Top 10 French footballers of all time

#1 Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane

Perhaps the greatest footballer of all-time, there have been few artists as great as Zidane to take to the football field. He was apparently capable of everything with the ball at his feet, and achieved technical levels of incredible brilliance.

Zidane shot to fame after moving to Juventus in 1996 and was the key protagonist as France lifted the World Cup in 1998. By scoring two headers in the final against Brazil, despite having a mediocre tournament by his otherwise lofty standards, he proved that he was more than a mere artist; he was capable of deciding matches of the utmost importance.

It was a habit he continued throughout his career, in which he helped Juventus to win Serie A twice before moving to Real Madrid and helping the great Bernabeu side to break their long duck without a European trophy. He could barely have done it in any more spectacular a fashion, scoring an incredible winning volley in the final of 2002 that will go down in the game’s history.

In total, he won 108 caps for France, showing his mercurial side in his final competitive appearance as he was sent off in the 2006 World Cup final for headbutting Marco Materazzi. Earlier in that same match, he scored a penalty with a Panenka – the type of brilliance in the highest pressure situation that few are capable of.