Lloris and Varane to play at 2024 Olympic Games with France

Hugo Lloris (36) and Raphaël Varane (30) would be open to playing at the Olympic tournament with France for the 2024 Paris Games, according to a report from L’Équipe. Despite having announced their international retirements in the aftermath of the 2022 World Cup, the Tottenham keeper and the Manchester United centre-back are said to be considering donning the blue jersey one more time for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Olympic rules state that anyone under the age of 23 can play in the tournament but that, additionally, each nation can then call up up to three players aged 23 or above

PSG’s free-scoring forward and France skipper Kylian Mbappé (24) has been the most vocal player about his dream to play the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. But there’s a catch – the summer games are not part of the FIFA calendar and are scheduled between the Germany-hosted Euro 2024 and the start of the 2024-2025 season. For the 2021 Tokyo Games, France badly struggled to string together a squad for the tournament, with most clubs refusing to allow their players to leave for Japan during pre-season. However, Mbappé would be a free agent in 2024 and he might include a clause in his next contract with his future club to allow him to play the Olympic Games. French FA president Philippe Diallo has said he wants the PSG striker to play the Olympics.

Should Mbappé were to play the 2024 Olympic football tournament, Under-21 France boss Sylvain Ripoll would pick up two other overage players. According to L’Équipe, Lloris wants to be part of it and will make himself available should France be in need of a goalkeeper whilst Varane is seen as “a credible option.” It remains to be seen whether their respective clubs would allow them to partake in their home Olympics one year from now.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval