Deschamps Reflects on France's 3-3 World Cup Final 2022 Loss
France's world cup final 2022 defeat to Argentina ended 3-3 after extra time and a penalty shootout. Four years on, several starters from that team have moved clubs, retired from international football, or taken on new roles. Didier Deschamps put the outlook bluntly: “What happened in 1998 and 2018 will always stay with me, but nothing can change the past. What matters now is what we do next.”
Deschamps and Lloris moved on
Hugo Lloris, who was France's captain and undisputed first-choice goalkeeper for Spurs under Antonio Conte in 2022, is now at Los Angeles FC in MLS. By August 2022, he had started 90 consecutive Premier League games and had become the most-capped French player in history, with 20 World Cup matches played by a Frenchman also on his record.
France entered that final as defending champions, but the loss closed a chapter for Lloris as much as it did for Deschamps. The manager won the World Cup with France in 2018, and his own line about the past being fixed captures how little room there is for replay in a tournament final.
Hernandez, Varane and Kounde
The back line from Qatar has changed piece by piece. Theo Hernandez, who won Serie A with AC Milan the season before the 2022 World Cup, became an unexpected starter after Lucas Hernandez suffered an ACL tear in the opening fixture, then completed a permanent move to Al Hilal in the summer of 2025 on a three-year contract worth approximately £21 million. His current terms are set to expire at the end of the 2027/28 season.
Raphaël Varane played 521 minutes in Qatar, retired from international football after the final defeat, then moved from Manchester United to Como before suffering a major knee injury on his debut. He has since taken a non-playing and board role instead. Jules Kounde, by contrast, has stayed in Barcelona after moving from Sevilla in 2022 for an initial fee of £43 million and signing a five-year extension in 2025 that is set to keep him there until 2030.
Kounde's role in Qatar also changed after France's opening game, when he was deployed at right back and overtook Benjamin Pavard there. He played six games at the tournament and started five of them, while Dayot Upamecano started five of France's seven matches and remains at Bayern Munich after signing in July 2021. His contract runs to June 2030 and includes a delayed £60-70 million release clause that becomes active in summer 2027.
For France, the final still reads as a 3-3 draw decided on penalties. For the players who were in it, the result has become a reference point for transfers, retirements and career resets across Europe, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
France's 2022 final afterlife
The practical answer for readers tracing that team is simple: Lloris is in MLS, Theo Hernandez is at Al Hilal, Varane has stepped away from international football and into a board role, Kounde remains central to Barcelona, and Upamecano is still anchored at Bayern Munich. The final did not just decide a trophy; it set the path for what each of those careers became next.
