![\"Florian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_France-v-Azerbaijan-FIFA-World-Cup-2026-Qualifying.jpg\")
Florian Thauvin (C) of France celebrates after scoring during the World Cup 2026 Qualifying Group D match against Azerbaijan at Parc des Princes(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\nFormer United winger Florian Thauvin marked his international return with a goalFlorian Thauvin (C) of France celebrates after scoring during the World Cup 2026 Qualifying Group D match against Azerbaijan at Parc des Princes(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Former Newcastle United forward Florian Thauvin has his eyes set on next summer’s World Cup after making a remarkable return to the French national side.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old,<\/a> who had an ill-fated spell on Tyneside after signing in 2015, was recalled to the international squad by Didier Deschamps this month after a six-year absence.<\/p>\n Not only did the Lens forward appear as a late substitute for World superstar Kylian Mbappe in Friday night’s win over Azerbaijan at the Parc des Prince, but he got on the scoresheet in the 90th minute to complete a 3-0 victory.<\/p>\n Ironically, it means he has scored in consecutive appearances for France, after notching in his last game for his country, a 4-0 win over Andorra way back in June 2019.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Ex-Newcastle star had no income and was on benefits but has finally found peace nine years on<\/a>READ MORE: Newcastle United transfer red alert as Man U plan \u00a360m midfielder raid<\/a><\/p>\n “It’s incredible!” he told TF1. “It’s a dream, I’m having a bit of trouble coming back to earth.<\/p>\n “It’s a great satisfaction, a source of pride. Playing for France is something that is close to my heart.<\/p>\n “A comeback like this is extraordinary. The psychological work was done before going onto the field, because the last few years were difficult for me.”<\/p>\n “I worked a lot, never gave up. I told myself that if I had a few minutes, I would give it my all.<\/p>\n “I have good stats because in the last two caps, I have two goals! It’s very moving. It was a long-awaited return; it’s a great life lesson.”<\/p>\n Thauvin is now back in France with Lens having joined Mexican side Tigres in 2021 before moving back to Europe with Udinese in 2023.<\/p>\n He was brought to Newcastle <\/a>by Steve McClaren 10 years ago, but failed to adapt to the Premier League and couldn’t fulfil the potential which had seen United fork out \u00a315m to bring him to Tyneside from Marseille.<\/p>\n He managed just 16 appearances and one goal for the Magpies before spending the next 18 months on loan back at Marseille, who he rejoined on a permanent deal in 2017.<\/p>\n Newcastle United’s huge 2025-26 season is well under way and we’ll be with them every step of the way. We’ll bring you all the latest from St James’ Park and around Europe as Eddie Howe’s side face some mouthwatering challenges – and you can get updates sent to your phone so you don’t miss a thing by joining our WhatsApp channel.<\/p>\n It’s quick and easy to join. Just click this link and select ‘Join Community’ to get started.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Plus you can follow our new Newcastle United channel<\/a> right here – just follow this link<\/a><\/p>\n Your informational will be hidden, you’ll only ever receive messages from the Chronicle Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. For more information, click here<\/a>. You can read our Privacy Notice here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former United winger Florian Thauvin marked his international return with a goalFlorian Thauvin (C) of France celebrates after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[162296,94,11492,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-493817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-florian-thauvin","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-newcastle-united-fc","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115361757759870795","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Newcastle](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_GettyImages-484717906.jpg\")
Newcastle United’s Florian Thauvin pictured on the roof at St James’ Park on August 19, 2015<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Signings2.jpg\")
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