15 minutes were enough for Warren Zaire-Emery to break two historic records for the Blues. Established this Friday during the biggest success in the history of the French team against Gibraltar (14-0), the PSG midfielder has in fact become the youngest international of the post-war period, just 17 years, 8 months, and 10 days, pushing back a record previously held by Eduardo Camavinga (17 years, 9 months, and 29 days).
And as he had already expressed his desire to break records, the native of Montreuil matched his words with actions by sending to the archives section another property of the Madrilenian: that of the youngest French scorer of the post-war period, the absolute record belonging for more than a century to Maurice Gastiger, scorer at 17 years and four months in February 1914. Figures which necessarily testify to a rare precocity, and intensified when comparing his situation to those of his teammates during their first goal for the selection.
Kylian Mbappé was an adult when he scored his first goal
Full of confidence and vaccinated against pressure since he was very young, Kylian Mbappé had until now often moved up the scale of precocity. On August 31, 2017, the day he signed for PSG, the native of Bondy scored his first goal for the selection against the Netherlands (4-0), at only 18 years old. A slight delay on his teammate at PSG, therefore, even if he had already piled up the victims a few months earlier in the Champions League with AS Monaco. Yesterday, the former Monegasque scored his 300th career goal… at just 24 years old.
Author of a double against Gibraltar, Kingsley Coman scored his 7th and 8th goals for the Blues. His first was scored in March 2016 during a victory against Russia (4-2). The Parisian titi was then 19 years old. That’s one less thanOusmane Dembélé. Another phenomenon of precocity, the player trained at Stade Rennais stood out one evening in June 2017 during a friendly against England (3-2). His technical relationship with Kylian Mbappé – his decisive passer that evening – had also amazed the French public. He then scored his first goal for the Blues at the age of 20.
Marcus Thuram was almost 10 years older than Zaire-Emery
However, it is necessary to consult the Clairefontaine archives to go back to the first goal ofOlivier Giroud, as the native of Chambéry stacked them up (with 56 goals, he remains to this day the top scorer in the history of the Blues) and established himself as a permanent member of the France group. Still from Montpellier at the time, the 2018 world champion waited until he was 25 to score in a friendly victory against Germany (2-1), one evening in February 2012. That’s two more than ‘Antoine Griezmann, fourth top scorer for the Blues. The former Real Sociedad had added his name to the list of French scorers just before the 2014 World Cup, against Paraguay (1-1), in Nice, with a nice goal with his right foot when he had 23 years.
Nice is a city now inseparable from the history of Jonathan Claus and of Youssouf Fofana with the tricolor tunic. Yesterday at Allianz Riviera, the two players respectively scored their first goal for the national team at 31 and 24 years old. 24 years old is also the age at which Randal Kolo Muani stood out in the eyes of the general public last December, against Morocco (2-0). A Qatari evening where Theo Hernandez had also scored, even though he had already found the net against Belgium, a year earlier, also the day before his 24th birthday.
Dayot Upamecano had been a little earlier. Scorer during his second selection against Croatia, in September 2020, the Munich defender then showed 21 years on his marital status. By scoring yesterday against Gibraltar, Adrien Rabiot scored his 4th goal for the Blues, three years after his first in a slap inflicted on Kazakhstan (8-0). He was then 25 years old. Last scorer of the 23 players summoned by Didier Deschamps during this gathering, Marcus Thuram experienced a late bloom among the Blues. The Inter Milan striker had to wait until he was 26 before scoring his first goal for the A. It was in September, against Ireland (2-0), at the Parc des Princes. He then took over Warren Zaire-Emery’s garden for an evening.
