Let us agree from this first line: the French team lost one of its monuments this Monday. With his international retirement, Antoine Griezmann shocked everyone and the void he will leave will be hard to fill at first. Then like all the legends of the Blues, he will be replaced. Because yes, the Atlético de Madrid striker will remain a legend of the France team and that will never be called into question. While he wanted to play his fourth World Cup in two years on the American continent as he confided last September, Grizou decided to bow out after ten years with the Blues during which he compiled 137 caps, 44 goals and 30 assists. A record sufficient to be considered one of the three best players in the history of the France team? Nothing is less certain…
Yes, Antoine Griezmann is alongside Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini
First of all, let’s take the side of 90% of public opinion this Monday by convincing ourselves that Antoine Griezmann is indeed one of the three legends in the history of the France team. Although the status of Zinedine Zidane, face of France’s first World Cup, and Michel Platini, hero of the first trophy in the history of the EDF, will never be called into question, it is now necessary to know if the native from Mâcon completes this podium. It is clear that Griezmann has an accounting record which allows him to seriously claim it. Best passer in the history of the selection and fourth top scorer for the latter, the 33-year-old also holds the record for the number of matches played with 84 between August 2017 and November 2023. Basic man of Didier Deschamps, the only coach that he will have known over this period, Antoine Griezmann will have been dominant during several competitions during his 10 years of life at the Château de Clairefontaine.
A player with a high football IQ, he entered the hearts of the French at Euro 2016. Top scorer and best player of the tournament, he nevertheless failed in the final against Portugal, the other country he could have represented. After the tears, which marked the French during his first major tournament, the 2014 World Cup, Griezmann found the ultimate enjoyment with the Blues in 2018. Excellent during the World Cup in Russia, the number 7 of the Blues will have been key to his team’s success in the competition. The hub of France, he also had a more than honorable record during the tournament with four goals and two assists. In addition to these two high-flying tournaments, Antoine Griezmann will still have had a string of great performances with the Blues for a long period. Even when things were not going well with Barça, the big crash of his career, Griezmann had managed to maintain a more than enviable level under the orders of Didier Deschamps. During the 2022 World Cup, he found the resources to produce a high-flying tournament after his Euro 2021 of abysmal mediocrity.
Beyond simple sporting performances, there is also the Griezmann symbol. Handsome and less divisive than some of his more talented predecessors like Franck Ribéry, Karim Benzema and even Samir Nasri, the left-hander was one of those who reconciled the French people with the Blues. Coming out of the chaos of Knysna and a moribund selection at Euro 2012, he was the baby face of the French response and the rise of the selection from the sporting lowlands to the Grail of 2018. Surely arriving at the right time in the right place, he will have been able to estimate the importance that the French team had in a career to build his legend on it. Symbol of longevity and keystone of one of the most victorious French teams in history, he demonstrated that he could make his team win single-handedly in several matches that remained in legend such as his semi-final in Euro 2016 against Germany.
No, Antoine Griezmann is not the third legend of the French team
On the other side, there is the name “Griezmann” which means a lot. Although this has now become an “unpopular opinion” as young people would say, it is entirely possible to think that Antoine Griezmann is not in the top 3 of the greatest players in the history of the France team. . While his career is largely built on his prowess with the French team, this would represent a terrible affront for him who has experienced several disappointments at club despite a legendary status with Atlético de Madrid. Sportingly, Antoine Griezmann’s record with France is brilliant, but the advent of Kylian Mbappé as the Blues’ number 1 asset will have slowly led to his downfall. Although their cohabitation took its toll in 2018, Antoine Griezmann ultimately had to endure a logical downgrade against someone more decisive and talented than him. Third wheel of the carriage during Euro 2021 and the 2021 Nations League with the unforgettable and fantastic return of Karim Benzema at the helm, Griezmann seemed to drag out his spleen during this period. However, their understanding on the field has sometimes been promising, like a meeting against Finland in Lyon, where the two men delivered a recital. And even when the 2022 Ballon d’Or was no longer there for the World Cup in Qatar, Griezmann never regained his former glory afterwards. And did not support him publicly following his injury, where Benzema has often supported the number 7 in the past.
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Author of a high-level 2022 World Cup, he will have produced a catastrophic final. Following this final, Griezmann continued his worrying drought of 16 matches without scoring from November 2021 to March 2023. It was also during this period that he saw Didier Deschamps give the captain’s armband to Kylian Mbappé, a downgrade which sounded the death knell for the good performances of the player trained at Real Sociedad in Blue. Just like the Bondynois, the former FC Barcelona player will have completely missed out on his Euro 2024 where he will have been bad in a role as a relay midfielder that is necessarily new for him. Therefore, despite this great career with the France team, Antoine Griezmann is not one of the three greatest players in the history of the France team. While he will certainly surpass him in the coming years, Kylian Mbappé can legitimately think that he is ahead of him, in the same way as Thierry Henry who is surely ahead of both in the hierarchy. Winner of the 1998 World Cup, the former Arsenal idol is also the holder of Euro 2000, something that her two successors do not have, and was for a long time the record holder for goals and assists with the tricolor selection.
Taken by the French public after the hand scandal against Ireland in 2009, Thierry Henry certainly pays for his more divisive personality in this debate compared to the much smoother personality of Griezmann. Despite several welcome societal positions, Antoine Griezmann has never been as great a vector of unity as Zinedine Zidane was in his time or even Karim Benzema on his return to the selection. We can also incorporate Olivier Giroud into this debate. Impeccable in his state of mind and having fought his way against all odds, the 38-year-old striker has the same record as Griezmann and can boast of being the top scorer in the history of the selection. From there to being considered a greater legend of the France team than his former partner? The debate is allowed… Therefore, it is important to bring back the culture of the moment around the international retirement of Antoine Griezmann. Certainly present in the top 5 of the greatest legends of the Blues, his place at the table of Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane is far from assured. While he claimed that he had his seat in that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, this is surely a new disillusionment for the 33-year-old player. Having a particular appetite for storytelling, like his report inspired by LeBron James’ “The Decision” to join Barça, a return to Blue cannot be ruled out. He will then have the opportunity to prove that he is the third face in the history of the French team while the mirror is still foggy alongside Zizou and Platoche…
