STARTING XI
REMAINING SQUAD MEMBERS
3 best players not in the squad:
France's best era was winning the 1998 World Cup followed by Euro 2000 - 8 players make this squad from those teams. 4 players also make the squad from the 1984 Euros winning team - the nation's first major trophy. France are the only World Cup winning team who I don't consider to have ever had a truly 'World-Class' goalkeeper, but Barthez was the best option - he was excellent for them in the '98 and '00 tournaments. Chayrigues, Bats and Lama were close to Darui' 3rd goalkeeper spot on the bench - the margins between all goalkeepers was close. The starting back 5 here is the 5 that played in the Euro 2000 final, although Marius Tresor was close to being a starter for me here. Manuel Amoros can cover both sides at full-back, so there was no need for Maxime Bossis. With Tigana, Giresse, Makelele and Vieira covering the midfield options, N'Golo Kante couldn't make the squad, but it was difficult choosing between him and Makelele especially. Giresse starting allows Zidane and Platini freedom to attack, Griezmann can cover Platini in his role, who I narrowly chose ahead of Eric Cantona here. I could've relied on Kopa as the second choice in this role and picked another natural striker such as Jean Pierre-Papin, but a creative attacking-midfield option off the bench is useful. Although Kopa was not a typical striker, I would expect the front 2 to occasionally split, and Kopa to drift towards the right if needed. Henry is also capable of doing the same on the other side, or Zidane can also drift there. Generally, the team is very flexible. Benzema, Fontaine and Mbappe can be extra striker options, while Mbappe can also be a wide option alongside Ribery. Players By Decade: 1990's (5), 2000's (4), 1980's (4), 2010's (3), 1950's (3), 2020's (2), 1970's (1), 1940's (1) World-Class French Players (32)
Honourable Mentions (Close to Gold):
Angloma / Evra / R.Petit / Y.Djorkaeff Top 20 French Players of All-Time (& their all-time positional rank) |