By Sedara Philip
The Paris Saint-Germain star man, who has 66 caps and 36 goals for France, is taking over the captaincy from Hugo Lloris who retired from international football after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Deschamps had a discussion with Mbappe and Griezmann on Monday, both of them are candidates for the armband at Clairefontaine, the France team training centre.
The head coach had made his mind up already and announced the news to his squad on Monday evening.Kylian Mbappe will become one of the youngest France captains ever and will follow in the footsteps of Lloris who kept the armband for 14 years from 2008 to 2022. Griezmann (117 caps, 42 goals) will be his vice-captain.
Deschamps said during his news conference on Monday that the main quality in his choice was “legitimacy” and that “the common interest will prevail.” Deschamps summed up that he could feel that Mbappe has stepped up in his leadership since the World Cup.
Mbappe has already worn the armband for Les Bleus once, midway through the game against Denmark in September, and will start his new captaincy era on Friday against the Netherlands at the Stade de France in a qualifying match for the 2024 European Championship.
