If Benjamin Pavard should be called by Didier Deschamps to prepare for the next qualifying matches for Euro 2024, the Frenchman remains on a bitter World Cup.
Benched during the 2022 World Cup, Benjamin Pavard went from indisputable starter status to number 3 status with the Blues behind Koundé and Disasi. A few months after the end of the World Cup, has the situation changed? At Bayern, the Frenchman chained very good performances and in particular against PSG in the round of 16 first leg despite his expulsion or even last week with a double in the league.
In an interview with Le Figaro on March 10, Didier Deschamps explained that Benjamin Pavard was not put “in the closet” and that it was a sporting choice, which could evolve. “No one was banned and he was part of the group that made it to the final. We talked after his great difficulties encountered in the first match (against Australia), but I don’t want to go into the details. He has always kept his mentality in the group. The Pavard of 2022 is not the same as 2018, which is normal. In Qatar, I felt that Jules (Koundé) gave me more guarantees. No one is not sentenced, I am not a judge. At Bayern, Benjamin plays in a four-man, three-man defense, as a full-back. I know what he likes best, I know what Jules likes too.”
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Short biography of Benjamin Pavard Born in Maubeuge on March 28, 1996, Benjamin Pavard is a French footballer playing as a defender or right-back. Introduced by his father to football from an early age (his father is a former defender who played in the 3rd division), Benjamin Pavard seduces with his versatility and his personality. Rather shy off the field, the Maubeugeois is one of those footballers who are not afraid to take responsibility when the kick-off is whistled.
At the dawn of attacking Euro 2021, Benjamin Pavard is officially single. But the football player, however, has not always been. In February 2018, the one who scored “the best goal of the 2018 World Cup” during the France-Argentina meeting formalized his relationship with Rachel Legrain-Trapani. The love story between the French footballer and the former Miss France (2007) continued for a year before the announcement of the separation in February 2019. Since then, a few rumors have circulated more or less regularly about the couple stories of Benjamin Pavard. The main interested party has not yet confirmed any other romantic relationship.
Born in the North of France, Benjamin Pavard carried out the tests with the clubs of LOSC or RC Lens, at the age of 10. He joins the first and goes through the stages until the signing of his first professional contract. In 2015, he began his professional football career with a match against FC Nantes. Often a starter during the 2015-2016 season, the defender was then relegated to the bench with the arrival of a new coach. Dissatisfied with his playing time, Benjamin Pavard decides to leave France, heading to Germany. Across the Rhine, he put his bags in the locker room of VfB Stuttgart which was then playing in Bundesliga 2, after a transfer valued at 5 million euros, one of the most expensive in the history of the German club. Very quickly, the Frenchman established himself among the team’s leading players and participated in the club’s rise in the Bundesliga. At the very beginning of 2019, Benjamin Pavard was announced among the upcoming transfers to major European clubs. He eventually joins the Bayern club Munich during the summer, for a sum of 35 million euros, and quickly established itself as a starter.
During the 2019-2020 season, he joined the list of players most used by the Bayern Munich coach, well helped by his versatility which allowed him to find his place in different positions in the Munich defense. In August 2020, in a particular context linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, he won the Champions League with Bayern Munich. Aged only 24, Benjamin Pavard then became the youngest French footballer to lift the trophy in the most prestigious club competition.
Often present with the Blues in the youth categories, Benjamin Pavard had his first selection with the France A team on November 10, 2017 against Wales, when he replaced Christophe Jallet during the match. He saw his first tenure during the last match of the Blues before the World Cup, March 27, 2018, which did not prevent him from being one of the 23 players selected by Didier Deschamps to play in the World Cup in Russia.
Competing with Djibril Sidibé in friendly matches before the start of the World Cup, the VfB Stuttgart side started in the Blues’ first match against Australia (2-1). Despite the sluggish match of the French, he will not leave the starting lineup and Didier Deschamps makes him an indisputable holder. Benjamin Pavard then revealed himself to France and the whole world thanks to his superb goal in the round of 16 against Argentina (4-2). Voted the most beautiful goal of the Russian World Cup by Fifa, this gesture takes the right side into another dimension and will allow the Blues to reach the final, won against Croatia (4-2) on July 15, 2018.
After sixteen games with the France A team, Benjamin Pavard experienced his first defeat in a 2-0 defeat in Rotterdam against the Netherlands. Well established as a starter with the Blues, the right side is part of the team that wins the League of Nations against Spain on October 10, 2021 (2-1) and adapts to the tactical change decided by Didier Deschamps after the return of Karim Benzema in the tricolor jersey, even if he is less comfortable in this role of piston on the right side. Called up for the Euro
2021, he signs mixed performances, like the French team eliminated in the round of 16 by Switzerland. Despite the ups and downs of performances, Didier Deschamps did not hesitate long before calling him on the list of 26 players to compete in the World Cup in Qatar. Holder in the first match but considered disappointing against Australia (4-1), he lost his place in favor of Jules Koundé and did not reappear until the final.
Benjamin Pavard could very well leave Germany and Bayern soon. The defender of the Bavarian club recently confided in L’Equipe on his desire to discover a new championship and new challenges, after having won everything with Bayern: “There were no specific discussions (concerning an extension , editor’s note). For the moment, I am focused on the World Cup, on being the best possible in a very big club, one of the best in the world. I have a huge respect for the Bayern, I learned there the requirement of the very high level and it is an honor to wear this shirt. Afterwards, I have been in Germany for seven years, I have won everything with the club, he said. he explained. I’m not against discovering a new project. It may be the right time. Why not discover a new country, a new culture? But the sports project must be interesting. (…) I I may have been around here, but I’m in a very big club, so I’m not going to leave for nothing. I’m not doing fictional scripts, we’ll see that They will be the options and we will discuss with Bayern. “