France

PARIS — New France captain Kylian Mbappé lived up to expectations with two goals in a 4-0 statement home win against the Netherlands as Les Bleus got their Euro 2024 Group B qualifying campaign started in ruthless fashion on Friday.

Mbappé, named skipper after goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ended his international career in January, set up Antoine Griezmann for the opener before scoring the third, after Dayot Upamecano had doubled the tally in a first half blitz, before wrapping the scoring up late in front of an ecstatic crowd.

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé has been named France captain to succeed Hugo Lloris, the French football federation (FFF) said on Monday.

French sports daily L'Equipe reported that Mbappé had accepted the captaincy after speaking with coach Didier Deschamps.

Kylian Mbappé is the new captain of the French national team, reports @lequipe pic.twitter.com/31NSzzsLTk

PARIS — Noel Le Graet has resigned as president of France's soccer federation amid allegations of harassment and sexual harassment and a government ministry audit this month that concluded the 81-year-old no longer had "the necessary legitimacy" for the job.

Le Graet, head of the French Football Federation since 2011, stepped back last month amid a legal investigation into allegations against him of sexual and moral harassment and after an audit and report commissioned by the sports ministry.

Netflix has been killing it already this year with a collection of celebrated sports shows that take you behind-the-scenes to a degree that few other projects have ever been able to. Much of that stems from the success of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which has given birth to an entire generation of American F1 fans as the docuseries releases its fifth season.

France defender Raphaël Varane is retiring from international football, ending a 10-year career with Les Bleus in which he won the World Cup in 2018 and was a runner-up four years later.

The 29-year-old, who has 93 caps after making his debut in 2013, and also helped Didier Deschamps's side win the UEFA Nations League in the 2020-21 season.

France Football Federation (FFF) president Noël Le Graët apologized to Zinedine Zidane on Monday after his comments on the former Real Madrid coach drew the ire of players, politicians and even the Spanish club.

Zidane was one of the favorites to take charge of the national team if Didier Deschamps had stepped down but his contract was extended after he led France to the World Cup final, where they lost to Argentina in Qatar last month.

French outlet L’Equipe reported on Saturday that U.S. Soccer had approached French legend and former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane with the idea of him becoming the new head coach for the USMNT. Gregg Berhalter’s contract has run out and U.S. Soccer is trying to figure out if he will stay for another cycle or be replaced.

PARIS - France striker Kylian Mbappé has shrugged off Argentina keeper Emiliano Martínez's taunts after the World Cup final, saying he did not "waste energy on such futile things" as he awaited the return of Paris Saint Germain teammate Lionel Messi.

Mbappé became the second player to score a World Cup final hat-trick as he dragged his country back into the match with a late second-half double and an extra-time penalty, which was still not enough as Argentina prevailed in a shootout.