With more than 450 international caps between them, Hugo Lloris, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Raphaël Varane have provided the backbone of coach Didier Deschamps’ French squads for the past decade. The four veterans take on Leo Messi’s Argentina on Sunday, hoping to lead Les Bleus to consecutive World Cup titles.
A keeper, a defender, a midfielder and a striker: the quartet of players that has carried France to the World Cup final in Qatar is quite unlike the famous “Magic Square” led by Michel Platini in the 1980s. It is more like a robust spinal cord, the backbone of a team that bends but somehow never breaks.
