Women’s Euros 2025: France’s out LGBTQ+ players taking on England’s Lionesses
Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, Maelle Lakrar and Constance Picaud are out LGBTQ+ players in the French squad. (Getty)
Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, Maelle Lakrar and Constance Picaud are out LGBTQ+ players in the French squad. (Getty)
One of the first matches in the Women’s Euros 2025 this year is England vs France.
While England won the trophy in 2022, France were knocked out in the semi-finals but Les Bleues will be hoping new head coach Laurent Bonadei will bring a change of fortunes.
Tipped as strong contenders this time round, France face the Netherlands and Wales in Group D after their opening match against the Lionesses on 5 July.
Women’s professional football has repeatedly be shown to be well ahead of the men’s game when it comes to LGBTQ+ representation, with a record number of out footballers regularly taking to the pitch, and while the England squad includes a number of well-known LGBTQ+ stars, such as Lucy Bronze, Jess Carter, Lauren Hemp and Beth Mead, France’s are probably not such household names.
So, here’s a guide to the out LGBTQ+ players in the French ranks.
Pauline Peyraud-Magnin
Pauline Peyraud-Magnin was the national team’s first openly gay player and has represented her country 64 times.
The goalkeeper, who now plays for Juventus, in Italy, posted a photo of herself with girlfriend Camille in 2020 while at Spanish side Atlético Madrid.
Speaking about her coming, she said: “I just posted it like that, it was quite sudden. I did not say to myself, ‘We are going to do this to have all the reactions that came’. That was not the aim.
“We read the messages together, there were lots of them. Nice messages. Tough messages, too. Not negative, but hard to hear, to read. Notably a young girl from South America who was saying that it was very difficult to live with her homosexuality over there.
“At that moment, we said to ourselves that we were lucky and we have to take advantage of that. For me, it was normal to post a photo on my account. I did not see the impact that it could have.”
Constance Picaud
Another goalkeeper in the squad is Constance Picaud. She has 13 international caps.
Picaud announced her marriage to another woman on Instagram in 2021. The couple regularly post snaps together, from sunny holidays to ski vacations with their dog, Simba.
In 2024, they welcomed a child into the world and named her Anaë, who often joins her mum at high-profile events, including when the keeper signed for Première Ligue club Fleury last year.
Anaë is seen on a throne-like chair while her mum shook hands with the club officials.
Sandie Toletti
Midfielder Sandie Toletti plays her club football for Real Madrid and has 68 international caps to her name.
Previously, Toletti had been romantically linked to Swiss defender Viola Calligaris. Although the pair have posted pictures together on their Instagram pages for more than two years, they never publicly confirmed that they are dating.
Toletti was part of the France squad at last year’s Paris Olympics.
Maëlle Lakrar
Maëlle Lakrar, is a teammate of Toletti at Real Madrid and has been capped 29 times by France.
Defender Lakrar began playing professional football at the age of 15 and is known to be dating Canadian international Marie Levasseur, who plays for French side Montpellier.
They posted a photo of themselves on holiday, with the caption: “Out of sight, close to heart.”
The Women’s Euros run from 2 July to 27 July.
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