Hugo Lloris had admittedly struggled coming off major tournaments during his 14-year career with the French national team.
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The all-time great goalkeeper retired from international competition a month after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, so he does not have to concern himself with replenishing his reserves as the Los Angeles Football Club returns to action before the World Cup concludes this weekend.
“You never have the time to rest, and even less today because it’s midseason,” Lloris said this week ahead of the first El Trafico of the year.
Watching France lose 2-0 to Spain in Tuesday’s semifinal, Lloris said he felt sad. At the same time, the 39-year-old goalkeeper was ready to turn the page on being a spectator, declaring himself 100% fit after taking a knock that kept him out of LAFC’s last match going into the World Cup break against the Seattle Sounders.
“Luckily we got a really good win against Seattle to finish the first part of the season with a good taste, and then I think with this break we are ready to go again,” Lloris said. “But we’re going to face a difficult schedule ahead of us, and again it’s going to demand a lot of effort.”
Lloris practiced normally once LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos, his staff and the club’s non-World Cup players gathered last month for what was effectively a second preseason.
“From what we could have gotten out of the group, we did,” Dos Santos said.
MLS and Liga MX players selected to join their national teams throughout the North American World Cup must endure a particularly short recovery time ahead of the start of the U.S. versus Mexico Leagues Cup competition starting Aug. 4
To that end, half a dozen MLS games on Thursday and Friday culminate with LAFC (7-5-3, 24 points) visiting the Galaxy (5-5-5, 20 points) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson for a nationally televised match on FOX.
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Korea Republic star Son Heung-min as well as Canadians Mathieu Choinière and Jacob Shaffelburg – three of the four LAFC players who competed in the 2026 World Cup – are back in training and should be available to participate Friday.
“The level of stress, level of focus, level of pressure is a different world,” Lloris said. “Obviously when you come back to your routine, it might take a little bit of time to fit again to this rhythm. But we are really proud of them. They had a great tournament with Canada. Obviously it was a different story for Sonny, but we are so glad to see him. And now we all want to focus on our season because there’s still plenty of things to achieve.”
From his perspective, Dos Santos said each of LAFC’s World Cup players “feel energized.”
Son entered the competition on the verge of becoming Korea’s all-time leading World Cup goal scorer, but he and South Korea exited after the group stage without adding to his tally.
Choinière, Shaffelburg and midfielder Stephen Eustáquio, who has not come back since his six-month loan to LAFC expired at the end of June, found joy for Canada before bowing out in the Round of 16 against Morocco.
With the World Cup behind them, dealing with a derby as the first agenda item is tantamount to taking a cold plunge and holding a plugged-in toaster. Off since May 24, when LAFC snapped a four-match losing streak to go into the break fifth in the standings, meeting the ninth-place Galaxy ensures no one should lack motivation.
“If both teams compete for the first place or the last place, it’s still a big game,” Dos Santos said. “It’s the biggest rivalry in MLS.”
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LAFC (7-5-3, 24 points) at GALAXY (5-5-5, 20 points)
When: 7:45 p.m. Friday
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park
TV/Radio: FOX (Ch. 11), FOX Deportes, Apple TV/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM