One of the world's foremost football hotbeds, France has produced a wide array of magnificent midfield talent over the years.
These are the very best of them, encompassing players who've starred at home, abroad and for the French national team.
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Only two French players have made more Premier League appearances than Steed Malbranque, who 336 times in the competition.
The attacking midfielder – who never represented France at international level and turned down the chance to play for Belgium, where he was born – is best remembered for his spells at Fulham and Tottenham, winning the 2007/08 League Cup with the latter.
Franck Gaston Henri Sauzee (as his mother called him when he was naughty) must boast one of the Frenchest names in the history of French names.
And he was a pretty handy midfielder, captaining the national team on several occasions and winning the Ligue 1 title, Coupe de France and Champions League with Marseille.
A classy defensive midfielder who expertly kept things ticking for his various teams, Jeremey Toulalan earned 36 caps for France.
He won all of his silverware with Lyon – including the French double in 2007/08 – and also turned out for hometown club Nantes, Monaco and Bordeaux, in addition to a spell in Spain at Malaga.
Diminutive and often devastating, Mathieu Valbuena is a bit of a legend at Marseille, starring in their 2009/10 Ligue title triumph.
Capped 52 times by his country – who he represented at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups – the tricky and versatile playmaker also had spells in Russia, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus.
A major trophy winner in France, Spain and England – where he lifted the FA Cup with Chelsea and Portsmouth – Lassana Diarra was, for a short time, one of the best defensive midfielders around.
His form for Pompey earned him a big move to Real Madrid, where he spent three successful years before seeing out his career with spells in Russia, the UAE and back home.
A highly adaptable player who could line up anywhere in the middle of the park and even at right-back, Mathieu Flamini spent the bulk of his career with Arsenal, winning three FA Cups and helping the Gunners to their first ever Champions League final in 2006 – as well as scooping the club’s 2007/08 Player of the Season award.
Probably unfortunate to only be capped three times by France, Flamini helped AC Milan to the 2010/11 Serie A title.
Eduardo Camavinga’s career is really still only just beginning – he’s 21 at the time of writing – but he’s already proven what a world-class midfielder operator he is.
A highly versatile defensive midfielder who can also be deployed at left-back, the Champions League-winning Real Madrid star – who was born in Angola and moved to France aged two – featured throughout France’s run to the 2022 World Cup final.
Arriving from Lille in the summer of 2011, Yohan Cabaye soon established himself as one of Newcastle’s biggest stars of the Premier League era.
Exceptionally creative and tirelessly hard-working in equal measure, the 48-cap France international left the Magpies for PSG after only two-and-a-half years – and won two Ligue 1 titles – but returned to England in 2015 to add his quality to Crystal Palace, where he made just shy of 100 Prem appearances.
That Real Madrid were prepared to shell out €80m to secure his services from Monaco in 2022 tells you a lot about the regard in which Aurelien Tchouameni is held – and justifiably so.
One of the best defensive midfielders in the game, he played a key role for France as they reached the 2022 World Cup final, scoring in the quarter-final victory over England en route.
A legend at Saint-Etienne and PSG, Dominique Bathenay won multiple Coupes de France with both clubs, as well as three successive Ligue 1 titles with the former between 1974 and 1976.
Included in France’s 1978 World Cup squad, Bathenay went on to manage Saint-Etienne, the Seychelles and the UAE, among others.
A world-class box-to-box midfielder in his prime, Moussa Sissoko spent the best years of his career with Tottenham, where he made 202 appearances and reached the 2019 Champions League final.
Capped 71 times by Les Bleus, Sissoko – who also had Premier League spells at Newcastle and Watford – featured at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.
Regularly selected for the French national team during the first half of the 80s, Bernard Genghini was involved as Les Bleus lifted their first major trophy at Euro 1984 – which they hosted.
At club level, the moustachioed midfielder starred for some of France’s biggest outfits of the day, including Saint-Etienne, Monaco and Marseille.
Effective as either an attacking midfielder or a forward, Youri Djorkaeff played an important part in France’s 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 victories.
Djorkaeff went through his career without ever winning a league title, but he did lift the Cup Winners’ Cup with PSG and UEFA Cup with Inter Milan – before starring in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers.
The all-time leading assist provider in Ligue 1, Dimitri Payet is one of the most thoroughly entertaining French players of the modern era, complementing his creative output with some truly stunning goals – mostly for Marseille.
Case in point: his goalkeeper-flummoxing free-kick for West Ham against Crystal Palace in April 2016. His performances that season saw him included in the PFA Team of the Year.
Henri Michel spent almost his whole career with Nantes, amassing well over 500 appearances for the club throughout their most successful era.
A four-time Ligue 1 champion, Michel was capped 58 times by France between 1967 and 1980, later managing Les Bleus at the 1984 Olympics – where they won gold – and the 1986 World Cup.
An integral presence at the base of midfield in France’s Euro 1984-winning side, Spanish-born Luis Fernandez earned 60 caps for Les Bleus over the course of a decade-long international career.
Voted French Player of the Year in 1985, Fernandez – who also helped his nation to third place at the 1986 World Cup – enjoyed club success with PSG, winning the Ligue 1 title and two Coupes de France.
The glue which held it all together in the middle of the park, Christian Karembeu’s combative contributions were crucial to France’s 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 successes.
