A doubt to play in the World Cup following an injury against Chelsea, Manchester United’s Raphaël Varane returned in time for the competition, and was key to helping France reach the final.
He was unable to get them over the finish line, as Didier Deschamps’ men ultimately lost to Argentina on penalties, but he can be proud of what he achieved, already lifting the trophy in 2018.
It appears all those emotions, and the fact he still plays at the highest level with Manchester United, were enough, as the defender is about to call it a day with the national team.
This comes courtesy of Le Parisien, who published an article on Thursday morning claiming the centre-back ‘will end his international career’.
He will be the third player to do so after the loss against Argentina, following in the footsteps of Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda.
They explain the Manchester United star ‘has been wondering, for several weeks now, about the future of his adventure with Les Bleus’.
In fact, ‘in recent days’, he was ‘still weighing the pros and cons’, but the idea of ‘stopping predominates’ everything.
Therefore, the game against Argentina, where he came off in the 113th minute ‘will most likely remain his last’, which a surprising choice considering he isn’t even 30.
However, the player ‘is starting to experience some form of physical and psychological wear and tear’ and he also ‘aspires to devote more time to his family’.
It’s pointed out that the ‘cruel disappointment’ of that loss against Argentina ‘certainly contributed to nourishing his reflection’.
While the chance of winning the 2024 Euros might have been an exciting challenge for him, he has also been ‘able to convince him of the quality of the ability of the next generation’ of French defenders, with the likes of Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté and even Axel Disasi, ready to take over.
Therefore, it’s a surprising but understandable choice for the Manchester United defender.
