List of France national football team captains

France national football team

The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

represents the nation of France in international association football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation

French Football Federation

The French Football Federation is the governing body of association football in France, as well as the overseas departments and territories . It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital Paris...

(FFF) and competes as a member of the Union of European Football Associations

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

(UEFA). 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. Of them, 105 have served as captain of the national team. This list contains football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

players who have served as captain of the French national team and is listed according to their number of matches captained.

The France national team's record appearance-maker as captain is Didier Deschamps

Didier Deschamps

Didier Claude Deschamps is a retired French footballer and current manager of Marseille. He played as a defensive midfielder. As an international, he assisted France with victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...

, who led the team out 52 times during his 103-cap tenure, which lasted through three decades. Deschamps is also the most successful France captain, having worn the armband, an indicator of the team's captain, in team victories at the 1998 FIFA World Cup

1998 FIFA World Cup

The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

and UEFA Euro 2000. The Bayonne

Bayonne

Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...

-born midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

surpassed the previous record-holder of the France captaincy, midfielder Michel Platini

Michel Platini

Michel François Platini is a former French football player, manager and current president of UEFA. Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top goalscorer and voted the best player. He participated in the 1978, 1982...

, in the team's semi-final match at the latter competition. Platini became the first France captain to win a major international competition after leading the team in the 1984 European Football Championship. Aside from Deschamps and Platini, only two other players have captained France over 40 occasions, defenders

Defender (football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

Roger Marche

Roger Marche was a French football defender. He was part of the French national team during the 1954 and 1958 World Cup tournaments...

and Marcel Desailly

Marcel Desailly

Marcel Desailly is a retired Ghanaian born French footballer and star of the France national football team squad, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...

. Marche is one of two French captains to lead the team at two FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

competitions. Desailly captained the team to victories at the 2001

2001 FIFA Confederations Cup

-Group B:---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi-finals:-----Third place play-off:-Final:-Awards:-Top scorers:2 goals Shaun Murphy Éric Carrière Robert Pirès Patrick Vieira Sylvain Wiltord Takayuki Suzuki Hwang Sun-Hong...

and 2003

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup

The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivien Foé, who died of heart failure in his side's...

editions of the FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup

The FIFA Confederations Cup is an association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup winner and the host nation, to bring the number of teams...

. He is one of four players to be sent off in a FIFA World Cup final; one of the other three being fellow France captain Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Yazid Zidane is a retired French footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Zidane was a leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship...

History

The first captain of the France national team was Fernand Canelle

Fernand Canelle

Fernand Canelle was a professional French association football player.He was born in Paris and started his career in 1896, at only 14 years old, with Club Français. He was French Champion also in 1899, 1900 and 1918. He won also six French Cups...

, who captained the national team in its first international match against Belgium on 1 May 1904. Canelle went on to captain France only once more in a 7–0 defeat to Belgium in 1905. The team's next captain was Pierre Allemane

Pierre Allemane

Pierre Allemane was a French football defender. He was born in Montpellier.Allemane played for Passy , Club Français , Racing Club de France and CASG Paris...

, who had previously captained a team representing France at the 1900 Summer Olympics

Football at the 1900 Summer Olympics

At the 1900 Summer Olympics, a football tournament was contested for the first time. Only two demonstration matches were held between the three club sides, and no medals were awarded...

. However, this occurred when the team was under the supervision of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques

Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques

Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques is a former French sports governing body. During the 1890s and early 1900s it organised numerous sports including athletics, cycling, field hockey, fencing, croquet and swimming...

(USFSA), a federation sports union that supported amateur sport. Under the Fédération Internationale de Football Association

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

(FIFA) governing body

Sport governing body

A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...

, Allemane is the only French player to wear the armband in all of his national team appearances. Aside from Canelle and Allemane, Gaston Barreau

Gaston Barreau

Gaston Barreau was a French football player and coach.-References:*...

