Ballon d’Or: 4 French Footballers to win the trophy

#1 Zinedine Zidane - 1998

Zinedine Zidane in Semi-final Portugal v France - World Cup 2006

Zinedine Zidane was part of the France U-17, U-19 and U-21 squads and came through the French football youth system. He broke into the senior national team in the year 1994 and made 108 appearances as an attacking midfielder and scored 31 goals for France.

He ensured that France wins the 1998 FIFA world cup and won the Ballon d'Or award the same year. The most infamous event he was part of was the headbutting of Marco Materazzi in the 2006 FIFA world cup.

Before winning the Ballon d'Or award in 1998, Zidane had broken into the Ballon d'Or Top 3 in 1997, losing to Ronaldo in the process. Later in the year 2000, he once again broke into the Top 3 but lost out to Luis Figo at the prime of his career.

After his playing career, he managed the Real Madrid side for 2 years and did have an incredible success with the club as a manager.