World Cup 2022: the Blues welcomed place de la Concorde by several thousand supporters

Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Kylian Mbappé, greet the crowd, December 19, 2022. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER

Text by: RFI Follow

3 mins

The players of the French football team landed at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport on Monday, December 19 around 8 p.m., the day after their defeat against Argentina in the World Cup final in Qatar (3-3 , 4-2 on penalties).

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They are nearly 10,000 supporters, posted in front of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, to have waited several hours, thick coats on their shoulders, caps screwed on their heads, to see the vice world champions.

The France team came to greet their supporters around 9:30 p.m. on Monday, December 19.

Contrary to what was initially announced by the president of the French Football Federation Noël le Graët, before being denied, the men of Didier Deschamps presented themselves well in front of the crowd the day after their defeat on penalties in the final of the World Cup against

.

Part of the French supporters massed in front of the Place de la Concorde to welcome the Blues, in Paris on December 19, 2022. REUTERS - SARAH MEYSSONNIER

“I had to be there, to thank our Blues for everything they have done so far

,” said Sandrine Djellas, 53, made up in red and blue.

" 

 ," smiled Cheick Touré, a 16-year-old high school student, keen on football, like his friends who came with him this evening.

Elise, 11, came to Place de la Concorde to greet the Blues for their “superb match”

Laurence Theault

“ 

, delivered the tricolor midfielder Adrien Rabiot to the microphone of French television TF1, before entering the palace.

Nafissa, coming from Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis), wanted to celebrate a "victorious defeat"

Laurence Theault

Almost 2,000 law enforcement officers mobilized

Les Bleus landed shortly before 8 p.m. at Roissy airport.

If the coach Didier Deschamps sketched a smile as he got off the plane, just like Olivier Giroud, who wore a necklace of blue-white-red flowers around his neck, Kylian Mbappé, face closed, rushed into the one of the buses parked on the tarmac of the Pavillon d'honneur at Charles-de-Gaulle airport.

The Blues are back home!

📍🇬🇧#ProudofBleus pic.twitter.com/njL46w1hms

– French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) December 19, 2022

The procession then joined the ring road to reach Concorde.

To supervise the event, 1,940 police and gendarmes were deployed in the Place de la Concorde area, but also around Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, the Paris police headquarters said on Monday. .

Car traffic has been banned in the square.

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• World Cup 2022

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