, René Bonnet

René Bonnet

René Bonnet was a French driver and automobile constructor.He started building race cars in 1936 with Charles Deutsch and in 1946 they founded Deutsch et Bonnet in Champigny-sur-Marne, using Citroën and Panhard mechanics. They separated in 1961 and René Bonnet founded the firm Automobiles René...

, Étienne Jourde

Étienne Jourde

Étienne Jourde was a French international football player. He played as an attacker and played for CASG Paris and CA Vitry. Jourde was also a French international and is one of six players to captain the team on his debut, which he did on 3 April 1910 in a 4–0 defeat to Belgium...

, and Robert Lemaître

Robert Lemaître

Robert Lemaître is a former French professional football player.- Career :Lemaître was born in Plancoët, a commune in the Brittany region. He began his career playing for his hometown club. In 1951, he turned professional and signed with Rennes. Lemaître spent two seasons with the club and, in...

are the only other players to ever captain the national team on their debuts. Bonnet's captaincy is notable due in part to the fact that it was his only appearance with the national team. The first player to captain France in a major international competition while playing under FIFA was André François

André François

André François , born André Farkas, was a Hungarian-born French cartoonist.He was born to a Hungarian Jewish family in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary , He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest . He moved to Paris in 1934 and entered to the atelier of the famous poster artist Adolphe Cassandre...

. He led the team at the football tournament

Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Bohemia were forced to withdraw before the tournament started after losing their FIFA membership.-Semi-finals:-Bronze medal match:The French were so shocked by their humiliating 17-1 defeat against Denmark that they declined to play for the bronze medal; therefore, the Netherlands played Sweden for...

in the 1908 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

and captained France to the worst loss in national team and competition history, a 17–1 loss to Denmark

Denmark national football team

The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

. One of the first permanent captains of the national team was Jean Ducret

Jean Ducret

Jean Ducret was a French international footballer. He played as a midfielder and played for five teams, most notably Olympique Lillois and Stade Français. Ducret was one of the national team's first-ever permanent captains having served in the role 13 times in 20 appearances from 1910–1914...

. He captained the team 13 times between 1910–1914.
Alexandre Villaplane

Alexandre Villaplane

Alexandre Villaplane was a French football player in the role of midfielder....

captained France in its first FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

match in 1930

1930 FIFA World Cup

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930...

and went on to captain the team in the entire tournament. Maurice Cottenet

Maurice Cottenet

Maurice Cottenet was a French footballer. He was part of France national football team squad at the 1924 Summer Olympics.-References:*...

was the first goalkeeper to captain the national team. Alex Thépot

Alex Thépot

Alexis 'Alex' Thépot was a French football player. He was the goalkeeper of the French national team in the first two World Cups, 1930 and 1934....

was the second and bore the armband at the 1934 FIFA World Cup

1934 FIFA World Cup

The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....

. The team's first captain after World War II was Alfred Aston

Alfred Aston

Alfred Aston was a French association football winger and manager. He was part of France national football team at the FIFA World Cup 1934 and 1938...

. Aston captained the team for the first time in its first match following the conclusion of the war, a 3–1 win over Belgium on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...

1944, and subsequently led the team out six more times. Following Aston, the captaincy was rotated among striker Jean Baratte

Jean Baratte

Jean Baratte was a French international footballer who played as striker, and manager. He is an historic player of Lille OSC and the twelfth goalscorer in Ligue 1.-Titles:As a player...

and defenders Roger Marche

Roger Marche

Roger Marche was a French football defender. He was part of the French national team during the 1954 and 1958 World Cup tournaments...

and Robert Jonquet

Robert Jonquet

Robert Jonquet , was a French former football defender. He played the majority of his professional career for the club Stade de Reims, winning five French championships and appearing in two European Cup finals...

