Belgian defender Thomas Meunier recently sparked controversy when he said France has the football talent to produce three teams capable of winning the World Cup.
Les Bleus, who are considered as favorites to win this summer’s World Cup along with Spain, will they really be able to lift the title as a second- or third-team team? Maybe not, but their talent is certainly comparable to Mariana Trench.
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Think about it. According to transfermarkt.com, the French line-up, which didn’t make the 26-man quota, will be among the top five teams ahead of Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands and reigning champions Argentina.
Lucas Chevalier 30 million euros ($35 million). Pierre Carles 32 million, Jeremy Jacquet 55 million, Lenny Yolo 50 million, Adrian Traffert 25 million. Boubakar Camara 40 million, Eduardo Camavinga 50 million. Dilani Bakwa 28 million people, Seni Mayur 40 million people or Kefren Thuram 40 million people, Moussa Diaby 28 million people. Junior Crupi 40 million. = 418 million (average 38 million)
So how did Les Bleus get to this point?
It started with frustration after French teams consistently fell short on the biggest stages from the 1930s to the 1970s. National team manager Georges Boulogne said in the early 1970s that the solution would be for the French Football Federation to establish a training academy known as the Center de Formation.
“France has not won any trophies and we decided that we need to create a new structure,” Frank Ventrilla, secretary general of the INF (National Football Association) Clairefontaine, told Al Jazeera.
The government supported the program, seeing it as promoting French ideals through sport and a way to win trophies.
A total of 16 centers were established, the first opening taking place in 1974 at the main site in Vichy. We recruited widely and gathered young players from all over the country and overseas divisions. The center laid the foundation and prepared players for professional careers and the national team.
The record was initially mixed. In the 1980s, France won the European Championship and Olympic titles (both in 1984) and reached the World Cup semi-finals twice, but failed to qualify for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
But by 1998, everything was going well and the so-called “Black Blanc Bourg” team won the World Cup on home soil. This multi-ethnic group represented the changing nature of French society and legitimized the League’s development program. Ventrilla said coach Aimé Jacquet dedicated the victory to “all amateur clubs and academies. This is your trophy as well.”
“We had a lot of talent during the[Michel]Platini,[Alain]Gires and[Jean]Tigana years[inthe1980s]but we can’t win the World Cup,” goalkeeper Bernardo Lama, who captained the national team in the 1990s, told Al Jazeera.
“The difference with our generation was that we all came from the lower ranks, and we were hungry to win titles. And we had an extraordinary talent in Zinedine Zidane.”
France won the World Cup in 2018 and were runners-up in 2006 and 2022.
“We have players who can make a difference.”
Lama traces France’s success to a combination of the contributions of immigrants and centers.
“We have people coming from overseas, like Africa, French Guyana and Martinique, and they give us two things: music and sports,” Rama said.
“And now there is a sub-generation that is coming from abroad. They are French. (Ousmane) Dembélé, (Désirée) Douai, they are French, they are not naturalized, they grew up in France, the majority are around Paris.”
“And you know they’re hungry for a lot of reasons. But it’s not just about jobs. First of all, they have talent.”
Lama recognizes the danger of players becoming over-trained and “robotic” across football, but there are many exceptions that give France an advantage.
“We’re lucky that we still have players who are capable of making a difference,” Lama said. “Perhaps that’s why we are so good. We have players like (Kylian) Mbappé, Dembele and Doué. They are competitive and can individually make the difference, both physically and technically.
“That’s the strength of the national team and the scoring ability of PSG. Today we have probably four or five players – (Magnes) Akurios, (Rajan) Cherki, a different kind of talent. When you have that explosion of talent, it gives the coach more solutions, more attacking solutions.”
Most national team members, regardless of their background, pass through the academy, but their development begins long before that.
“It’s a cultural thing,” Ventorilla said. “In America, when you’re little, you have a basketball or a football in your hands. In France, when you’re a baby, you have a football at your feet, and you can use the facilities for free.”
This part of the formula seems similar to many countries. Is there a secret to France’s development, or is it just better than other countries?
“The secret is a combination of hard work, structure and organization,” said longtime coach and scout Stephen Nad.
“The players are the center and the heart of the project. They will be educated and we will not separate them from their families. It is important for them to keep their roots, and it is also important mentally. This is why France is one of the best in the world in developing players for export,” Nad said.
Training at Clairefontaine combines street game skills with organization, including “a lot of one-on-one, two-on-two,” Ventrilla said. “We have to fight. You’re good with your dribbling and your first touch, but now we’re organizing possession in a five-on-two. As soon as we receive the ball, we have to have good control. We do that well.”
Clairefontaine are currently focusing on a younger age group, ceding responsibility for older players to the club. And development is expanding beyond the centers and established club academies, Ventrilla said.
“Paris and São Paulo are the best regions in the world for talent,” Ventrilla said. “Why? It’s a private academy. It’s an amazing situation. Eight- and nine-year-old kids play every day. The amateur coach gives them a snack at four o’clock, not a meal. After that they do homework and a training session. When they are 12 years old, they play like Mbappe.”
“There’s an amateur club in Paris that no one knows about and they can beat Barcelona (youth teams) and professional clubs. They’re better than PSG or Paris FC. So many players, playing everywhere, at any time, 8 years old versus 10 years old. They’re like soldiers, they fight every day. They’re good because they play under pressure.”
In the 1980s, Les Bleus were known as the “Brazilians of Europe”. It took a while, but France seems to be living up to its name. And they have gone about it in their own way.
“Brazilian coaches (often) said, ‘In our country, we are poor, but we can succeed in soccer and music. That’s why we start our day with soccer,'” Ventorilla said.
“In France, we go to school first and then we practice soccer. We do that every day and like in Brazil we play a lot and play well.”
