Antoine Griezmann announced his international retirement at the start of the week ten years after his first selection. A shock and an unexpected announcement. The player had already considered such a decision several years ago.
It’s an announcement that surprised the world of football at the start of the week, and even more so the followers of the Blues. After ten years of good and loyal service, Antoine Griezmann announced in a video published on his social networks that he was putting an end to his adventure with the French team. 137 caps, 44 goals, 28 assists. Here is the assessment of the Atlético player in the tricolor jersey. A sudden departure, he who was still dreaming a few months ago of playing in the 2026 World Cup in America. If the fact that he did not inherit the captain’s armband after the departure of Hugo Lloris was one of the arguments most cited in recent days to justify the end of the international career of the player, Griezmann, from his side, had already had this decision in mind for several years but had finally decided to continue.
Griezmann wanted to stop playing for France in 2019
As announced by the Téléfoot show on TF1, Antoine Griezmann had already considered calling time on the French team in 2019, just a few months after the Blues’ coronation at the World Cup in Russia, a tournament during which the attacking midfielder had a leading role. At the time, Didier Deschamps traveled to Madrid to meet one of his executives and was able to find the right words to convince “Grizou” to continue the adventure with France. Now, and ten years after having made his debut with the national team already under Deschamps, the player preferred to say stop, surely worn out physically and mentally from the efforts made over a decade to be one of the sure values of the France group. The Blues’ next two matches, against Israel and Belgium in the Nations League, will allow us to see how the squad will manage life without Antoine Griezmann, who has received nothing but praise since last Monday.
