The news fell this Friday: Florian Thauvin officially engaged with RC Lens. A transfer which, beyond the sporting impact for blood and gold, offers Ligue 1 a small perfume of history. Because with this arrival, a symbolic CAP has just been crossed, erasing a record frozen for 25 years.
Seven world champions in activity
From now on, the French championship has seven players having raised the supreme trophy with the Blues: Ousmane Dembélé, Olivier Giroud, Lucas Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Djibril Sidibé, Corentin Tolisso… and therefore Florian Thauvin. To find a trace of such a concentration of French world champions in the elite, you have to go back to the 1999-2000 season, a few months after the 1998 coronation. That year, Fabien Barthez, Bernard Diomède, Stéphane Guivarc'h, Bernard Lama, Robert Pirès, David Trezeguet and Christophe Dugarry evolved in League 1.
The figure could have been even higher this season if Steve Mandanda and Samuel Umtiti had remained respectively in Rennes and Lille. But their departure does not detract from the reach of this new record, which reflects a certain renewed attractiveness of the championship for the tricolor world champions.
7 world champions united … An unprecedented fact for 25 years.
Thirties in search of rebound
However, this statistic must be qualified. Among these seven players, several have spent the thirties and seek to relaunch their careers: Giroud (recruited by Lille), Pogba (arrived this summer in Monaco), or Thauvin. Their presence in Ligue 1 illustrates as much a return to sources as a desire to find playing time and responsibilities.
The most notable remains the distribution of these world champions in France. If PSG aligns three (Dembélé, Hernandez, Kimpembe), he no longer has the monopoly of these prestigious profiles. The others share between Lens, Lille, Toulouse and Lyon, offering wider visibility to this blue heritage.
An Italian record out of reach
The fact remains that this French record remains modest compared to that of Serie A in 2006-2007. Just after the coronation of Squadra Azzurra, 20 of the 23 Italian world champions were playing in their national championship. An exceptional density that no league has equally equaled … and that Ligue 1 will probably not be upon soon.
