List of France international footballers

This article is about France national football team players with at least 20 appearances. For a list of all national team players with a Wikipedia article, see the France international footballers category. For the current national team squad, see current squad.

France (left) lineup ahead of the UEFA Euro 2000 Final against Italy

The France national football team (French: Equipe de France) represents the nation of France in international association football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation (French: Fédération Française de Football), the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which encompasses the countries of Europe. The team played its first official international match on 1 May 1904 against Belgium. Since its first competitive match, more than 800 players have made at least one international appearance for the team, only players with 20 or more offici Jean Ducret became the first French international to reach 20 caps, doing so on 29 March in a 2–0 defeat to Italy. He was also one of the first permanent captains of the national team. Ducret was later surpassed by defender Raymond Dubly and goalkeeper Pierre Chayriguès, who both played with the national team up until 1925. Dubly finished his international career with 31 caps. Three years after retiring from the national team, Dubly's amount was exceeded by Jules Dewaquez, who went on to finish his career with 41 appearances. Dewaquez's record stood for nearly a decade before his amount was equaled by Edmond Delfour in 1938 and later surmounted by Étienne Mattler a year later. Similar to Dubly, Mattler's amount was exceeded, however after two decades, by former Stade de Reims defenders Roger Marche and Robert Jonquet. It was the former player who took over the record outperforming Jonquet by just five caps. Marche's 63 appearances remained the France national team record for appearance-making for 24 years, the longest time between the record being broken and set again. Marche was surpassed by Marius Trésor, who set the record after appearing in an October 1983 friendly match against Spain.

Trésor represented France only once afterward and his 65-cap output was subsequently passed by defender Maxime Bossis and midfielder Michel Platini. Bossis surpassed Trésor during qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, while Platini went beyond the former Marseille and Bordeaux player at the tournament itself, in which France finished in third place. Both players retired within months of each other as Bossis finished his career occupying the record, which was now at 76 caps, four more than Platini. After appearing at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Bossis acquired the record of appearing in the most FIFA World Cup matches for France. He was surpassed by goalkeeper Fabien Barthez in 2006. Bossis was passed just six years later by former international teammate Manuel Amoros, who finished his international career with 82 appearances. The 1992–93 UEFA Champions League winner was eventually equaled or outperformed by 12 different players. Of the 12 players, 11 of them played on the team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and six of them went on to become members of the FIFA Century Club, which consists of association football players who have accumulated 100 or more caps. Following the conclusion of UEFA Euro 2004, the record for France national team appearances was held by Marcel Desailly. As a result, Desailly became the first player not born in France or the overseas departments and territories to occupy the record. The current record holder for appearances with the national team is Lilian Thuram, who made 142 total competitive appearances for the team between 1994 and 2008. Thuram broke Desailly's record at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in the team's final group stage match against Togo. He is the second player born in an overseas department to hold the record, the first being Trésor. Both players were born in Guadeloupe.

Players

Appearances and goals are composed of FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Football Championship, and FIFA Confederations Cup matches and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. Players are listed by amount of caps, then amount of goals scored. If amount of goals are equal, the players are then listed alphabetically. Statistics correct as of October 11, 2015.

Key

§	Still active for the national team
†	Played on team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup
GK	Goalkeeper
DF	Defender
MF	Midfielder
FW	Forward

Lilian Thuram is the most-capped male France international having appeared in 142 matches.

Playmaker Zinedine Zidane (108 caps, 31 goals) is the fourth most capped French footballer of all time.

Michel Platini (72 caps, 41 goals) captained France to victory at UEFA Euro 1984.

Midfielder Didier Deschamps (103 caps, 4 goals) captained the France national team to victories at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.

Patrick Vieira (107 caps, 6 goals) was the fifth player to reach 100 caps for France.

Claude Makélélé (71 caps, 0 goals) represented France at four major international tournaments.

Defender Laurent Blanc (97 caps, 16 goals) was declared the fourth best French player of all time by magazine France Football.

Thierry Henry (123 caps, 51 goals) is the national team's all-time leading goal-scorer.

Jean Tigana (52 caps, 1 goal) played on the team that won UEFA Euro 1984.

