This title was still missing from his CV. According to L’Equipe, Kylian Mbappé will be the next captain of the France team. The coach, Didier Deschamps, chose him to replace Hugo Lloris, who retired from international football after the World Cup in Qatar. The tricolor football star striker should, unless there is a last minute impediment, wear the captain’s armband on Friday March 24 (8:45 p.m.) during the France – Netherlands match, at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis (Seine- Saint-Denis), the first match of the Blues as part of the qualifications for Euro 2024.
At 24, Mbappé (66 caps, 36 goals) accepted the captaincy after a discussion with his coach on the evening of Monday March 20, details Agence France-Presse, from a source close to the Blues. Deschamps also spoke with Antoine Griezmann, promoted to vice-captain in place of Raphaël Varane, who also retired from international duty after the 2022 World Cup.
Selected for the first time in 2017, 2018 world champion and 2022 vice-world champion, Mbappé had been tipped for several weeks to inherit the armband, after guiding the Blues to their second straight final in Qatar in December.
A voice that carries
The Parisian, technical leader whose voice carries more and more in the locker room, scored a hat-trick against Argentina in the final and succeeded in his shot on goal, without managing to offer a third planetary title to the Tricolores (3-3, 4-2 on penalties).
It has also gained importance in group life by relaunching, in 2022, negotiations on the agreement which defines the relationship (remuneration, image rights, etc.) between the players and the French Football Federation.
On the first day of the rally, Monday March 20, Didier Deschamps had let the suspense hang over the identity of the future captain, assuring in a press conference, at the start of the afternoon, that he intended to “use these first days to discuss with affected players. The discussions were finally held Monday evening at the Clairefontaine training center (Yvelines).
Mbappé replaces Hugo Lloris, holder of the armband for more than ten years, the first time in 2010, after a scathing failure of the Blues at the World Cup and their Knysna strike. After the World Cup in Qatar, Lloris highlighted Mbappé’s nascent “leadership”. In his club, the striker is one of the vice-captains behind the wearer of the armband, the Brazilian Marquinhos. Sunday, during the defeat of PSG against Rennes (2-0), he, for example, was captain in the absence of the latter.
