DOHA – France captain Hugo Lloris said the World Cup in Qatar marked a shift towards the team’s new generation led by Kylian Mbappe following Sunday’s final defeat by Argentina.

The Argentinians triumphed 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after the final in Doha ended 3-3 in extra time despite Mbappe’s hat-trick, just the second ever in a World Cup final.

Goalkeeper Lloris, who turns 36 on Dec 26, said that the tournament was “a passing of the baton between one generation coming to the final stage of their careers to a new generation led by Mbappe”.

Lloris, France’s record-holder with 145 caps, added that Mbappe – who turns 24 on Tuesday – “showed strong leadership during the tournament and even more so in this final”.

“It was like a boxing match, we went blow for blow,” said the Frenchman, who hailed his team’s recovery from 2-0 down with just 10 minutes left in regulation time.

“We didn’t give up. We needed a winner and it was decided on penalties. That’s always cruel. We are empty.”

Lloris was beaten by all four Argentinian penalties in the shoot-out, including one from Lionel Messi, who had already scored twice in the game.

“We could have let it slip at 2-0 but we continued to believe that we could turn the game around,” he added.

“We must congratulate Argentina, who played a great tournament and a great final.”

Lloris also refused to be drawn on his international future after his fourth World Cup.

“I need, like everyone, to take a step back, to gain perspective on things,” he said.

“We’ll see in a few weeks. We’re leaving a tournament like this one drained and even more so after what happened tonight.

“We don’t have much strength left, we just want to be back with our families.”

France will be heartbroken but, like Lloris believes, the genius of Mbappe and the depth of talent bode well for the future.

Les Bleus began the World Cup without the injured Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, who announced his retirement from international football on Monday, Christopher Nkunku, N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba and lost Lucas Hernandez in the first game and yet still reached the final.

Following his hat-trick, Mbappe’s tally from two World Cups now stands at 12.

All of his goals came after coach Didier Deschamps sent on Randal Kolo Muani (24), Marcus Thuram (25), Eduardo Camavinga (20), and Kingsley Coman (26).

“Potentially, this France team has an important reservoir of talents,” said Deschamps.

“Before this tournament, we had a lot of players with little experience and they proved that they could play at the highest level.

“There are also others who were not here but all of them will be able to feature in the next tournaments.

“We’ll always need experienced team leaders to groom the young players but the reservoir is big.”

France can probably count on Antoine Griezmann, 31, to link the generations.

“Some players have been in the Euro 2016 final, won the 2018 World Cup, they bring their experience,” added Deschamps.

“But with a good balance, some young players will raise their level just like some did four years ago and some did at this World Cup.”

The 54-year-old coach will also have been pleased with the solid play of midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot, as well as centre-backs Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate.

Deschamps, in charge since 2012, is now out of contract but French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet had said he would be offered new terms if he reached the semi-finals.

Asked whether the final loss would influence a decision on his future, Deschamps said: “Even with a different result I would not have given an answer today.

“I will have a meeting with the president at the start of the new year and you will know after that.”

France must now turn their attentions to qualifying for Euro 2024, which begins in March against the Netherlands.
AFP, REUTERS