Hugo Lloris could become the first player in World Cup history to do THIS if France beat Argentina
No player has ever lifted back-to-back World Cup trophies as captain
Hugo Lloris could become the first-ever player to lift back-to-back World Cups as captain, should France beat Argentina in the final today.
The goalkeeper lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy at the 2018 World Cup following a 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final, and, with France reaching the final in Qatar, he has the opportunity to replicate that once more.
Only Italy and Brazil have managed to retain the World Cup since its inception in 1930, but each side featured a different captain for their wins.
Italy lifted the World Cup in 1934 and 1938, with Gianpiero Combi lifting the former title win. He failed to make the squad four years later, though, with Giuseppe Meazza instead leading the side.
Meanwhile, Brazil won the World Cup in both 1958 and 1962. Hilderaldo Bellini captained their win in Sweden, with Mauro being given the armband for the 1962 win.
Consequently, Lloris could become the first, and only, player to lift the World Cup twice as captain.
Diego Maradona nearly achieved that feat in 1990, though. After almost single-handedly dragging his country to glory in 1986 in Mexico, Argentina reached the 1990 final to play West Germany once again.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
However, West Germany won the final, denying Maradona that opportunity.
Dunga also suffered a similar fate to Maradona eight years after him. Having won the 1994 World Cup as Brazil captain, they reached the final again in 1998, where they played France.
France ran riot that day, though, winning 3-0 at their home tournament as Ronaldo failed to turn up due to controversial pre-game circumstances.
Hugo Lloris has captained France for over a decade now, having become the first-choice leader in 2012, before the European Championships that year. Indeed, World Cup 2022 is the sixth international tournament he has led his nation out at.
Having played 144 international games, he is also France's most capped player, and has the opportunity to create history.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw