NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
France, the current favorite for the FIFA World Cup, has been the center of discussion when it comes to football, and became an impressive statistic in the tournament.
54 players come from the suburbs of Paris (enough to call up two full World Cup teams) and France is home to 98 players in the World Cup, representing 7.9% of the players.
France is in a group stage with Iraq, Senegal and Norway and is looking to make another run at a World Cup trophy after its 2022 loss to Argentina. Led by stars Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, France’s talent goes beyond its national team. The country is also home to players such as Spain’s Aymeric Laporte and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez. Algeria even has goalkeeper Luca Zidane, son of 1998 French World Cup champion Zinedine Zidane, on its roster.
Some of France’s most decorated players include FOX Sports analyst Thierry Henry, who appeared in four World Cups, in addition to his 1998 victory as their top scorer. Henry, a product of the Paris suburbs, discussed what it means to see his hometown represent various teams in the World Cup and how the players learned their fundamental skills on the streets.
“I’m going to be very proud of that because… you know what it means to us that I’m from the south of Paris? Obviously, the impact, the street culture, the way we are in Paris. You learn to protect the ball, the skills. We challenge each other…” Henry said before France’s first World Cup match. “Playing on cement, learning to protect the ball, that demeanor you have, that French demeanor when you get on the field, especially from the suburbs of Paris, we have that demeanor. It’s one thing.”
FOX Sports’ Zlatan Ibrahimović spent four years in Paris playing for Paris Saint-Germain and witnessed the massive talent the city and country produces.
“I mean, I’m impressed. The waves of talent they produce and, like, Thierry said, they’re street players,” Ibrahimović said. “They bring that to the field, and it’s acceptable… And imagine the players who didn’t make it to the World Cup. They might as well be in the World Cup and dominate the World Cup.”
