Top 10 greatest French football players of all time

France has produced some of the greatest footballing icons in the world.

The streets of Paris and Marseille could never forget the exhilaration of 1998 when Zidane’s magical feet led Les Bleus to their first FIFA World Cup victory on their home soil at Stade de France, nor could they forget the magical scenes at Parc des Princes where a ten-man French side clinched their first-ever UEFA Euro Trophy in 1984.

Not just for the national team, the influence of French footballers has reverberated across various European clubs. From Platini’s reign at Juventus to the flair of Zidane at the Santiago Bernabéu to the presence of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, French footballers have time and again proved their dominance in world football for several decades.

In this feature, we delve deep to find out the top 10 greatest French footballers of all time, who left a mark on the beautiful game and wrote their names into the hearts and souls of football fans around the globe.

10) Patrick Vieira

The French midfield maestro was named in the Premier League PFA Team of the Year for six consecutive years from 1999 to 2004. Vieira, one of the all-time favorites of the Gunners, won three Premier League titles and four FA cups with Arsenal before he played an integral part in transitioning Manchester City into the invincible force we know them as today.

Patrick is one of the tactically intelligent midfielders, who is highly regarded for his outstanding athletic and technical attributes. He was part of the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro-winning squads and also helped France to be victorious in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was also named in the elite list of FIFA 100 greatest living footballers in 2004.

9) Laurent Blanc

Blanc earned the nickname of Le President during his initial years at Marseille for his exemplary leadership abilities after his heroics led Marseille to finish fourth in his inaugural season with Les Olympiens. A towering presence in defense, the 6-foot-3-inch defender was nothing less than a nightmare for opposition strikers.

Laurent, who made 243 appearances for Montpellier, remains their all-time leading goalscorer with 83 goals across all competitions. Blanc, who won the 1988 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, was also adjudged the tournament’s golden player by UEFA. He was part of the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro-winning French squad until he formally announced his retirement from international football following the footsteps of his captain, Deschamps.

8) Kylian Mbappé

The 25-year-old French wonder boy is currently regarded as one of the best footballers on the planet. Time and again, Kylian, at such a young age, proved his greatness to the world after he scored a brace against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Finals. He was a nightmare for Argentinian supporters after his heroics knocked out La Albiceleste from the Round of 16 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The world was not ready to witness Mbappé’s masterclass in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Finals in Qatar when he scored two goals after trailing behind to keep Messi waiting for his World Cup victory until the penalties.

In 2017, PSG announced the signing of Mbappé from Monaco at a record-breaking transfer fee of 180 million USD, making him the most expensive teenager ever. With over 300 appearances, Mbappé became the all-time highest goalscorer for PSG, netting 256 goals. A couple of weeks ago, the internet broke when Real Madrid announced the arrival of Kylian Mbappé, putting an end to the seven-year-long transfer saga.

7) Eric Cantona

Cantona, who has starred across French cinematic masterpieces like Elizabeth and Jack Says, was also captain of the French national beach soccer team after hanging his boots from active football. Cantona, who was nicknamed by United loyalists as King Cantona, is highly regarded as one of the best players to have ever stepped foot onto Old Trafford wearing the Red Jersey.

The legendary Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Cantona by quoting, “He illuminated Old Trafford. The place was a frenzy every time he touched the ball.” Cantona made headlines and grabbed a lot of eyeballs when he went on record to exhibit his support for not France but England, his adopted football country, in the 2004 Euros and 2006 FIFA World Cup, clearly showing his dismay and struggle in international football.

6) Lilian Thuram

A UNICEF ambassador and a staunch advocate for curbing racism, Thuram was the most-capped French footballer of all time with 142 appearances until custodian Hugo Lloris surpassed his record in 2018. Thuram began his professional footballing career with Ligue 1-based outfit, Monaco. He played 155 matches for the Red and Whites, winning the Coupe de France in 1991 and reaching the Finals of the European Winner’s Cup in 1993. Thuram joined Juventus with Buffon in the summer of 2001.

