LOS ANGELES — As Olivier Giroud left the pitch at BMO Stadium on Sunday night, his substitution in the 60th minute against the Vancouver Whitecaps felt like the end before the final whistle. His last appearance in black and gold received a mixed sendoff.
A sizable amount stood, applauding the 38-year-old World Cup winner for France, a Champions League winner with Chelsea. Others stayed seated but offered nods of respect. Some simply waited for play to resume in what became a 1-0 loss to Vancouver.
The reaction mirrored his short stay at LAFC. There were highs — two cup finals in under a year, and goals in both, with the club lifting the 2024 Open Cup with a 3-1 win over Kansas City.
There were lulls — most notably, a 19-match MLS scoring drought that stretched deep into the season.
His arrival last August carried the weight of European pedigree, but the on-field results didn’t quite meet the expectations. Still, Giroud’s presence was never just about goals.
It was about legacy. Leadership. One more footballing chapter before returning home to France to suit up for LOSC Lille, in what may be his final hoorah.
“I wish I could have a bigger impact on the team and on the results,” Giroud said. “At the end of the day, it was a good experience. Now I need a new chapter, I need to challenge myself one more time. When I had the opportunity to come back home to France, I just grabbed it.”
His final numbers with LAFC: five goals, three assists, 37 total appearances.
A pale comparison to his overall résumé.
Across his club career: 291 goals in 755 appearances. For France, the all-time leading scorer with 57 goals, two World Cup Final runs, and a reputation etched among the game’s most dependable strikers of the past two decades.
He followed a path familiar to LAFC — a club that’s become a late-career destination for international stars.
Giorgio Chiellini, one of the sport’s great defenders, joined at 37 in 2022, fresh off a European Championship with Italy in 2020 and an extensive trophy case built at Juventus.
Gareth Bale came at 32, a five-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid and Wales’ all-time leading scorer. Even Giroud’s longtime France teammate and captain, Hugo Lloris, arrived in January 2024 after over a decade with Tottenham and a World Cup to his name.
The value of those names always extended past on-field play.
“There’s a lot of influence that people don’t see that these players with Giroud’s status and experience bring in that people don’t see,” LAFC Co-President and General Manager John Thorrington said. “We’ve had the great fortune of having a number of them in our short history. We don’t measure success with everything that happens on the field with an individual.”
After Sunday’s loss, LAFC sit seventh in the Western Conference. Fresh off an early Club World Cup exit, the focus shifts to playoff positioning and another Leagues Cup run.
Giroud heads home. His time in Los Angeles didn’t end with a storybook farewell, but his stay wasn’t exactly poetic. However, his impact, the quiet lessons passed to LAFC’s next generation, will linger.
For the club, it was simply grateful to yet again learn from one of the sport’s living legends.
“His career has been well documented,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “We’ve all seen him play at the highest level, and he has had an incredible career. In his time here, he was able to share that with a lot of the younger players, with a lot of our players in general, and with us coaches, too.
“We thank him for that. We thank him for all of his knowledge and his experience that he has openly shared with LAFC.”