. Marche and Jonquet alternated the armband at the 1954

1954 FIFA World Cup

The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...

and 1958

1958 FIFA World Cup

The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

editions of the FIFA World Cup. Following the retirement of Baratte, Marche took primary control of the captaincy and guided the team until his international retirement in 1960. The former Stade de Reims defender held the record of captaining France the most until he was surpassed by Michel Platini

Michel Platini

in 1986. Platini is the first France captain to lead the team to victory in a major international competition. He accomplished this feat at UEFA Euro 1984. In 2000, Platini was surpassed by Didier Deschamps

Didier Deschamps

, who captained France to its first FIFA World Cup title in 1998

1998 FIFA World Cup

. Deschamps surpassed Platini during UEFA Euro 2000 in the team's semi-final match against Portugal

Portugal national football team

The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

. France won the match, 2–1. In the final

UEFA Euro 2000 Final

The final of UEFA Euro 2000 was a football match played on 2 July 2000 at Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to determine the winner of UEFA Euro 2000...

, France defeated Italy

Italy national football team

The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

, giving Deschamps his second major honour as captain. Deschamps was succeeded by Marcel Desailly

Marcel Desailly

Marcel Desailly is a retired Ghanaian born French footballer and star of the France national football team squad, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...

, who ranks second in captaining France the most. Desailly captained France to victory at both the 2001

2001 FIFA Confederations Cup

and 2003

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup

editions of the FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup

.

From 2004 to 2010, when Raymond Domenech

Raymond Domenech

Raymond Domenech is a retired French footballer and the former manager of the France national team.-2006 World Cup:On 12 July 2004, Domenech was a surprise choice to succeed Jacques Santini after the country's disappointing exit from UEFA Euro 2004 by losing in the quarter-final match to the...

managed the national team, the captaincy regularly alternated between Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira is a retired French footballer of Senegalese descent who is the Football Development Executive at Manchester City....

and Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane

. The former player was given the captaincy first, but handed it over to Zidane when he returned to the team in 2005. Zidane subsequently wore the armband at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

and became the first French captain and just the fourth player in association football history to be sent off in a World Cup final match. Former teammate and captain Marcel Desailly is one of the other three. Following Zidane's retirement, Vieira was designated captain of the team for its UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, however, injuries hampered his stint as captain and, as a result, defender Lilian Thuram

Lilian Thuram

Lilian Thuram is a retired professional football defender and is the most capped player in the history of the France national team, and one of the twenty most capped players of all time.He played at the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, including ten in the Serie A with both...

led the team at the competition. The last permanent captain of the team was the national team's all-time leading goalscorer, Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and...

. He first captained the team on 6 February 2008 in a friendly against Spain

Spain national football team

The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...

when he was given the armband following the substitution of Vieira. He held onto the captaincy until a month before the 2010 FIFA World Cup

2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

following his relegation to a substitute's role. The armband was given to defender Patrice Evra

Patrice Evra

Patrice Latyr Evra is a French international footballer who currently plays for English club Manchester United in the Premier League and the France national team. Originally an attacker, he primarily plays as a left back and is described as "the classic example of a modern full-back" who is...

who led the team at the competition. Under manager Laurent Blanc

Laurent Blanc

Laurent Robert Blanc is a French association football manager and former player. He is the head coach of the French national team, having replaced Raymond Domenech in the wake of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was previously the manager of Bordeaux...

, several players made their debuts as captains of the national team. In August 2010, Philippe Mexès

Philippe Mexès

Philippe Mexès is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Italian Serie A club Milan and for the French national team.-Auxerre:...

captained the team for the first time. The following month, Florent Malouda

Florent Malouda

Florent Johan Malouda is a French footballer who plays as a left winger for Chelsea and the French national team.-Châteauroux:A street footballer in his teen years, Malouda gradually developed into an interesting, new football talent, able to penetrate defenses with his technical skills and...

made his debut as captain. In November, Hugo Lloris became the ninth goalkeeper in national team history to wear the armband and, in March, midfielder Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri is a French international footballer who plays for English club Manchester City in the Premier League and the France national team. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger, although he has also been deployed in central midfield. Nasri is known for his technical...

captained the team for the first time.

Captains

Appearances and matches captained are composed of FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

, UEFA European Football Championship

UEFA European Football Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

, FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup

, and pre-World Cup Summer Olympics matches and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. Players are initially listed by amount of matches captained, followed by amount of international caps attained. If the amount of matches captained and the amount of caps earned are equal, then the player who captained the national team first is listed first. Statistics correct as of 15 November 2011.

