{"id":6955,"date":"2026-05-29T14:35:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/world-cup-2026-how-france-created-footballs-deepest-talent-pool\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:35:38","slug":"world-cup-2026-how-france-created-footballs-deepest-talent-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/world-cup-2026-how-france-created-footballs-deepest-talent-pool\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: How France created football\u2019s deepest talent pool"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Belgian defender Thomas Meunier caused debate recently after saying that France has the footballing talent to put out three teams capable of winning the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Could Les Bleus, who are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/21\/world-cup-2026-spain-ex-players-fans-cautiously-embrace-favourites-tag\">co-favourites with Spain<\/a> in this summer\u2019s World Cup, really lift the title with their second- or third-string team? Maybe not, but their talent is certainly Mariana Trench-deep.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/28\/germany-urge-players-to-avoid-political-statements-at-world-cup\">Germany\u2019s Voeller urges players to avoid political statements at World Cup<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/28\/neymar-injury-forces-him-out-of-brazils-first-world-cup-training-session\">Neymar injury threatens Brazil forward\u2019s World Cup as scans needed on calf<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/28\/bafana-bafana-world-cup-squad-south-africa-names-two-uncapped-players\">Two uncapped players named in South Africa\u2019s World Cup squad<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/5\/27\/fifa-subpoenaed-by-new-york-new-jersey-in-world-cup-ticket-investigation\">FIFA subpoenaed by New York, New Jersey in World Cup ticket investigation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Consider this: According to transfermarkt.com, a lineup of French players that didn\u2019t make the 26-man cut would rank in value among the top five teams \u2013 ahead of Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands and reigning champions Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>Lucas Chevalier 30 million euros ($35m); Pierre Kalulu 32 million, Jeremy Jacquet 55 million, Leny Yoro 50 million, Adrien Truffert 25 million; Boubacar Kamara 40 million, Eduardo Camavinga 50 million; Dilani Bakwa 28 million, Senny Mayulu 40 million or Khephren Thuram 40 million, Mousa Diaby 28 million; Junior Kroupi 40 million. = 418 million [38 million average]<\/p>\n<p>So, how did Les Bleus get to this point?<\/p>\n<p>It started with frustration after French teams consistently fell short on the biggest stage from the 1930s to the 1970s. The solution, national team manager Georges Boulogne said in the early 1970s, would be for the French Football Federation to create training academies known as Centres de Formation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrance had not won any trophies, and it was decided they needed to create a new structure,\u201d INF (Institut National du Football) Clairefontaine administrator Franck Bentolila told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>The government backed the programme, viewing it as promoting French ideals through sports, as well as a recipe for winning trophies.<\/p>\n<p>A total of 16 centres were set up, the first opening in 1974 with the main site in Vichy. It recruited widely, drawing young players from the entire country, plus overseas departments. The centres laid a foundation, preparing players for professional careers and the national team.<\/p>\n<p>The record was initially mixed. In the 1980s, France won the European Championship and Olympic Games titles (both in 1984) and reached two World Cup semifinals, but then failed to qualify for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.<\/p>\n<p>But by 1998, everything fell into place, with the so-called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2018\/7\/10\/is-frances-ethnically-diverse-team-a-symbol-of-multiculturalism\">\u201cBlack-Blanc-Beur\u201d<\/a> squad winning the World Cup at home. The multiethnic group represented the changing nature of French society, as well as validating the federation\u2019s development programme. Bentolila said coach Aime Jacquet dedicated the victory to \u201call the amateur clubs and academies \u2013 it\u2019s also your trophy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe [1980s] period with [Michel] Platini, [Alain] Giresse, [Jean] Tigana, had a lot of talent, but we don\u2019t win a World Cup,\u201d Bernard Lama, a goalkeeper who captained the national team in the 1990s, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe difference with our generation, all the guys were from academies. And we were hungry to win a title. And, also, we had one exceptional talent with Zinedine Zidane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>France went on to lift the 2018 World Cup and were runners-up in 2006 and 2022.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4607533\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4607533\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/getty_6a1813b535-1779962805.