Capped 53 times in all, Karembeu – who was born in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia – won two Champions Leagues with Real Madrid, as well as domestic league titles in France and Greece with Nantes and Olympiacos respectively.
One of the most decorated French players of the 21st century, Florent Malouda’s honours include the Champions League and the Premier League title with Chelsea, and four Ligue 1 titles with Lyon.
A wide midfielder who could also operate as an out-and-out winger, Malouda earned 80 caps for his country – helping them to the 2006 World Cup final – as well as representing French Guiana on four occasions.
Blaise Matuidi claimed 16 pieces of major silverware over the course of his career – and none bigger than the 2018 World Cup.
A multiple league champion with PSG and Juventus, Matuidi – who, with countless medals in the bag, wound down his career with a stint in MLS at Inter Miami – scooped French Player of the Year in 2015.
Another member of the Didier Deschamps’ 2018 World Cup-winning France team, Adrien Rabiot was once described as “a complete player” by Andrea Pirlo – who knows a thing or two about being a midfielder.
The curly-haired technician had won six league titles (five with PSG and one with Juventus) before his 25th birthday. Not too shabby at all.
Another member of the Didier Deschamps’ 2018 World Cup-winning France team, Adrien Rabiot was once described as “a complete player” by Andrea Pirlo – who knows a thing or two about being a midfielder.
The ponytailed technician had won six league titles (five with PSG and one with Juventus) before his 25th birthday. Not too shabby at all.
A seriously classy defensive midfielder, Emmanuel Petit proved pivotal to France’s major victories at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 – scoring Les Bleus’ third goal against Brazil in the final of the former.
Having spent the first nine years of his career at Monaco – where he won the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France – Petit moved to Arsenal in 1997 and starred in their maiden Premier League triumph, before spells with Barcelona and Chelsea.
While he never consistently hit the heights he proved he could, Paul Pogba peaked sufficiently to be considered one of the greatest French midfielders of all time.
His performances for the national team – with whom he lifted the 2018 World Cup, scoring in the final against Croatia – are enough for such recognition, even if Manchester United and Juventus fans might grumble that they didn’t see his best as much as they’d have liked.
What Alain Giresse lacked in physical stature, he well and truly made up for in playmaking ability, marking himself out as one of France’s top performers en route to Euro 1984 victory.
Forming that team’s legendary ‘Carre Magique’ (‘Magic Square’) midfield alongside Luis Fernandez, Jean Tigana and Michel Platini, Giresse – who enjoyed league and cup success with Bordeaux – was named French Player of the Year three times.
You have to be a pretty special player to have a role named after you – and Claude Makelele was just that, introducing English football to a new kind of defensive midfielder upon his 2003 arrival at Chelsea.
Signed from Real Madrid – where he won the 2001/02 Champions League – the indefatigable lynchpin was absolutely crucial to the Blues’ 2004/05 and 2005/06 Premier League title triumphs under Jose Mourinho.
Existing somewhere between attacking midfielder and forward, Antoine Griezmann will go down as one of the greatest players of the modern era regardless of how he’s ultimately defined.
One of France’s leading lights in their 2018 World Cup triumph, Griezmann – a major trophy winner with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona – is among the most-capped players and leading goalscorers in the history of Les Bleus.
Up there with the best midfielders in the world during the 80s, Jean Tigana’s elite box-to-box abilities were essential to France’s Euro 1984 success.
They also came in pretty handy at club level, where the 1984 French Player of the Year helped both Bordeaux and Marseille to multiple Ligue 1 crowns.
Rather harshly dubbed the ‘water carrier’ by international teammate Eric Cantona, Didier Deschamps’ selflessness at the base of midfield made him one of the most valuable players of his era.
Captain of France’s 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning sides, Deschamps – who later coached his country to 2018 World Cup glory – also enjoyed great club success with Marseille and Juventus, lifting the Champions League with both.
The ultimate midfield destroyer, N’Golo Kante was an unknown quantity when he joined Leicester from Caen in the summer of 2015 – but after starring in the Foxes’ fairytale 2015/16 Premier League title win, the whole world knew all about him.
Chelsea immediately swooped to secure his signature – and the humble Kante made it two Prem titles in two seasons – and did the double of PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year – before doing his thing once again as France lifted the 2018 World Cup.
Yet another 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winner, Patrick Vieira is a true icon in the history of the French national team and Arsenal alike.
A three-time Premier League champion with the Gunners, the complete, elite Vieira captained Arsene Wenger’s 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ – who went through the entire campaign without losing a game.
The first player to win the Ballon d’Or three years running – collecting football’s top individual accolade in 1983, 1984 and 1985 – Michel Platini was France’s inspirational skipper as they claimed the 1984 European Championship as hosts.
Simply one of the greatest playmakers in the history of the game, Platini picked up most of his club trophies at Juventus – most notably lifting the 1984/85 European Cup.
Zinedine Zidane is the greatest French midfielder of all time and the greatest French player of all time in any position; few would argue with that.
Absolutely immense en route to 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 glory, the 1998 Ballon d’Or winner and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year recipient pulled off things most players wouldn’t have dared to attempt – and it yielded immense success at club level, the pinnacle being 2001/02 Champions League victory with Real Madrid.
