🚨 Official: Steve Mandanda hangs up his boots | OneFootball

The end of a tremendous career.

Free of any contract since his departure from Rennes, Steve Mandanda (40 years old) has officially announced his retirement this Wednesday.

The most capped player in the history of OM (613 matches) and winner of the 2018 World Cup (35 selections) announced his decision to L'Équipe. "I needed to take my time to accept it, first of all, because it's not easy, but yes I'm stopping. (...) I had a long period of reflection because I had a lot of calls but I said no every time", explained the French goalkeeper to the sports media.

Trained in Le Havre, Steve Mandanda was recruited by OM in 2007 before quickly becoming the undisputed starter in the Olympian cages. An emblematic figure of Marseille and Ligue 1, he was part of the French championship team in 2010 and the last Olympian team to have passed the group stage of the Champions League.

After a difficult experience at Crystal Palace (2016-17), he returned to OM where he notably played a Europa League final in 2018, before winning the World Cup with the French team as the second goalkeeper of the Blues.

Blocked by Pau Lopez, Steve Mandanda freely left Marseille in the summer of 2022 and joined Rennes, from which he will leave this summer at the end of his contract. He notably received a vibrant tribute from the Vélodrome during his entrance to the game, which would become his last career match.

Spectacular on his line, Steve Mandanda is one of the most striking French goalkeepers of the 21st century and has notably been elected five times as the best goalkeeper of Ligue 1 (2008, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018).

His honours: Ligue 1 (x1), Coupe de la Ligue (x3), Trophées des champions (x2), World Cup (x1), best goalkeeper of Ligue 1 (x5).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 CHRISTOPHE SIMON - AFP or licensors