Antoine Griezmann
French Footballer
Antoine Griezmann is a French footballer who plays as a forward.
Antoine Griezmann
• Date of birth: 21 March 1991
• Age: 31 years old
• Place of birth: Mâcon, France
• Nationality: French
• Position: Forward
• Height: 176cm / 5ft 9ins
• Weight: 73kg / 161 lbs
• Wages: £590,000 per week (Unconfirmed)
Facebook: @AntoGriezmann
Instagram: @antogriezmann
Twitter: @AntoGriezmann
He moved to La Liga side Real Sociedad at the age of 12 and later broke into the first team at the Spanish club.
Griezmann made his Real Sociedad debut in the Copa del Rey in September 2009. The France striker scored 52 goals in 201 games during four seasons with Los Txuri-Urdin.
Antoine moved to Atletico Madrid in a £24m deal from Real Sociedad in July 2014, with the striker signing a six-year contract with his new club.
With Atletico, Griezmann won the Spanish Super Cup, the Europa League and the Uefa Super Cup – as well as getting his hands on a Champions League runner’s-up medal.
The Frenchman signed for FC Barcelona in the summer of 2019 after the Spanish giants paid his €120m (£107m) buy-out clause.
Antoine made his France debut in a 2-0 win against the Netherlands in March 2014.
Early Career
Antoine was born in Macon in France. He started his youth career at UF Macon.
Griezmann impressed scouts during a trial at Montpellier and he attracted interest from Paris Saint-Germain as well as several other clubs.
But it was La Liga side Real Sociedad who decided to bring Antoine to Spain at the age of 12.
He spent four seasons in the youth team before the France striker finally broke into the Real Sociedad first-team.
(Photo: Antoine Griezmann / Instagram)
Real Sociedad
Antoine impressed during pre-season ahead of the 2009-10 campaign. Griezmann netted four times in five games in pre-season to earn a spot in the Real Sociedad team.
He made his debut as a substitute in Real Sociedad’s 2-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano in the Copa del Rey in 2 September 2009. Four days later, Antoine made his Spanish league debut in a goalless draw with Real Murcia.
His first start came in Real Sociedad’s 2-0 win over Huesca, with Griezmann scoring one of the goals. Griezmann was a regular in the team for the remainder of the season.
The Frenchman scored against Salamanca, Hercules, Recreativo de Huelva, Cadiz and Numancia to underline his growing reputation.
He scored six times in 39 games in the Segunda Division to help Real Sociedad win the league and secure promotion to La Liga.
The striker signed his first professional contract in April 2010, agreeing to a five-year deal with the club until 2015 with a release clause of €30m.
Antoine netted his first La Liga goal in a 3-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna in 25 October. Five days later, Griezmann netted in a 2-1 win at Malaga.
The French striker netted two goals in a game for the first time in a 2-1 victory over Sporting.
Griezmann netted seven goals and made three assists in 37 games in the 2010-11 season.
Antoine then scored in a 2-2 draw with FC Barcelona in his first start of the 2011-12 La Liga season. He also scored the winner in a 1-0 victory at Valencia in January 2012.
(Photo: Antoine Griezmann / Instagram)
Griezmann netted eight goals and made four assists in 38 appearances in all competitions.
His penultimate season at Real Sociedad saw Griezmann find the net 10 times and make three assists in 2012-13 campaign.
His goal in a 1-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna secured a Champions League spot for the Basque team.
Antoine got on the score-sheet in a 4-0 win at Lyon as they secured their place in the Champions League group stage. It was his only European goal in eight outings.
He finished his final season with 20 goals in 50 games across three different competitions.
Atletico Madrid
Griezmann moved to Atletico Madrid in a £24m deal from Real Sociedad on 28 July 2014.
He made his competitive debut in los Rojiblancos‘ 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup.
Griezmann’s first goal came in a 3-2 loss to Olympiacos in the Champions League group stage.
