Lucas Hernandez

Atlético Madrid

Born in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, while his father Jean-François Hernandez was playing for Marseille, Hernandez moved to Spain at age four (as a result, he would later speak French with a slight Spanish accent), and joined Atlético Madrid's youth setup in 2007 at age 11 from Rayo Majadahonda. On 9 November 2013, while still a junior, he was called up by manager Diego Simeone for a La Liga match against Villarreal, but remained unused in the 1–1 away draw on the following day. Hernandez made his senior debut on 26 April 2014, starting for the reserves in a 0–1 away loss against Real Sociedad B in the Segunda División B. He appeared in three further matches during the season, as they narrowly avoided relegation; he also signed a new deal with the club in June, running until 2018. Hernandez made his first-team debut on 3 December 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 away success over L'Hospitalet in the campaign's Copa del Rey. His maiden appearance in the Spanish top level took place on the 21st, when he came on as a late substitute for Guilherme Siqueira in a 4–1 away win against Athletic Bilbao.

2015–16 season

On 10 August 2015, Hernandez renewed his contract until 2019 and was definitively promoted to the main squad. His maiden appearance in the UEFA Champions League took place on 15 March 2016, as he replaced injured Diego Godín for extra time of the round-of-16 tie against PSV (0–0 after 120 minutes, 8–7 penalty shootout win);…

Hernandez earned his first cap for France on 6 March 2012, playing the full 90 minutes for the under-16 team in 1–1 friendly draw against Italy at Coverciano. In 2014, he also appeared with the under-18 and under-19 sides. The following year, he was selected for 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament for his performances. Having grown up in Spain, Hernandez was in the process of aquiring Spanish nationality in 2018 to become eligible for the Spain national team. In an interview in March 2018, Hernandez indicated that he might play for Spain stating: "I feel Spanish, Spain has given me everything and if they call me then I will go with them." However the process of getting citizenship was complicated by an ongoing legal case involving his then-girlfriend. That same month, Hernandez was called up to the senior team by manager Didier Deschamps for friendlies with Colombia and Russia. He made his debut against the former, replacing Lucas Digne for the last 14 minutes of the 2–3 loss in Paris. Hernandez was selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He made his debut in the competition on 16 June, playing the entire 2–1 group stage win against Australia; he featured in all of the matches for the eventual champions, playing for the full 90 minutes in six of France's seven matches on their way to winning the tournament and came up with two assists, including one to Kylian Mbappe in the final. In October 2021, ahead of the UEFA Nations League semi-finals against…

Club

As of match played 4 September 2026

International

As of match played 4 June 2026

Hernandez's father, Jean-François, was also a footballer who played as a centre back. Of Spanish descent, he also played for Atlético Madrid; Hernandez's younger brother, Théo, was also raised at the club, and played in the same position. In an interview with Marca in October 2018, he stated that his family had not heard from their father for 12 or 13 years. In 2022, French newspaper L'Équipe found that Jean-François – who went missing in 2004 – was living in Thailand, and had allegedly been legally blocked by his ex-partner from seeing their children. On 25 July 2026, Hernandez married Brazilian model and influencer Victoria Triay at the Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey in Yvelines, France. The ceremony was attended by several footballers, including Kylian Mbappé and Achraf Hakimi.

Legal troubles

On 3 February 2017, Hernandez was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend, who was also summoned to appear in court. Both Hernandez and his girlfriend, Amelia Llorente, were sentenced to 31 days of community service, while Hernandez was also served with a restraining order preventing him from being within 500 metres of Llorente. Hernandez was arrested again in June of the same year for violating the restraining order after he and Llorente landed together in Madrid, returning from their honeymoon. For this violation, on 13 October 2021, Hernandez was sentenced to six-months in prison by a Spanish court; Hernandez successfully appealed his sentence and was instead given a…