Four years after France lost the World Cup Final 2022 to Argentina, the starting XI from that night have fanned out across Europe, MLS and Saudi Arabia, with Raphaël Varane now in a non-playing board role at Como after a major knee injury on his debut. Hugo Lloris is in Los Angeles, Theo Hernandez has moved to Al Hilal, Dayot Upamecano remains at Bayern Munich and Jules Kounde is still at Barcelona.
That is why the 2022 final keeps turning up in searches today. France were the defending champions in Qatar and took Argentina to a 3-3 draw after extra time before losing on penalties, a match that was supposed to confirm Didier Deschamps’ side as the standard-bearers of the era. Instead, the conversation has shifted to where those players are now, and whether the group that came so close has since moved on cleanly from that night.
Lloris is the most visible change. He was Spurs’ undisputed first-choice goalkeeper under Antonio Conte in 2022, had started 90 consecutive Premier League games by August of that year, captained both Spurs and France, and became the most-capped French player in history while reaching 20 World Cup matches played by a Frenchman. He now plays for Los Angeles FC in MLS, a late-career move that underlines how far the old France spine has spread.
Others have remained closer to the places they knew during the tournament. Upamecano started five of France’s seven games in Qatar and still anchors Bayern Munich, where he signed in July 2021 and is tied down until June 2030. His deal includes a delayed £60-70 million release clause that is due to become active in summer 2027, keeping him central to Bayern’s long-term plans for now. Kounde, meanwhile, was pushed to right back after France’s opening game and overhauled Benjamin Pavard for the spot, playing six matches and starting five. He has stayed at Barcelona after joining from Sevilla for an initial £43 million fee in 2022 and signing a five-year extension in 2025 that is set to keep him there until 2030.
The sharper break in the group belongs to Varane. He played 521 minutes in Qatar, retired from international football after the final defeat and later left Manchester United for Como. His move was meant to mark the next stage of his club career, but a major knee injury on his debut changed that immediately. He now continues at Como in a non-playing board role, an abrupt turn for a defender who was once central to France’s most important matches.
Hernandez’s path has also shifted. He got the nod after Lucas Hernandez suffered an ACL tear in France’s opening fixture and has since completed a permanent move from AC Milan to Al Hilal in the summer of 2025 for about £21 million. He agreed a three-year contract and his current terms run to the end of the 2027/28 season, which means the left back who stepped in during Qatar is now part of Saudi football’s wider pull on Europe’s established names.
For Deschamps, the 2022 final remains part of the same unfinished emotional ledger as the titles France won before it. He has said what happened in 1998 and 2018 will always stay with him, but that nothing can change the past. The bigger story now is how quickly the team that came within a shootout of another crown has been remade, with some players still in elite European football, some in new leagues and one already pushed into a different job altogether.
