Can Hugo Lloris captain France to glory once again in Qatar?

This summer marks ten years of Hugo Lloris as Tottenham Hotspurs’ number one. Since his arrival from Lyon in the summer of 2012, the French shot-stopper has racked up 416 appearances. 336 of those have been in the Premier League, which puts him at ninth on the club’s all-time list of league appearance makers. The majority of those appearances have been as captain, which he became back in 2015, three years after his arrival. While there have been disappointing moments at club level, it’s been a different story for the national team. He captained to World Cup glory four years ago in Russia in what was undoubtedly the finest moment in a stellar career. Now at the age of 35, Qatar 2022 will probably represent the Frenchman’s final appearance on the world’s biggest stage, and he will be hoping he can bow out in style.

At the first-ever winter World Cup, Les Bleus are aiming to become the first team to retain the FIFA World Cup trophy in over 60 years. The last team to do so was Brazil, who lifted their first crown by defeating Sweden in their own backyard in 1958 and defended it four years later, defeating Czechoslovakia in Chile. To this day, they remain one of only two teams – with the other being Italy in 1934 & 1938 –  to ever successfully retain the gold, and Hugo Lloris and his teammates are hoping to follow in those legendary footsteps. And it would take a brave man to bet against Didier Deschamps’ men.

Defending champions enter as second-favourites

Online bookmakers such as BetVictor, which is giving fans a chance to crack the code in the build-up to the 21st November curtain-raiser, have made France the second favourites to lift their third FIFA World Cup trophy. A Neymar-inspired Brazil are the early favourites closely followed by the aforementioned France and England, who look set to meet in a fiery quarter-final – should everything go to plan, of course.

But things going to plan is the exact opposite of what happened the last time France entered a tournament as champions. After Zinedine Zidane’s team double downed Brazil in Paris, his side travelled to Japan and South Korea as reigning champions. And with the aforementioned Zizou in the squad, as well as Arsenal duo Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieria, they were expected to reach the latter stages of the tournament once again. But then disaster struck, and the curse of the reigning champions was born.

They were stunned in the opening match of the competition, losing to tournament debutants Senegal by a single Papa Bouba Diop goal to nil. They then had Fabien Barthez to thank for keeping them in the tournament, securing a 0-0 draw against Uruguay after Henry’s early red card. That point meant that they could still progress if they beat Denmark in their final group game. But that was too much to ask, as second-half strikes from Denis Rommedahl and Jon-Dahl Tomasson sent the French home early, without so much as scoring a goal.

That curse has reared its head a few times since, as well. The last three winners of the World Cup have all been eliminated at the group stages in the following tournament. Four years ago it was Germany; in 2014 it was Spain’s turn; and before that, it was Italy. The hoodoo is one of football’s strangest phenomena and Lloris and co. will have to put it to rest if they are to succeed in the Arabian Gulf state this winter.