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C515&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"12 Jul 1998: Joy for France as match winnner Zinedine Zidane lifts the trophy after victory in the World Cup Final against Brazil at the Stade de France in St Denis. Zidane scored twice as France won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Ben Radford \/Allsport\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4607533\">Zinedine Zidane lifts the trophy after France\u2019s victory over Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final [Ben Radford\/Allsport via Getty]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"we-have-players-who-can-make-a-difference\">\u2018We have players who can make a difference\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Lama traces France\u2019s success to the combination of the centres, with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/11\/30\/how-immigration-made-french-football-better\">contribution of immigration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have people coming from overseas \u2013 Africa, French Guyana, Martinique \u2013 they give us two things, music and sports,\u201d Lama said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd, now, there is a sub-generation coming from overseas, and they are French. [Ousmane] Dembele, [Desire] Doue, they are French, they are not naturalised, they grew up in France, the majority around Paris.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd they are hungry, you understand, for a lot of reasons. But, also, it\u2019s not only a question of work; the first thing is they have talent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lama sees a danger in football, more broadly, of players becoming overly drilled and \u201crobotic\u201d, but France has many exceptions who can give them an edge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are lucky to still have these players who are capable of making the difference,\u201d Lama said. \u201cMaybe that is why we are so good, we have players like [Kylian] Mbappe, Dembele, Doue. They hate to lose and, physically and technically, they can make the difference, individually.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd that is the force of the national team, and also PSG, our capacity to score. Today, we have maybe four or five guys \u2013 [Maghnes] Akliouche, [Rayan] Cherki, a different kind of talent. When you have that explosion of talent, it gives the coach more solutions, offensive solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Most national team members, no matter their background, have gone through the academies, but their development starts long before that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s cultural,\u201d Bentolila said. \u201cIn America, when you are young, you have a basketball in your hands, or a football in your hands. In France, you have a football at your feet when you are a baby \u2013 and free access to facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That part of the formula sounds similar to many countries. Is there a secret to French development, or are they just doing it better than most?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe secrets,\u201d said longtime coach and scout Stephane Nado, \u201care a combination of hard work, structure and organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nado said: \u201cThe player is the centre, the heart, of the project. The player will receive education. And we will not take them away from their family. It is important for them to keep their roots, important psychologically. This is why France is one of the best in the world at developing players for export.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Training at Clairefontaine blends street game skills with organisation, including \u201clots of 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2\u201d, Bentolila said. \u201cYou have to fight. You\u2019re good at dribbling and first touch, now you organise possession, 5 vs 2. As soon as you get the ball, you have to have good control. We do that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clairefontaine is now focusing on younger age groups, ceding responsibility for older players to clubs. And development is expanding beyond the centres and established club academies, Bentolila said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cParis and Sao Paulo are the best areas in the world for talent,\u201d Bentolila said. \u201cWhy? Private academies. It is an amazing situation. Kids, eight- and nine-year-olds, playing every day. Amateur coaches offer not a meal, but a snack at 4 o\u2019clock. Then, they do homework and training sessions. When they are 12 years old, they play like Mbappe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Paris, you have amateur clubs nobody knows, and they can beat [the youth teams of] Barcelona and professional clubs. They are better than PSG, Paris FC. So many players \u2013 they play anywhere, any time, eight years old against 10 years old. They are like soldiers, they fight every day, and they are good because they play under pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the 1980s, Les Bleus were dubbed \u201cThe Brazilians of Europe\u201d. It\u2019s taken a while, but France appears to have lived up to the moniker. And they\u2019ve gone about it their own way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrazilian coaches [used to] tell me, \u2018In our country, we are poor, but we can succeed in football or music. So, we start the day with football,\u2019\u201d Bentolila said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn France, we go to school, first, and, after, practise football. We do it every day and, like Brazil, we play a lot, and play well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belgian defender Thomas Meunier caused debate recently after saying that France has the footballing talent to put out three teams capable of winning the World Cup. Could Les Bleus, who are co-favourites with Spain in this summer\u2019s World Cup, really lift the title with their second- or third-string team? Maybe not, but their talent is &#8230; <a title=\"World Cup 2026: How France created football\u2019s deepest talent pool\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/world-cup-2026-how-france-created-footballs-deepest-talent-pool\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about World Cup 2026: How France created football\u2019s deepest talent pool\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}