Olivier Giroud participant in 2014 FIFA World Cup
International career
Prior to representing the senior national team, Giroud did not earn any caps with the national youth teams. In 2001, he was called up to the under-16 team alongside the likes of Yoann Gourcuff, Yohan Cabaye, and Sylvain Marveaux by coach Pierre Mankowski to participate in a training camp held at the Clairefontaine academy. After the camp, Giroud was not called up for the duration of the 2001–02 under-16 campaign.On 3 November 2011, in an effort to reward Giroud for his performances domestically with Montpellier, national team coach Laurent Blanc named the striker in the squad to play in friendly matches against the United States and Belgium on 11 and 15 November 2011, respectively. Giroud described the call up as "a childhood dream come true", while also stating it is "immensely satisfying and a privilege" to represent the national team. He made his international debut in the match against the United States appearing as a substitute. France won the match 1–0. Against Belgium, Giroud earned another cap appearing as a substitute as the match ended 0–0. On 29 February 2012, Giroud scored his first career international goal in a 2–1 friendly victory over Germany. Three months later, he was named to the squad to participate in UEFA Euro 2012. Two days prior to the announcement of the final squad, Giroud assisted on two goals in France's 3–2 friendly comeback win over Iceland.On 16 October 2012, Giroud equalised for France in its 1–1 draw against Spain in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Coming on as a substitute in the 88th minute, he scored a headed goal from a Franck Ribéry cross in the fourth minute of injury time. Due to his goal against Spain and good form with Arsenal, Giroud, along with Arsenal teammate Laurent Koscielny, received a call for France's tie against Italy on 14 November. In the match, Giroud had a few chances, but then was substituted with five other players in the second half as France came back from behind to win the match 2–1. Giroud scored twice and was named man of the match in a 6–0 win over Australia on 11 October 2013 in an international friendly.On 13 May 2014, Giroud was named in Didier Deschamps' squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. After appearing as a second-half substitute in France's opening match against Honduras, Giroud was named in the starting line-up for the team's second group fixture against Switzerland. He scored the opening goal of the match in the 17th minute to record his first FIFA World Cup goal and the 100th at the tournament in the French national team's history, as Les Bleus ran out 5–2 winners to qualify for the knockout stage.In the opening match of Euro 2016 on 10 June 2016, France defeated Romania 2–1. Giroud earned his 50th France cap by being in the starting line-up of that match and played every minute of it; he scored the opening goal by heading Dimitri Payet's cross into the goal in the 57th minute. He scored a brace in a 5–2 win against Iceland in the Quarter-finals. Following France's defeat to Portugal in the final of the tournament, Giroud finished the competition as the joint second-highest scorer, with 3 goals and 2 assists, and was awarded the Bronze Boot.In a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg in March 2017, which France won 3–1, Giroud scored twice, taking his total to 23 and moving him into his country's top ten goalscorers of all time.On 2 June 2017, Giroud scored a hat-trick at Roazhon Park for France in a friendly against Paraguay which finished 5–0 to the hosts. In that game, he also become the first player to score a hat-trick for Les Bleus in 17 years.On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23-man French squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. On 28 May 2018, Giroud scored his 31st international goal for France during a home game against Ireland, equalling Zinedine Zidane's record, and becoming the fourth highest goal scorer of all time for the country. Giroud's inclusion in the team as a big man towering over opposing defenders was designed to create more freedom for Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé to generate offensive chances. Giroud played in all seven matches, and though he failed to register a shot on net on 13 shots, his physical presence and link-up play was credited with Griezmann and Mbappé each scoring four goals. On 30 June 2018, Giroud set up Mbappé's second goal in a 4–3 win over Argentina. In the final of the tournament on 15 July, France defeated Croatia 4–2 to win their second FIFA World Cup title.
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