He played an integral part in France winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil and Euros 2000 in Belgium. He scored a banger against Croatia in the semi-finals propelling the home side to the finals and was part of a rock-solid French defense that conceded mere 2 goals in 7 matches, making him the winner of the Bronze ball in FIFA World Cup 1998.

5) Didier Deschamps

The nickname “Water Carrier” very well justified the immense hard work and efforts the little boy from Bayonne was willing to put in to reach the summit and etch his name among the greatest French footballers of all time. One of the longest-serving current managers of the French national team, Deschamps led the French side to glory on two major occasions, namely the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euros 2000, in just a span of two years.

Didier, however, began his international career in times of turmoil after Les Bleus failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup two consecutive times in 1990 and 1994. In his second stint with Marseille, he went on to win two first-division titles successively in 1991 and 1992, becoming the youngest captain to lift the trophy. One of the most decorated French footballers, Deschamps won three Serie-A titles with Juventus until he moved on to Stamford Bridge to win the FA Cup with Chelsea.

4) Just Fontaine

Fontaine holds the record for scoring the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup in 1958. He scored a hat trick in his debut match against Luxembourg which resulted in an 8-0 thrashing of Gibraltar of the North. The young lad from Marrakech began his footballing journey with USM Casablanca before moving on to Stade De Reims, where he scored 121 goals across six seasons.

What took legends like Messi, Ronaldo, and Klose to play at least 20 matches to net 13 goals in the biggest footballing competition in the world, Fontaine achieved that miraculous feat in just 6 matches. Had he not been forced to retire after playing just 21 matches for Les Bleus due to a series of persistent injuries, he could have easily still been their all-time highest goalscorer.

3) Thierry Henry

One of the greatest strikers of all time, Thierry Henry’s name still brings a big smile and happiness to the faces of Arsenal fans. Henry showed early signs of greatness when he became the top goalscorer for Les Bleus in the 1998 World Cup-winning campaign on home soil, at just age 20.

He won the Golden Boot in the 2001-02 season, netting 32 goals and leading the North London-based outfit to clinch the Premier League title. Who can forget his heroics in the 2003-04 season when he scored a record-breaking 39 goals for the Gunners in all competitions and etched his name in the hall of fame as Arsenal became the first team in more than a century to remain unbeaten throughout the entire domestic league season?

2) Michel Platini

Nicknamed Le Roi, meaning The King in French, Platini is hailed as one of the very few footballing icons to have ever won the Ballon d’Or for three consecutive years, giving us a hint of his extraordinary footballing abilities. Platini captained the French side to their first-ever Euros victory on home soil in 1984 including his hat trick against Belgium, the winner against Denmark, and a stunning free-kick in the Finals against Spain.

Juventus president Gianni Agnelli hailed Platini by saying, “We bought him for a morsel of bread and he put foie gras on top of it,” after his heroics led The Old Lady to triumph in 1984 and 1986.

1) Zinedine Zidane

Unarguably one of the finest players to have ever played this beautiful game of football, Zidane’s goals and heroics for Les Bleus are still popularly reminisced in every gully and corner of the Hexagon nation. Jean Varraud, a former footballer who discovered Zidane, referred to him by saying, “He’d go past one, two, three, five, six players – it was sublime. His feet spoke with the ball.”

Following France’s victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Zidane became a national hero and his image was projected at the Arc de Triomphe along with the words, Merci Zizou. He came out of retirement to propel France to the World Cup final

in 2006. Had he not been sent off for that awful and bizarre headbutt on Materazzi in the dying minutes of the finals and he took a penalty kick, who knows if France could have been crowned as the world champions? Zidane also won several accolades while playing for Juventus and Real Madrid. In his final game at Santiago Bernabéu, all the players wore commemorative shirts with ZIDANE 2001-2006 below the club’s logo, offering tribute to one of the greatest footballing icons in history.

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