France national team football players with at least 20 appearances

#	Name	Position	National team career	Caps	Goals	Ref
1	Lilian Thuram	DF	1994–2008†	142	2
2	Thierry Henry	FW	1997–2010†	123	51
3	Marcel Desailly	DF	1993–2004†	116	3
4	Zinedine Zidane	MF	1994–2006†	108	31
5	Patrick Vieira	MF	1997–2009†	107	6
6	Didier Deschamps	MF	1989–2000†	103	4
7	Laurent Blanc	DF	1989–2000†	97	16
=	Bixente Lizarazu	DF	1992–2004†	97	2
9	Sylvain Wiltord	FW	1999–2006	92	26
10	Fabien Barthez	GK	1994–2006†	87	0
11	William Gallas	DF	2002–2010	84	5
12	Youri Djorkaeff	FW	1993–2002†	82	28
=	Manuel Amoros	DF	1982–1992	82	1
14	Franck Ribéry	MF	2006–2014	81	16
=	Karim Benzema§	FW	2007–	81	27
16	Florent Malouda	MF	2004–2012	80	9
17	Robert Pirès	FW	1996–2004†	79	14
18	Maxime Bossis	DF	1976–1986	76	1
19	Hugo Lloris§	GK	2008–	73	0
20	Michel Platini	MF	1976–1987	72	41
21	David Trézéguet	FW	1998–2008†	71	34
=	Claude Makélélé	MF	1995–2008	71	0	>
23	Nicolas Anelka	FW	1998–2010	69	14
24	Éric Abidal	DF	2004–2013	67	0
=	Patrice Evra§	DF	2004–	67	0
26	Marius Trésor	DF	1971–1983	65	4
27	Emmanuel Petit	MF	1990–2003†	63	6
=	Roger Marche	DF	1947–1959	63	1
29	Luis Fernández	MF	1982–1992	60	6
30	Henri Michel	MF	1967–1980	58	4
=	Robert Jonquet	DF	1948–1960	58	0
=	Willy Sagnol	DF	2000–2008	58	0
33	Patrick Battiston	DF	1977–1989	56	3
34	Christophe Dugarry	FW	1994–2002†	55	8
35	Jean-Pierre Papin	FW	1986–1995	54	30
36	Christian Karembeu	MF	1992–2002†	53	1
37	Didier Six	MF	1976–1984	52	13
=	Jean Tigana	MF	1980–1988	52	1
39	Bacary Sagna§	DF	2007–	51	0
40	Mathieu Valbuena§	MF	2010–	50	8
=	Franck Leboeuf	DF	1995–2002†	50	4
=	Joël Bats	GK	1983–1989	50	0
42	Dominique Rocheteau	FW	1975–1986	49	15
=	Sidney Govou	MF	2002–2010	49	10
44	Jean Djorkaeff	DF	1964–1972	48	3
45	Alain Giresse	MF	1974–1986	47	6
47	Jean Vincent	FW	1953–1961	46	22
=	Étienne Mattler	DF	1930–1940	46	0
49=	Eric Cantona	FW	1987–1995	45	20
=	Raymond Kopa	MF	1952–1962	45	18
=	Basile Boli	DF	1986–1993	45	1
52	Georges Bereta	FW	1967–1975	44	4
=	Jean-Jacques Marcel	DF	1953–1961	44	3
=	Alou Diarra	MF	2004–2012	44	0
=	Bernard Lama	GK	1993–2000†	44	0
56	Bernard Bosquier	DF	1964–1972	42	3
57	Jules Dewaquez	FW	1920–1929	41	12
=	Djibril Cissé	FW	2002–2011	41	9
=	Edmond Delfour	FW	1929–1938	41	2
=	Samir Nasri	MF	2007–2013	41	5
61	Vincent Candela	DF	1996–2002†	40	2
=	Mikaël Silvestre	DF	2001–2006	40	2
=	Gérard Janvion	DF	1975–1982	40	0
64	Franck Sauzée	MF	1988–1993	39	9
=	Armand Penverne	DF	1952–1959	39	2
=	Christian Lopez	DF	1975–1982	39	1
=	Yohan Cabaye§	MF	2010–	39	3
68	Bernard Lacombe	FW	1973–1984	38	12
=	Olivier Giroud§	MF	2011–	38	10
70	Roger Piantoni	FW	1952–1961	37	18
=	Jean-Marc Ferreri	MF	1982–1990	37	3
=	Jocelyn Angloma	DF	1990–1996	37	1
73	Charly Loubet	FW	1967–1974	36	10
=	Georges Carnus	GK	1963–1973	36	0
=	Jérémy Toulalan§	MF	2006–2010	36	0
76	Paul Nicolas	FW	1920–1931	35	20
=	Georges Lech	FW	1963–1973	35	7
=	Blaise Matuidi§	MF	2010–	35	4
=	Raymond Kaelbel	DF	1954–1960	35	1
80	Bruno Bellone	FW	1981–1988	34	2
