1. Griezmann was born on 21 March 1991 in Macon, France, and started his career at UF Maconnais, where his father was a coach. He supported Lyon as a boy and had trials with the French giants, but was rejected for his slender frame. It was Real Sociedad who eventually took a chance on the 13-year-old.
2. He would go on to represent France, but things could have turned out very differently. His maternal grandfather, Amaro Lopes, was Portuguese and played for Paços de Ferreira before migrating to France in the 1950s. The Portuguese Football Federation tried to convince him to declare for them in 2008, but he stuck with his homeland.
3. Griezmann made his senior bow on 2 September 2009 in the Copa del Rey for Real Sociedad against Rayo Vallecano. Some 13,000 turned out to see him emerge as a late substitute, though he couldn’t prevent a 2-0 loss.
4. His first trophy was the Segunda Division title. Sociedad were relegated in 2007 following 40 years in the top flight and spent three years in the second tier. Griezmann played 39 times in their title-winning campaign, scoring seven.
5. In January 2013, he faced off against Luka Modric for the first time in a 4-3 defeat to Real Madrid. He would go up against the Croatian a career-high 41 times.
6. He attained legendary status at his boyhood club by netting the winning goal versus Deportivo La Coruna on the final game of the 2012/13 campaign, with victory sending La Real into the UEFA Champions League after a decade away.
7. Griezmann wears number 7 and long sleeves in homage to David Beckham.
8. His France bow came on 5 March 2014 in a friendly win over the Netherlands. He played alongside fellow future FIFA World Cup™ winners Olivier Giroud, Hugo Lloris, Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba and Raphael Varane.
9. He netted his first international goal in just his third cap, with Griezmann curling home a sumptuous effort from just inside the area to give France the lead against Paraguay in their first Brazil 2014 warm-up match.
10. Griezmann moved to Atletico Madrid shortly after the finals, making his debut in the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid. That match marked the first of a career-high 415 alongside fellow Atleti icon Koke.
11. He netted his first Champions League goal on 16 September 2014 in a 3-2 defeat to Olympiacos. That strike began a run of scoring in 12 straight campaigns – a total only bettered by five players.
12. The first three of his children were born on the same day. He and his wife, Erika Choperena, became parents for the first time on 8 April 2016 with their daughter, Mia. Exactly three years later Amaro was born before, remarkably, two years later they welcomed Alba to the world.
13. His best goalscoring season came in 2015/16. He played predominantly as a second striker behind Fernando Torres, netting 32 times and laying on seven assists as Atleti reached the Champions League final.
14. He was voted as the Player of the Tournament at UEFA EURO 2016. Six goals and two assists saw them reach the decider, only to lose out to Portugal on home soil.
15. Those exploits saw him place third in The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
16. Griezmann was named Player of the Match in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ decider versus Croatia. His wicked cross flew in off Mario Mandzukic for the first goal, he netted the second himself from the spot and helped set up Paul Pogba for the third in a 4-2 victory.
17. That penalty in the decider continued Griezmann’s 100-per-cent-record at the tournament with three spot-kicks taken. Only Gabriel Batistuta, Eusebio and Rob Rensenbrink have better perfect records.
18. His heroic Russia 2018 campaign saw him take home the adidas Silver Boot with four goals and two assists, while he was also awarded the adidas Bronze Ball.
19. Griezmann is an avid gamer. After scoring versus Croatia in the Russia showpiece, he celebrated with the ‘Take the L’ dance from Fortnite. He has also chronicled his time in charge of Arsenal, Blackburn and Newcastle on Football Manager.
20. He is also a huge basketball fan. In 2018, he announced he was staying at Atletico Madrid in a video message titled ‘The Decision’, mimicking LeBron James’ live announcement that he was joining the Miami Heat in 2010.
21. In 2019, Netflix released the documentary ‘Antoine Griezmann: The Making of a Legend’. The show detailed Griezmann’s early life and how he broke into the Real Sociedad first team.
22. He netted his seventh UEFA EURO goal versus Hungary at the 2020 tournament. Only Cristiano Ronaldo with 14 and Michel Platini with nine can top his tally at the continental finals.
23. Griezmann helped France to the Qatar 2022 decider, though they were edged out by Argentina. No player recorded more than his five assists across the two most recent global finals.
24. He sits joint-15th on the all-time World Cup appearances list with 19. Only Hugo Lloris on 20 can better him among Frenchmen.
25. Across 2022/23, Griezmann managed 31 goals and assists in La Liga. That was a record for a player not turning out for Barcelona or Real Madrid until Girona’s Artem Dovbyk managed 32 in 2023/24.
26. From August 2017 to November 2023, Griezmann didn’t miss a match for France. He played in a mind-boggling 84 consecutive games for Les Bleus, until an ankle sprain ruled him out of the March 2024 internationals.
27. In January 2024, he surpassed Luis Aragones to become Atleti’s all-time top scorer by netting his 174th goal for the club against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.
28. Griezmann brought the curtain down on his France career in September of that year. All of his 137 caps came during Didier Deschamps’ tenure – the most by a European player under one coach this century.
29. A record 94 of his caps came alongside Olivier Giroud. In total, he played with 95 different players for Les Bleus.
30. His 44 goals for France were scored against 24 different nations. Germany are the team he netted the most against with five.
31. Across his club and international career, Griezmann has scored at least once in every minute from 1-90.
32. He sits 11th on the all-time list of La Liga goalscorers with 204. Nine more would see him join level with Pahino and into the top ten.
33. Athletic Club and Valencia have been his favourite opponents, netting 14 against the pair.
34. Diego Simeone is, unsurprisingly, the coach he’s played the most matches for. He has featured under the Argentinian 486 times.
35. Griezmann’s nickname is ‘Le Petit Prince’ or ‘The Little Prince’, after the most famous literary work of Antoine de Saint-Exupery. He has a tattoo on his arm in Arabic of a Saint-Exupery quote which reads: “Make your life a dream, and a dream, a reality.”
