It hurts. It hurt yesterday, it hurts today, and it will hurt tomorrow too. But as Didier Deschamps said the French were left without the title of the best team on the planet in a cruel way, but that does not mean that an era ends, as is often the case with national teams when they do not reach the projected goal.On the contrary.It seems that Les Bleus will soon get up, shake off the dust from their knees and continue walking, because in the last quarter of a century they represent one of the most influential selections on the globe. Names aside. Although some will probably end their playing under the national flag after the World Cup in Qatar.It is not yet official, however, everything indicates that the spectacular final with Argentina could be a farewell for three footballers present in Doha and one who did not travel to the tournament. Which again does not mean any break in the chain, change of generations or the like, no matter how much the veterans are credited for their previous successes. The public in France is convinced that the first winter World Cup was a swan song for the two goalkeepers, captain Hugo Lloris and his first alternative Steve Mandanda.He’ll be backThe goalkeeper of Tottenham broke the record of Lillian Thuram at the World Cup, becoming the Frenchman with the most caps for the national team (145), however, he is 35 years old and the big question is whether he will continue. We will hardly see him in the summer of 2026 in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico, and it is uncertain whether he will be there already in March, when Les Bleus open the qualification cycle for the 2024 European Championship in Germany with a match against the Netherlands.Mandanda will certainly not be on the list then, who was invited to the World Cup anyway when it became clear that Mike Maignan would not make it in time to recover from his injury. The goalkeeper of Rennes is two years older than Lloris and it is not logical for him to continue his national team career, especially before the impression was created in the public that the first team member of AC Milan should be a worthy replacement for the first two, that now it is his turn to stand between the posts.##NAJAVA_MECA_6893239##It is similar at the other end of the pitch. Olivier Giroud left the stage, somewhat sadly, but such is the life of athletes sometimes. He was replaced at the end of the first half of the final with Argentina and that, in all probability, is the end for him in the national team. The reason is his birth certificate, which shows that Giroud is 36 years old and it is not logical to build a foundation for the following competitions on him, regardless of the fact that, like Lloris, he became the record holder in Qatar, in his case for the number of goals for the national team (53). And let’s not forget the biggest name among the veterans – Karim Benzema, who is also expected to soon say farewell to the national team.Younger players such as Christopher Nkuku, Randal Kolo Muani, Marcus Thuram are already coming, and there are already Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Kingsley Coman, albeit more wingers than centre-forwards. Among those who did not travel to Qatar, the candidates could be Wissam Ben Yedder, Moussa Diaby…It looks like that’s it: Karim Benzema done with the national team
