While England’s 56-year quest for a men’s World Cup takes them to Al Khor on Saturday to face France, the nation’s world-renowned top flight has done remarkably well out of Les Bleus when it comes to boasting world champion players.
Of the 12 players ever to have won the World Cup while representing Premier League clubs, eight have worn the famous blue of France (for the quiz enthusiasts, the other four – Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski, Andre Schurrle and Per Mertesacker – were part of Germany’s 2014 squad).
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In 1998, Aime Jacquet made the most of having a new-found Premier League influence at a key moment in Les Bleus’ first World Cup win. While Emmanuel Petit had started every game other than the 4-0 group win over Saudi Arabia, Arsenal team-mate Patrick Vieira and Chelsea’s Frank Leboeuf had been used only when Group C was already won and Denmark arrived for their clash in Lyon.
But when Laurent Blanc was sent off in the semi-final it opened the way for Leboeuf to deputise in the biggest game of his life, and Vieira was brought on to replace Youri Djorkaeff for the last 15 minutes as Jacquet looked to get extra legs in midfield to punish an over-stretched Brazil side looking to wipe out France’s 2-0 lead.
After Petit put the result beyond doubt in injury time, the whole nation began to celebrate. The Premier League had its own little piece of history too, with Petit, Leboeuf and Vieira becoming the new division’s first World Cup winners.
They would all become mainstays of arguably the greatest spell of France’s history, their combined 24 caps prior to moving to England being transformed into 220 total international appearances, with Vieira logging all of his 107 caps after leaving AC Milan for Arsenal in 1996.
Twenty years on, there was a quintet of Premier League players in France’s second world title in Russia, with four – Hugo Lloris, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud – being regular starters in the run to glory under Didier Deschamps.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Lloris captained the side in goal, while Manchester United’s Pogba partnered with Kante of Chelsea to form a multi-functional midfield axis. And although he played in all seven games without scoring, Chelsea striker Giroud was one of France’s best-performing stars as he provided the focal point for a vibrant attacking unit.
There has been a symbiotic relationship between l’Hexagone and the modern English top flight over the last 30 years, and if Les Bleus were to retain their crown in Qatar they would add another five names to the golden list, with Lloris becoming the first player to win the World Cup twice while representing an English club.
Of course, a win for the Three Lions would dwarf that French number, while a sixth world crown for Brazil would come complete with 13 current Premier League links. But it is Les Bleus whose EPL contingent have delivered on the World Cup stage more than once before.
‘The best league in the world’ could well be about to supply some more world champions.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
