Three months on from their agonising defeat in the World Cup final in Doha, France begin a new era with several veterans having retired and Kylian Mbappe handed the captain's armband for their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé (24) has been announced as the new captain of the France national team, whilst Antoine Griezmann (32) has been named as vice-captain.
Didier Deschamps named his new captain in an interview with TF1 journalist Saber Desfarges. The manager said, “Kylian Mbappé is the new France captain. Antoine Griezmann is the vice-captain. Kylian ticks all the boxes to have this responsibility. On the pitch as well as within the squad, by being a key element.”
The announcement ends weeks of speculation. The position has been vacant since Hugo Lloris’ retirement from international football earlier this year. The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, and France’s most capped player of all time, hung up his gloves for Les Bleus following France’s World Cup final defeat against Argentina. He recently backed Mbappé to succeed him as the captain of the French team.
As exclusively reported by Get French Football News in February, Mbappé has always been in pole position to receive the armband. His main competitor was Griezmann, and following reports last night that Mbappé was set to receive the armband, Le Parisien and L’Équipe reported that the Atletico Madrid forward was potentially considering retiring from international football.
However, Griezmann has now been nominated vice-captain by Deschamps. The decision was initially expected to arrive on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s European qualifier against the Netherlands, but the issue has now been put to bed. At just 24 years of age, Kylian Mbappé is the new France captain.
