Raphael Varane will not be part of France’s 2026 World Cup campaign. The former defender, a key figure in the side for more than a decade, retired completely from professional soccer in September 2024 after a serious knee injury just minutes into his competitive debut for Como.
His absence is being noticed now because France heads into the tournament with enormous expectations and with Kylian Mbappe captaining the side. Antoine Griezmann is not listed among the squad’s active leaders in the way Varane once was, and the gap left by a player with 93 appearances for France is hard to miss when the stakes are this high.
Varane had already stepped away from international soccer in February 2023, shortly after France lost to Argentina in the 2022 World Cup final. He left having won the 2018 World Cup and having spent years as part of the defensive backbone alongside Hugo Lloris, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba. That made his later retirement from club soccer a final break rather than a pause in a career that still appeared capable of extending a little longer.
The sharp turn came in the summer of 2024, when Varane left Manchester United and signed for Como. Reports later confirmed that he shifted into a non-playing role within Como after the injury. The injury itself, suffered almost immediately on debut, removed the possibility of a simple comeback narrative. At 31 years old, the decision to retire completely pointed to the scale of the setback rather than any gradual winding down.
France can lean on depth and form. It finished qualifying with only four goals conceded and wrapped up preparations with a 3-1 friendly win over Northern Ireland. It also enters Group I with Senegal, Iraq and Norway. But Varane’s absence is still part of the broader conversation around a squad built to win now, especially with Didier Deschamps due to leave after the tournament. France will move forward without one of the defenders who helped define its modern standard, and that loss will be felt most when the matches tighten.
