The Frenchman retires after making 137 appearances for Les Blues and scoring 57 goals for them, representing them at seven major International tournaments.
Oliver Giroud retires after 13 successful years with Les Blues. (Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
New Delhi: Former AC Milan and Arsenal striker Oliver Giroud has announced his retirement from International football following France’s semi-final exit at the recently concluded UEFA Euro 2024. Giroud was a part of the French squad in Germany, where he would make four appearances from the bench playing only 56 minutes at the tournament.
The now 37-year-old striker made his national team debut for Les Blues back in 2011 following an electric season with Montpellier in Ligue 1. A late bloomer for the national team, Giroud never represented his country at any youth level despite being called up to a U-16 training camp in 2001. He would make his senior debut directly at the age of 25 in November of 2011, coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 win over USA.
Shortly after his International debut, he’d score his first goal for the national side in a 2-1 friendly victory over Germany in February 2012 and the rest, as they say, is history. The former Chelsea striker went on to become one of the best French strikers of his generation, winning multiple trophies both at club and international level.
He would make a total of 137 appearances for Les Blues, finishing his international career as the country’s third-most-capped player behind only Lillian Thuram and Hugo Lloris.
High Points with Les Blues
Olivier Giroud was an integral member of France’s World Cup-winning squad. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
Giroud has had an illustrious career with the French national team throughout his 13-year run with Didier Deschamps’ side. He was an integral part of the team throughout his spell with the national team and represented the team at seven major tournaments, starting with the UEFA Euro 2012 and ending with the UEFA Euro 2024.
He helped his country reach the finals of UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup with his crowning moment coming in 2018 when he helped Les Blues win the FIFA World Cup in Russia. The French striker played in all of his country’s games at the World Cup and while he didn’t score in the tournament, his hold-up play was immensely important in bringing Kylian Mbappe into the fray, who was their talisman in Russia.
More International success was to follow after the World Cup win as he would win the 2021 UEFA Nations League with Didier Deschamps’ side as well and came within minutes of retaining the World Cup in Qatar. Giroud would go on to score four goals at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and his goal against Poland in the round of 16 made him the country’s all-time leading goal-scorer, overtaking Theirry Henry’s record of 51 goals.
He would end his international career with 57 goals in 137 appearances for the national team, scoring his last goal for the national side in a 3-2 win over Chile.
A Glorious Club Career
Olivier Giroud’s crowing moment of his club career came with the 2021 UCL win. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
At 37 years of age, Olivier Giroud has had a glorious career at club level and has played for teams across France, England and Italy. He gained prominence in Montpellier’s dream 2011/12 season where he scored 25 goals and assisted another 12 in 42 games all competitions as he guided Montpellier to their first-ever Ligue 1 title that season.
Following his heroics with Montpellier, Arsenal came calling and the Frenchman sealed a move to the London side and had a fruitful six-year spell with the Gunners, scoring 105 goals and assisting another 37 in 253 appearances. After falling out of favour at Arsenal, he joined city rivals Chelsea, where he was an underrated member of the squad and won the UEFA Champions League, scoring an incredible overhead kick against Atletico Madrid in the Blues’ run to the final.
He ended his most recent club season with AC Milan as his side’s top scorer, finishing the season with 17 goals as the Rossoneri finished second in the league.
What’s next for Giroud?
The 37-year-old Frenchman becomes the latest big-name player to head to the US to finish his club career playing in the same league as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, as he joins LA-based Los Angeles FC where he will be reunited with his countryman and former teammate Hugo Lloris.