He netted his first career hat-trick in a 4-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao in December 2015. He was named La Liga’s player of the month for December.
Griezmann ended his first season at Atletico with 22 goals in 37 games in La Liga. It was most goals scored by a French player in a single campaign.
Antoine netted two goals in 12 games in the Champions League and Spanish Cup.
(Photo: Antoine Griezmann / Instagram)
He then continued to impress at Atletico in the 2015-16 season. Griezmann opened his account with two goals in a 2-0 win over Galatasaray in the Champions League group stage.
His netted a vital goal in a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Madrid derby at The Bernabeu in February 2015.
Griezmann netted the winner against Bayern Munich to help Atletico reach their second Champions League final.
The France striker missed a second-half penalty before he scored from the spot in the penalty shootout but Atletico lost 5-3 to bitter rivals Real Madrid at San Siro.
Antoine netted 32 goals and made six assists in the 2015-16 season.
Griezmann’s fine form was rewarded when he signed a new contract with Atletico in June 2016 to secure his future until 2021.
Simeone’s side ended the campaign without a trophy for the second successive season despite his return of 26 goals in 53 outings.
Griezmann was linked with a move to Manchester United in the 2017 summer transfer window but the striker ultimately penned a new improved deal with Atletico.
He fired Atletico to Europa League glory with a goal in a 2-0 win over Marseille in Lyon. He netted six times and made two assists in eight appearances in Europe’s second tier competition.
On 15 June 2018, Griezmann signed a new deal with Atletico to end talk of a move to FC Barcelona until the following year.
(Photo: Antoine Griezmann / Instagram)
FC Barcelona
Following fresh speculation linking him with a move away from Atletico Madrid, Griezmann ended up signing for FC Barcelona in the summer of 2019.
The deal was officially confirmed on 12 July 2019, after FC Barcelona agreed to pay his €120m (£107m) buyout clause.
Griezmann made his competitive debut for FC Barcelona on 16 August 2019 in a 1–0 defeat by Athletic Bilbao.
Griezmann was loaned back to his former club Atletico Madrid on a one-year deal in August 2021.
The deal included the option to extend the loan by a further year, and featured an obligatory permanent transfer clause worth €40m to be activated by 2023.
International Career
Antoine netted six goals in 25 games at youth level for France.
He made his senior France debut in a 2-0 win over the Netherlands at the Stade de France on 5 March 2014.
Griezmann was part of France’s 2014 World Cup squad and he got on the score-sheet in their warm-up game against Paraguay. He didn’t, however, manage to score at the tournament as France were eliminated from the World Cup.
Griezmann made amends at Euro 2016. He got on the score-sheet in a 2-0 win over Albania in the tournament opener on French soil.
He netted twice in a 2-1 comeback win over the Republic of Ireland in the round of 16. Antoine was on the score sheet again in a 5-2 victory over Iceland.
Griezmann continued his prolific form with two goals in a 2-1 win against Germany in the European championship semi-final. However, he didn’t score in a 1-0 loss to Portugal in the final.
(Photo: Antoine Griezmann / Instagram)
Personal Life
Antoine married his long-term girlfriend Erika Choperena in 2017. The couple have three children. Antoine is Roman Catholic.
In 2020, Antoine’s father Alain became the president of UF Maconnais, the club where Antoine played in his youth.
His mother Isabelle is of Portuguese descent. Her father, Amaro Lopes, was a Portuguese footballer for Pacos de Ferreira.
(Photo: Antoine Griezmann / Instagram)
Antoine Griezmann – Did You Know?
• His footballing roots can traced to his maternal grandfather Amaro Lopes, who played for Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal.
• Former Brazil and FC Barcelona forward Sonny Anderson was one of his childhood idols.
• Griezmann dubbed the voice of Superman in the French version of Batman: the LEGO movie.
• Antoine is a big fan of basketball, and his NBA favourite player is Derrick Rose.
