Raphael Varane, a defender for France, is retiring from international football. He has been with Les Bleus for ten years, winning the World Cup in 2018 and finishing second four years later.
The 29-year-old, who made his debut for Didier Deschamps’ team in 2013, has 93 caps to his name. He also helped his team win the UEFA Nations League in the 2020-21 season.
“Representing our beautiful country for a decade has been one of the greatest honours of my life,” Varane said in a statement. “Every time I wore that special blue jersey I felt an immense sense of pride, the duty to give everything, to play with my heart and to win every time we took the field. I’ve been thinking about it for several months and I decided that it was the right time for me to retire from international football.”
The Manchester United defender assisted France in reaching their second consecutive World Cup final, which they lost to Argentina on penalties in last year in Qatar.
Varane’s decision comes just a few weeks after Hugo Lloris, the captain and World Cup-winning goalkeeper for France, announced that he will no longer play international football at the age of 36.
In addition, the defender stated that the time had come for a “talented group of young players” to assume the role.
“Raphael called me a few days ago to explain that he wanted to end his international career. He’s an intelligent boy who knows how to take the time to think about it and weigh up the pros and cons before deciding,” France coach Deschamps said.
“Raphael believes he has reached the end of his adventure with the French team. I’ve been in a similar situation to him, I understand his arguments and respect his decision.
