Mbappe, Kane and Ronaldo still the gold standard on the international stage

Hugo Lloris spread his arms wide and raised them up slowly to perform a Viking Clap. Around him, 70,000 at the Stade de France were doing the same. It was the formal goodbye to France’s most capped player, the Frenchman who has worn the captain’s armband for the national team more times than any other. Lloris was standing close to the centre circle, alongside three other former Bleus players who have retired from national duty. Their children were with them. They looked visibly moved. Lloris, Raphael Varane, Blaise Matuidi and Steve Mandanda then took up their VIP seats to watch France kick off their first international since these elder statesmen became, officially, ex-internationals. Within eight minutes, France led 2-0. New captain Kylian Mbappe added two goals in Friday’s 4-0 victory against an overwhelmed t he Netherlands to open qualifying for the 2024 European championship. Late on against the Dutch, the new first-choice goalkeeper Mike Maignan saved a penalty. And if that provoked a split second of envy from Lloris, it would be understandable. His last act for France, with whom he won the 2018 World Cup, had been to watch Gonzalo Montiel put a spot-kick past him in Argentina’s victory in the final of Qatar 2022. Lloris had come close to reaching a couple of Argentinian penalties in the deciding shoot-out but saved none. Maignan’s first week as France’s No 1 keeper was to get better, his brilliant stretch to keep out a header from Ireland’s Nathan Collins on Tuesday was a standout highlight after an international break that asked searching questions of new and old leaders. Didier Deschamps, the long-serving head coach of France, praised Maignan ’s “great stature and mentality,” acknowledging the AC Milan gloveman’s “incredible save” had been “almost as important as our goal” – scored by Benjamin Pavard from distance – in the 1-0 win against the Irish. It was a fine few days for Lloris’s Tottenham colleague Harry Kane , too, even if these senior Spurs players will be apprehensive about returning to a club where the manager, Antonio Conte, has abruptly departed . For England, Kane made some emotional amends for the penalty he skied over Lloris’s crossbar in a losing World Cup quarter-final against France in December by converting a spot-kick that secured his country victory over Italy . The goal established Kane, the England captain, as his country’s all-time highest scorer. He extended that record with his 55th international goal in the 2-0 win against Ukraine three nights later. Judged on the way they have started this Euros campaign, with its condensed lead-in to a finals tournament that begins in Germany in less than 14 months, there seems a good chance of Mbappe or Kane lifting the trophy next year. How deep into the competition the more seasoned skippers of the major contenders go is harder to forecast. Germany’s captain is still Manuel Neuer. But a long period of inactivity, stretching from him breaking his leg while ski-ing at the end of last year to at least this summer, casts a cloud over his status. Neuer turned 37 on Monday; he has strong understudies in the German squad. Leo Bonucci, Italy’s captain, will be 36 next summer and will want to have completed a fuller, fitter season than this one has been. The defender has missed all but four Serie A matches for Juventus since January and withdrew injured ahead of Italy’s defeat to England and 2-0 win over Malta. No such constraints on the captain of Portugal, European champions in 2016, and a team full of goals as they embarked on a new era of management, Roberto Martinez’s, but followed a time-honoured hierarchy on the pitch. Cristiano Ronaldo dominated . He even scored one of his four goals across two games from a direct free-kick. Ronaldo will be in his 40th year come the European championship finals but it is his intention to still be stretching out his international milestones far beyond a mark that Kane, 29, or even Mbappe – aged 24 and with 38 goals for France already – can dream of. A month that began with Martinez questioned about whether Ronaldo was still relevant for Portugal has ended with CR7 moving within two caps of playing 200 times for his country, and with his mammoth scoring tally up to 122. The bystanders in this latest festival were Liechtenstein, thumped 4-0, and Luxembourg, beaten 6-0, and the message after Ronaldo’s brace of goals in each fixture is that he is, for now, undroppable. “Cristiano’s experience at international level is unique,” said Martinez. “The dressing room looks up to him, he’s prepared to take leadership. The role of players like him is to bring in their experience while the younger players want to show their value.”

Mbappe, Kane and Ronaldo still the gold standard on the international stage

All three stars performed superbly for their national teams as some veterans faded away