Golazo, the Sports.fr podcast, gives you the names of the French players who narrowly missed out on a Ballon d’Or. If Zinédine Zidane was crowned in 1998, after France’s success at the World Cup, he would have fully deserved to get a second reward in 2000.
Created in 1956 (by the same four journalists from The Team who were at the origin of the creation of the Champion Clubs’ Cup the year before), the France Football Ballon d’Or has become the benchmark individual award, crowning each year the best European player then the best player of the world from 1995.
Only five French players have registered their name on the Ballon d’Or list: Raymond Kopa in 1958, Michel Platini in 1983, 1984 and 1985, Jean-Pierre Papin in 1991, Zinédine Zidane in 1998 and Karim Benzema in 2022.
“Zizou” should also have been named Ballon d’Or 2000, a few months after the Blues’ coronation at the Euro, but he was beaten by a few points by Luis Figo. The Juventus playmaker received those red cards in the group stage of the Champions League and this visibly pushed the jury of journalists to favor the Portuguese winger (who had won nothing at Barça before joining Real Madrid).
Like 12 French players before him, Kylian Mbappé should appear on the podium of an edition of the Ballon d’Or. Golazo, the Sports.fr podcast, looks back at these Blues who didn’t come far from the individual coronation. Besides Zidane in 2000, Thierry Henry, Franck Ribéry or even Antoine Griezmann could have found a place in this glorious pantheon of the best players in the history of football.
