Ribéry announces international retirement

France winger Franck Ribéry has announced his retirement from international duty with immediate effect.

Ribéry missed this summer’s World Cup in Brazil after suffering a lower back injury in training shortly before the tournament got under way and has now decided he no longer wants to represent Les Bleus.

“I quit,” Ribéry said in an interview with German sports magazine Kicker. “I have found for myself that this moment has come.”

Ribéry, a 2006 World Cup finalist who was Europe’s player of the year in 2013, said he wanted to make way for a younger generation of players.

"I want to focus on my family and concentrate on my work at Bayern Munich and make way in the national team for the many young and exciting players," Ribéry told German magazine Kicker.

Ribéry missed the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil and ends his France career with 16 goals from 81 caps.

He has been one of the star performers in Europe in recent seasons following a £20m move from Marseille to Bayern in 2007, winning four Bundesliga titles and one Champions League with the German club.

Ribéry came third in the voting for Fifa's Ballon d'Or award for the world's best player in 2013, finishing behind Lionel Messi and winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

"One has to know when to stop," he added. "I have experienced so much and now is the time for others to come forward. You could see at the World Cup that we should have no concerns about France's future.

"There were highs and lows but now is the time to start a new chapter in my life."

The decision means Ribéry will not feature at Euro 2016, which is to be held in France.