=	Grégory Coupet	GK	2001–2008	34	0
82	Maryan Wisnieski	FW	1955–1963	33	12
=	Yannick Stopyra	FW	1980–1988	33	11
84	Jean Baratte	FW	1944–1952	32	19
85	Alfred Aston	FW	1934–1946	31	5
=	Raymond Dubly	FW	1913–1935	31	4
=	Yoann Gourcuff§	MF	2008–2013	31	4
=	André Lerond	DF	1957–1963	31	0
=	Bruno Martini	GK	1987–1996	31	0
=	Alex Thépot	GK	1927–1935	31	0
91	Hervé Revelli	FW	1966–1975	30	15
=	Marcel Langiller	FW	1927–1937	30	7
=	Loïc Rémy§	MF	2009–	30	7
=	Bernard Casoni	DF	1988–1992	30	0
95	Philippe Mexès§	DF	2002–2012	29	1
=	Moussa Sissoko§	MF	2009–	29	1
97	Yvon Le Roux	DF	1983–1989	28	1
=	Lassana Diarra§	MF	2007–2010	28	0
99	Bernard Genghini	DF	1980–1986	27	6
=	Jean-Alain Boumsong	DF	2003–2009	27	1
=	Antoine Cuissard	MF	1946–1954	27	1
102	Patrice Loko	FW	1993–1997	26	7
=	Alain Boghossian	MF	1997–2002†	26	2
=	Mathieu Debuchy§	MF	2011–	26	2
=	Adil Rami§	DF	2010–2013	26	1
=	Jean-Philippe Durand	MF	1988–1992	26	0
=	François Remetter	GK	1953–1959	26	0
=	Jean Wendling	DF	1959–1963	26	0
109	Jean Nicolas	FW	1933–1938	25	21
=	Oscar Heisserer	MF	1936–1948	25	8
=	Reynald Pedros	MF	1993–1996	25	4
=	Mamadou Sakho§	MF	2010–	25	2
=	Alain Roche	DF	1988–1996	25	1
=	Joseph Bonnel	MF	1962–1969	25	1
=	Julien Darui	GK	1939–1951	25	0
=	Jean-Paul Rostagni	GK	1969–1973	25	0
=	Alexandre Villaplane	MF	1926–1930	25	0
118	Émile Veinante	FW	1929–1940	24	14
=	Jérémy Ménez§	MF	2010–2013	24	2
=	François Hugues	MF	1919–1927	24	1
=	André Chorda	DF	1960–1966	24	0
=	René Ferrier	MF	1958–1964	24	0
123	Steve Marlet	MF	2000–2004	23	6
=	André Strappe	MF	1949–1954	23	4
=	Robert Herbin	MF	1960–1968	23	3
=	Philippe Bonnardel	MF	1920–1927	23	0
=	Éric Di Meco	DF	1989–1996	23	0
=	Laurent Koscielny§	MF	2011–	23	0
129	Roger Courtois	FW	1933–1947	22	10
=	Paul Pogba§	MF	2013–	22	5
=	Christian Perez	FW	1988–1992	22	2
=	Yann M'Vila§	MF	2010–2012	22	1
=	Pascal Vahirua	FW	1990–1994	22	1
=	Jean-Pierre Adams	DF	1972–1976	22	0
=	Benoît Pedretti	MF	2002–2005	22	0
=	Thierry Tusseau	MF	1977–1986	22	0
=	Jules Vandooren	DF	1933–1942	22	0
138	Just Fontaine	FW	1953–1960	21	30
=	Joseph Ujlaki	FW	1952–1960	21	10
=	André-Pierre Gignac	MF	2009–	21	5
=	Marcel Artelesa	DF	1963–1966	21	1
=	Olivier Dacourt	DF	2001–2004	21	1
=	Dominique Baratelli	GK	1969–1982	21	0
=	Pierre Bernard	GK	1960–1965	21	0
=	Pierre Chayriguès	GK	1911–1925	21	0
=	Bruno Rodzik	DF	1960–1963	21	0
=	Sébastien Squillaci	DF	2004–2010	21	0
=	Urbain Wallet	DF	1925–1929	21	0
149	Dominique Bathenay	DF	1975–1982	20	4
=	Yvon Douis	FW	1957–1965	20	4
=	Louis Saha	FW	2004–2012	20	4
=	Jean Ducret	MF	1910–1914	20	3
=	Anthony Réveillère	MF	2003–2012	20	1
=	Marcel Aubour	DF	1964–1968	20	0
=	William Ayache	DF	1983–1988	20	0
=	Marcel Domergue	DF	1922–1928	20	0
=	Jacky Novi	DF	1969–1972	20	0
=	Gaël Clichy§	MF	2008–2013	20	0
=	Steve Mandanda§	GK	2008–	20	0
=	Raphaël Varane§	DF	2013–	20	2

See also

• List of leading goalscorers for the France national football team
• List of France national football team captains

External links

• Template:Fr icon Official site