Jean Butez: Como Goalkeeper's Unexpected Call-Up to France National Team
Jean Butez stepped off a plane thinking only about Como’s away trip. By the time he collected his luggage, he had become an international footballer.
At 31 years and three months, the Como goalkeeper has received a first, unexpected call-up to the France national team, drafted in late after RC Lens keeper Robin Risser withdrew with physical issues following talks between the medical staffs. One man’s misfortune opened the door to a story that has taken the long way round.
Butez is now the oldest player to earn a maiden selection for Les Bleus since Gerard Farison back in 1976. Almost half a century on, that record has finally fallen.
A phone buzz, a life changed
The scene was ordinary enough. A return flight from an away game, Como players scattered across the cabin, minds drifting home. Then Butez’s phone lit up as the wheels hit the tarmac.
“We were coming back from an away game with Lucas in particular. The message on landing was nice,” he said after arriving at CNF Clairefontaine. In a few lines of text, Zinedine Zidane’s staff had rewritten his career.
He had seen the statistic about his age, too. “I saw that stat, it’s pretty cool that I’m the one who broke that record. But you’re never too old for your first selection. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting it.”
There was no wild celebration, no chest-beating. Just a mix of disbelief, gratitude, and a nod to the man he replaces. Butez made a point of expressing sympathy for the injured Risser, aware that his own joy is tied to another keeper’s frustration.
“Now, I’m here to replace him and discover a bit of this world, this group,” he added. “And I’m the happiest.”
From Antwerp hero to Clairefontaine
This is not a fairytale plucked from nowhere. Butez has been building towards this stage for years, far from the brightest spotlights.
Lille, Mouscron, Royal Antwerp, now Como: his CV is a tour of European football’s less glamorous corridors, marked by steady growth rather than sudden hype. In 2023 he stood at the heart of Royal Antwerp’s historic domestic treble, stacking up 27 clean sheets in a season that finally pushed his name into wider conversations.
That body of work has now carried him into Clairefontaine, where he has just completed his first training session with Les Bleus under newly appointed goalkeeping coach Fabien Barthez. A World Cup winner guiding a 31-year-old debutant – the contrast underlines how unusual this call-up is, and how deserved.
Butez, for his part, is not here to make up the numbers. He brings years of senior football, European experience, and a reputation for reliability to a group bracing for a brutal schedule.
Thrown into the Nations League grind
France’s Nations League calendar offers no gentle introduction. Four matches in eleven days: Turkey, Italy, then a double-header against Belgium. It is a run that will test every outfield player – and every goalkeeper.
In that context, Butez’s arrival is more than a romantic storyline. He gives Zidane extra security and genuine competition in a department where injuries and fatigue can shift the hierarchy overnight.
The Como keeper knows his role: depth, pressure on the established names, readiness if the chance comes. The shirt may or may not follow the call-up, but the door is open now.
France will chase a forceful start to their Nations League campaign. Somewhere behind the headline acts, a 31-year-old rookie is preparing, finally, for his first shot at the highest level.
