France were unable to retain their World Cup trophy over the weekend, as they were beaten by Argentina on penalties at Lusail Stadium after the World witnessed one of the greatest World Cup finals in history.
The match ended 3-3 after extra time, with France forcing the game to go the distance after recovering from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in normal time.
Kylian Mbappe has turned the #FIFAWorldCupFinal on its head.
His penalty gave #FRA a lifeline, his second has them believing again.
🎥 @itvfootball#ArgentinaVsFrance | #ARG | #FRA pic.twitter.com/cKoVezw1gY
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 18, 2022
With Hugo Lloris set to turn 36 on Boxing Day, Qatar is likely to be his last World Cup with France and after the final, the goalkeeper dropped a subtle hint to reporters that it may be time for him to hang up his boots with the national team, referencing Kylian Mbappe as the next generation of the side.
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“I believe that this tournament can be used for the future of the France team. It was a bit of a handover from a generation arriving in the last phase of their career to a new generation led by Kylian who showed strong leadership in this tournament and even more so in this final. We must keep this France team at the top.
“I don’t want to answer this question [on retiring from France duty].
“We’ll see in a few weeks.
“We come out exhausted from a tournament like that. We just want to find our own. We don’t have much strength left, we just want to be back with our families.”
It is an unfortunate end to the tournament for Lloris and France as it seems all the more likely that the World Cup final loss will be Lloris’ appearance for Les Blues.