France Women's Team: Le Sommer becomes the most capped player in the history of the Bleues

With 199 caps, the Bleues striker Eugénie Le Sommer, 35, became the most capped player in the history of the French team on Tuesday, surpassing Sandrine Soubeyrand. She reached this record on Tuesday by coming on as a substitute for Marie-Antoinette Katoto, and taking the armband at the end of the match against Iceland in the Nations League in Le Mans (78). "It's a source of pride, a special moment, it's something great: I knew Sandrine Soubeyrand when she broke Lilian Thuram's record; I was also there when she ended her career, it's an honour for me to equal her," commented on Monday the woman who is also the top scorer in the history of the Bleues.

Nicknamed "the dinosaur" or the "unionist" by her young teammates who tease her about her seniority in the Blues, Le Sommer is above all a model who has "allowed the discipline to evolve" , they say in unison. The OL striker, 94 goals scored with the Blues, now has 199 selections including 143 starts, or more than 13,000 minutes played: a far cry from Lilian Thuram and his 142 selections, her counterpart with the Blues.

Her first selection dates back to February 2009, 16 years ago: "I didn't see the time go by" , said the centre forward, whose longevity at the highest level "is not the result of chance" for Laurent Bonadei, the French coach. "When I arrived, I wanted to play my first match. Afterwards I wanted to settle in, come back to the next gathering, I never told myself that I would reach all these figures" , she explained.

Looking back on her career, Le Sommer recalls her first appearance on February 12, 2009 against Ireland, and her return to Les Bleues in 2023 after being sidelined for two years by Corinne Diacre, the coach at the time. "My career could have ended in 2021, my story is special too, I would never have imagined all this, these are key moments," she stressed. "I told myself that it was perhaps the end, you never know what's going to happen, I am proof of that."

Le Sommer has participated in three Olympic Games (2012, 2016, 2024) and four World Cups (2011, 2015, 2019, 2023). She reached the last four at her first World Cup in 2011 (4th place) and the Olympics in 2012, but has most often failed in the quarter-finals in major competitions, the glass ceiling for the Bleues of her generation.

She has above average game intelligence.

Wendie Renard

If Amandine Henry, also 35, retired from international football last summer after the failure of the Olympic Games, Le Sommer, like Wendie Renard (34, 168 caps) her captain at OL and in the French national team, has chosen to continue at least until the Euro, this summer in Switzerland, which could be her last major competition. "I love playing with her because she has above-average game intelligence. Technically, she is capable of making incredible moves," the defender told the FFF.

For midfielder Kenza Dali, "Eugénie is instinct, she's a legend, she's someone who knows how to transform bad balls, bad passes into good balls and that's how you recognize very good players . " "In all football schools, you have to show your calls, your finishing, your vision of the game," says Amel Majri, "she improves all the players who play alongside her" and "she's a timeless player who adapts to all generations." According to Delphine Cascarino, "Eugénie is the unionist (laughs). She moves things forward through her commitments and that's positive for us and for the players of future generations."