was converted into a five-man board and lasted from 1919–1964. Gaston Barreau served as the head of the committee in two different stints; from 1920–1945, then, after four years, returned to select the team from 1949 until his death in 1958. From 1945–1949, Gabriel Hanot headed the committee and, following Barreau's death, Paul Nicolas (1958–1959) and Georges Verriest (1959–1964) controlled the committee until it was officially disbanded in 1964.

Fifteen men have occupied the post since its inception; three of those were in short-term caretaker manager roles: José Arribas and Jean Snella managed the team in dual roles and presided over four matches and former France international Just Fontaine managed the team for two matches in 1967. The longest tenure by a France national team manager is current manager Didier Deschamps, who has managed the team since 8 July 2012. Four managers have won major tournaments while managing the national team. The first was Michel Hidalgo, who managed the team from 1976–1984, which is the second-longest tenure behind Domenech.^[1] Hidalgo won UEFA Euro 1984. In 1998, Aimé Jacquet won the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil and, two years later, Roger Lemerre led the team to glory at UEFA Euro 2000.^[2][3] Lemerre also won the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.^[4] Finally, current manager Didier Deschamps won the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, twenty years after he lifted the trophy as captain. On 8 August 1973, the Romanian Ștefan Kovács became the first foreign manager of the team. During the period of the selection committee, the national team was coached by several British managers. Thomas Griffiths (English) coached the team for a portion of 1924, while Peter Farmer (Scottish) coached the team at the 1928 Summer Olympics.^[5] From 1934–1936, the team was coached by Sid Kimpton. The current manager of the France national team is former international Didier Deschamps who replaced fellow international Laurent Blanc following the UEFA Euro 2012 on 8 July 2012.^[6]