Paris is known throughout the world as the city of love.
It is a city of great art and unique fashion, of history and great architecture. The home of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Louvre, it is the French capital and a place for romantics, history-lovers and those seeking cultural delights. But really it should be more known as a city of football.
Paris has played an incredibly influential role in not only French football, but in that many countries around the world. The city of around 2.2 million has produced more top football talent than any other city on the planet in the past 20 years, according to research by RunRepeat. And because of that, France has developed more elite football players who have starred in recent World Cups than any other country.
In total 216 players have come from France and appeared in a World Cup since 2002, compared with 148 from Brazil, 147 from Germany, 144 from Argentina and 136 from England. This year in Russia at the 2018 tournament, 52 players were born on French soil. They include Morocco’s Medhi Benatia, Senegal’s Abdoulaye Diallo and Tunisia’s Syma Ben Youssef.
Roughly 29% of this 52, or 15 of them, hail from Paris. The city could amazingly field its own XI at the current World Cup with a forward line of Kylian Mbappe, Moroccan Amine Harit and Portuguese Raphael Guerreiro, a midfield of Steven Nzonzi, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, a back four of Sengalese Youssouf Sabaly, Moroccan Benatia, Presnel Kimpembe and Benjamin Mendy, and a goalkeeper in Alphonese Areola.
Overall, Paris has provided more World Cup players than Buenos Aires, London, Rio de Janiero, Montevideo, Berlin or anywhere else in the past two decades. But why is this is the case? What is so special about Paris?
Diversity and multiculturism is what makes Paris such a footballing hotbed. It is a city where cultures and backgrounds mend, a place where many migrants make their home and where the round ball is king. The same can be said of western Sydney, New York and parts of London, but not in the same high numbers as Paris.
According to researcher Darko Dukic of RunRepeat: “The diversity of France, and Paris in particular, lends a hand to the range of national teams its citizens can represent. Along with many European migrants residing in Paris, France’s colonial history also means that a large proportion of African and Caribbean immigrants call Paris home.”
Waves of immigration in the past 70 years have changed the make-up of Paris. In 2012 France had a total population of 65.2 million, including 5.7 million immigrants. Eight out of 10 immigrants live in major urban centres and about 38% of immigrants, 2.2 million people, live in Paris.
It has also undeniably helped by being the location of Clairefontaine, France’s famous national football academy, which was established in 1988. The best young football players from the Île-de-France region, of which Paris is the centre, stay at Clairefontaine from the age of 13 to 15 for training and skill development. Parisian footballers like Nicolas Anelka, Louis Saha, William Gallas and Thierry Henry all came through the iconic talent factory.
On Sunday Les Bleus will take on Croatia in a bid to claim their second World Cup title. It will lead by 19-year-old Mbappe, who grew up in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris with a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother. He will be supported by Pogba from Lagny-sur-Marne, Kante, the Parisian son of migrants from Mali, Meny, the left back from Longjumeau and Nzoni, from La Garenne-Colombes.
If France is victorious they will owe a lot to one of Europe’s great old cities, home of six professional clubs and countless fields, pitches, city-stadiums and indoor courts.
