If you are French and enjoy soccer, then you’ll enjoy our list of the top 15 best French soccer players of all time.
Football, soccer or association football is a team sport. Though its name is association football it’s more commonly known as football outside of the U.S. This game played between two teams consists of eleven players in each team and is one of the most popular sports in the world. It is currently played by more than 250 million people all over the 200 countries.
Football is played on a rectangular field with a goal post on each side, and the objective is to get the ball into the opposing team’s goal post. There is also a referee and two sidemen available to supervise and control the discipline of the game. The players are not able to touch the ball with anything other than their legs or feet, except the goalkeeper. The match time is only 90 minutes, and after that time, the referee declares the winning team by their goal points. These rules were first introduced in England by The Football Association in 1863. They governed the game internationally with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). Now, they organize world cups for both men and women. If you are curious to know where the best soccer is played, check out our list of top 25 best soccer countries of all time.
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France is a big name in world football. They won their first and only world cup final in 1998 apart from their success in the 1984 European Championship. There are many good football players in France, and their French squad Euro 2016 was full of great players. It wasn’t easy to create this list, but we have looked into the French football players 2017 along with the best French soccer players 2017. We just did not focus on 2017 as the list contains all the best French soccer players of all time. We also searched for the French football players 2016 to know who was best in 2016. Then we have found some of the best French soccer players 2016 who played really well. There are also many French American football players in their national squad. We have also searched for French strikers FIFA 17 to find out the best and do you know what? Thierry Henry is the best French striker ever.
When it comes to the rest of the world (in men’s soccer at least), the U.S. doesn’t stand a chance. Even in the U.K, they have some famous clubs in their country like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, and many more. In case you want to know more about U.K soccer and their players, check out our list of top 16 best U.K. soccer players of all time.
In order to create this list of the top 15 best French soccer players of all time, we decided to take into consideration the achievements players have made in soccer. First, we found the most popular French soccer players, then we looked into their entire soccer career and to discover their accomplishments in the sport. We also searched for their international goals to determine who is the best. Finally, we categorized the list by their number of goals in the international platform.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s dig into the list of top 15 best French soccer players of all time.
15. Raymond Kopa
International Goals: 18
Position: Forward, Midfielder
Raymond Kopa whose birth name was Raymond Kopaszewski was born in 1931, and he was on the French national soccer team in the 1950s. He was also on the legendary Real Madrid team. His team won three European Cups, and he was one of the leading players of his generation.
14. Jean-Pierre Papin
International Goals: 22
Position: Forward
Jean-Pierre Papin is a former French forward player. He was named European player of the year in 1991, and he was most popular for his goal scoring. He played for A.C Milan, FC Bayern Munich and also played 54 times for the French national team.
13. Marcel Desailly
International Goals: 25
Position: Defender, Midfielder
Marcel Desailly is a retired French soccer player. He was the member of the France International Squad and won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He won many prizes with the UEFA Champions League. He also played for Chelsea.
12. Laurent Blanc
International Goals: 31
Position: Defender
Laurent Blanc is a former French soccer player and now the manager of the team. He played professional football for various famous clubs including Manchester United. He was in the squad when France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He also scored the first golden goal in history in the World Cup against Paraguay.
11. Robert Pirès
International Goals: 37
Position: Midfielder
Robert Pires ranks 11th on our list of top 15 best French soccer players of all time who is a former French soccer player and footballing coach. He played for various famous clubs like Arsenal. He earned 79 caps for his country during 1996 to 2004, and he was in the squad when France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.
10. Just Fontaine
International Goals: 41
Position: Forward
Just Fontaine was born in 1933. He is a retired French footballer. He scored the most goals of 13 in six matches in 1958. Pele also named him one of the “125 Great Living Footballers” in a FIFA ceremony. He was in Real Madrid club and scored 121 goals in just six seasons.
9. Paul Pogba
International Goals: 44
Position: Midfielder
Paul Pogba is a French professional footballer. He plays for Manchester United and is also a member of France national team. He is normally a midfielder, but he is comfortable playing both in forward and as a defender. He established himself as one the most promising young football players in the world.
8. Lilian Thuram
International Goals: 46
Position: Defender
Lilian Thuram ranked eighth on our list of top 15 best French soccer players of all time. He is a retired professional football defender and one of the best player in the history of France national team. He was on the squad when France won 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. He also was also on that squad when France came in as the runners-up in 2006 World Cup.
7. Franck Ribéry
International Goals: 49
Position: Forward, Midfielder
We are continuing our list of top 15 best French soccer players of all time with Franck Ribery who is a French professional footballer and plays for the is German club, Bayern Munich. He is also a former player of the France national team. He primarily plays as a winger. The legend Zinedine Zidane has called him the “jewel of French football.”
6. Thierry Henry
International Goals: 51
Position: Midfielder
Thierry Henry was born in 1977 who is now a retired footballer. He played as a forward, and now he is the assistant manager of the Belgium national team. He is a record goalscorer in France and played for famous clubs like Juventus, Monaco, and Barcelona as well as Arsenal.
5. Antoine Griezmann
International Goals: 52
Position: Forward
Antoine Griezmann is a French professional footballer. He played as a forward player for Atletico and the French national team. He was shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or 2016 Award, but he was on the squad of the team that won the 2010 UEFA championship.
4. Eric Cantona
International Goals: 70
Position: Forward, Midfielder
Eric Cantona is the only French actor who played for the France National Team. He was a large, strong, hardworking forward player. He was in the Manchester United club before he retired. He was selected as Manchester United’s greatest player of all time by Inside United magazine.
3. Patrick Vieira
International Goals: 103
Position: Midfielder
Patrick Vieira is a former midfielder for the French national team. He was born in 1976, and he is a former French footballer and now the head coach of New York FC. He was in Arsenal from 1996 to 2005. He retired in 2011.
2. Michel Platini
International Goals: 139
Position: Forward
Michel Platini ranks second on our list of top 15 best French soccer players of all time. He is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. He came sixth in the FIFA player of the century vote. He won Ballon d’Or three times; in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He is a former French national team football player, manager, and administrator, and he played for the club Juventus.
1. Zinedine Zidane
International Goals: 168
Position: Midfielder
Zinedine Zidane, nicknamed ‘Zizou’, was born in 1972 and is a retired professional footballer. He is the current manager of Real Madrid. In his day, he played as an attacking midfielder. He has about 168 international goals under his belt, so it’s no surprise he was named as the best European footballer in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll in 2004. On the FIFA World cup 1998, Zidan was in the squad, and he was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998,2000, and 2003. He also has his name on FIFA 100 list.
This wraps it up for our list of top 15 best French soccer players of all time.
