Hugo Lloris

Hugo Hadrien Dominique Lloris (born 26 December 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC.

Hugo Hadrien Dominique Lloris was born on 26 December 1986 in the Mediterranean city of Nice to an upper-class family.

His French mother was a lawyer and his father is a Monte Carlo-based banker of Catalan Spanish descent.

He has a younger brother, Gautier, who played for his older brother's former club Nice as a central defender.

As a youth, like his international and club teammate Yoann Gourcuff, Lloris excelled at tennis and played the sport up until the age of 13.

He was among the top players in his age group, ranking high in the country's national standings before opting to focus on football.

He spent several years in the club's youth academy and was the starting goalkeeper for the club's under-17 team that won the 2003–04 edition of the Championnat Nationaux des 18 ans, a country-wide domestic league competition for players under the age of 18.

Lloris studied at the Lycée Thierry Maulnier in Nice until 2004.

Lloris started playing football at the age of six at CEDAC (Centre de Diffusion et d'Action Culturelle), a local cultural center based in the neighborhood of Cimiez, Nice.

The centre offered a variety of activities, which included football.

Lloris played a variety of positions at the centre, such as in the attack, before switching to the goalkeeper position after coaches noticed that he possessed impressive goalkeeping qualities, such as ball-handling and catching skills.

Lloris excelled at the position and caught the attention of former Nice goalkeeper and French international Dominique Baratelli, who recommended that the player join his former club.

At the age of ten, Lloris joined Nice's youth academy.

After success with the club's under-18 team, Lloris was promoted to the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France Amateur, the fourth level of French football, for the 2004–05 season.

He alternated the starting goalkeeper spot with Hilaire Munoz as he appeared in 12 matches.

Lloris began his career with hometown club Nice, made his debut as a teenager in October 2005, and started as a goalkeeper during the team's run to the 2006 Coupe de la Ligue final.

After excelling at the club for three seasons, he moved to seven-time Ligue 1 champions Lyon, amid interest from several other clubs, notably AC Milan.

Lloris won several domestic awards in his first season with Lyon and, in his second campaign, earned award nominations for his performances in the UEFA Champions League, which saw Lyon reach the semi-finals for the first time.

He was also named the National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP) Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year on three occasions during his time at the club.

Prior to playing at senior level, he played on the team that won the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

Lloris was promoted to the first team squad ahead of the 2005–06 season and assigned the number 1 shirt.

He was designated by manager Frédéric Antonetti as the team's starting goalkeeper for the club's Coupe de la Ligue campaign ahead of fan-favourite (and fellow Nice native) Damien Gregorini, who was relied more upon in league play.

Lloris made his professional debut on 25 October 2005, at the age of 18, recording a clean sheet in Nice's 2–0 Coupe de la Ligue win over Châteauroux.

He recorded another clean sheet the following round against Sedan and helped Nice upset favorites Bordeaux and Derby de la Côte d'Azur rivals Monaco in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, meaning the club had reached its first-ever Coupe de la Ligue final.

In the final, Lloris played the entire match in the club's 2–1 defeat against Nancy.

Lloris made his league debut on 18 March 2006 against Nancy picking up a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory.

He made four more league appearances that season.

The following season, Lloris was given the starting job permanently ahead of Gregorini, who subsequently departed the club for Nancy.

For the early part of the 2007–08 season, Lloris endured a recurring ligament injury in his left knee, which forced him to miss three weeks in September.

He returned to the team on 6 October 2007 in a league match against Le Mans, but was substituted out after 71 minutes after the injury relapsed.

Lloris made his senior international debut in November 2008 in a friendly against Uruguay.

He helped France qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was applauded by the media for his performance over two legs against the Republic of Ireland in the qualifying play-offs.

Lloris joined Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in 2012 and made over 400 appearances for the club across eleven seasons, being named captain in 2015 and helping the team reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2019.

He departed England in 2024 to join Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer.

Lloris is a former French international, having represented his nation at under-18, under-19, and under-21 level.

He captained the national team for the first time in 2010, and became first-choice captain on 28 February 2012, leading France into the quarter-finals of both UEFA Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup, as runners-up at Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup, and winning the 2018 World Cup held in Russia.

With 145 appearances, he is France's most-capped player.

Lloris appeared in all but one league match recording 13 clean sheets as Nice finished in 16th place.

Despite the disappointing finish, the club was the fifth-best defensive team in the league with Lloris conceding only 36 goals.

Only veterans Grégory Coupet, Cédric Carrasso and Ulrich Ramé conceded fewer.