Where does Karim Benzema rank among the best French players in history?
Real Madrid’s talisman, Karim Benzema was recently awarded the best French player of the year for 2021. And, with his recent win in the final of the UEFA Nations League, he also became the most decorated French player in history with 28 career titles to his name which includes the latest Supercopa de Espana addition. The Frenchman’s recent success has forced me to wonder where he ranks among the best French footballers of all time. This, therefore, is an attempt to find an answer to the same.
Honorary Mention: Starting with the honorary mention who just missed out on a top-10 finish is one of France’s key campaigners in their 1998 World Cup triumph. An absolute rock to his side, the center-back Marcel Desailly could only make it to an honorary mention although for no mistake of his own. The quality of players in this magnificent nation is such that would probably leave him a little hard-done-by.
He also has a European Championship medal to his name that France won in 2000. He was named the captain on Didier Deschamps’s retirement. He led his French side to a confederation cup success in 2001 and hung his boots in 2004 with 116 Caps for the national side.
10. Eric Cantona
Placing Eric Cantona over Marcel Desailly is a big call. And, his bad-boy attitude indeed limited Cantona from success on the International front. But, at the club level, Cantona was an absolute emblem of Manchester United who wore the iconic Red’s number 7 shirt. A responsibility he justified until the very end. The sort of magic Cantona could produce with the ball on his feet, is enough reason for me to have him in the top-10 French players of all time.
His trophy Cabinet lacks major continental success but he does have five Premier League titles, four with Manchester United and one with Leeds United, six English Super Cups, one with Leeds and rest with United, and two FA Cups with the Reds among other major titles from his time at Marseilles. Although his partner in the attack was the magnificent, Jean-Pierre Papin it is hard to digest that the Les Bleus didn’t fare better on the International stage.
9. Jean-Pierre Papin
If I had to choose between Cantona and Papin, the latter would be my obvious choice. While Cantona was out from the International scene, Papin enjoyed a better spell without him. France cruised to a third-place finish in the 1986 World Cup and Papin, the newcomer was a key campaigner for Les Bleus.
His club career too was arguably better than Eric Cantona with two successes at the continental stage. He won the coveted Champions League with AC Milan in 1994 and the UEFA Super Cup with Bayern Munich in 1996. But, it was actually his time in France where he absolutely shines, having finished as the top scorer of Ligue 1 for five consecutive seasons, from 1987/88 through 1991/92. He finally won his Ballon d’Or in 1991 for his exploits with Olympique Marseilles.