Key
§	Still active for the national teamPlayers who are still active for the national team are players who have not retired from international football and are, subsequently, eligible to be called up.
	Captained the team at a major international tournamentIncludes FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body... , UEFA European Football Championship UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current... , FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup is an association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup winner and the host nation, to bring the number of teams... , and pre-World Cup Summer Olympics matches.
GK	Goalkeeper
DF	Defender Defender (association football) Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
MF	Midfielder Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
FW	Forward

List of France national team football players who have served as captain of the team
#	Name	Position	National team career	Caps as captain	Total caps
1		MF	1989–2000	52	103
2		DF	1993–2004	51	116
3		MF	1976–1987	47	72
4		DF	1947–1959	42	63
5		DF	1982–1992	30	82
6		MF	1994–2006	26	108
7=		DF	1971–1983	24	65
7=		DF	1964–1972	24	48
9=		FW	1997–2010	21	123
9=		FW	1997–2009	21	107
11		FW	1920–1931	18	35
12		DF	1994–2008	16	142
13		DF	1930–1940	14	46
14=		GK	1927–1935	13	31
14=		MF	1910–1914	13	20
16=		FW	1967–1975	12	44
16=		DF	1929–1938	12	41
16=		FW	1944–1952	12	32
19		FW	1986–1995	11	54
20=		FW	1964–1972	10	42
20=		DF	1913–1925	10	31
22=		DF	1989–2000	9	97
22=		DF	1948–1960	9	58
22=		MF	1967–1980	9	58
22=		FW	1987–1995	9	45
22=		DF	1975–1982	9	39
22=		MF	1988–1993	9	39
22=	^§	MF	2004–	9	37
22=		DF	1957–1963	9	31
22=		DF	1963–1966	9	21
22=		MF	1911–1923	9	17
32=		MF	1952–1959	7	39
32=		MF	1934–1946	7	31
32=		FW	1927–1937	7	30
32=		MF	1936–1948	7	25
32=		DF	1905–1908	7	7
37=		DF	1976–1986	6	76
37=		MF	1952–1962	6	45
37=	^§	GK	2008–	6	30
40=		MF	1982–1992	5	60
40=		DF	1977–1989	5	56
40=		FW	1953–1961	5	46
40=	^§	DF	2004–	5	39
40=		MF	1926–1930	5	25
40=		GK	1939–1951	5	25
40=		DF	1960–1968	5	23
40=		DF	1913–1923	5	18
48=		DF	1995–2002	4	50
48=		MF	1953–1961	4	44
48=		FW	1920–1929	4	41
48=		GK	1960–1965	4	21
48=		DF	1967–1973	4	16
48=		MF	1904–1913	4	14
48=		MF	1928–1932	4	14
48=		MF	1948–1949	4	8
56=		GK	1994–2006	3	87
56=	^§	DF	2002–	3	60
56=		GK	1993–2000	3	44
56=		DF	1919–1927	3	24
56=		DF	1933–1942	3	22
56=		MF	1922–1928	3	20
56=		FW	1957–1965	3	20
56=		MF	1946–1949	3	17
56=		MF	1969–1976	3	14
56=		DF	1965–1967	3	11
66=	^§	DF	2002–	2	84
66=		MF	1958–1964	2	24
66=		DF	1989–1996	2	23
66=		GK	1920–1927	2	18
66=		MF	1911–1914	2	12
66=		FW	1910–1914	2	8
66=		DF	1904–1908	2	6
66=		GK	1966–1967	2	3
74=		FW	1999–2006	1	92
74=		MF	1996–2004	1	79
74=	^§	MF	2004–	1	73
74=		MF	1980–1988	1	52
74=		MF	1974–1986	1	47
74=		FW	1952–1961	1	37
74=		FW	1963–1973	1	35
74=		GK	1987–1996	1	31
74=		MF	1946–1954	1	27
74=	^§	DF	2003–	1	27
74=	^§	MF	2007–	1	27
74=		FW	1933–1938	1	25
74=		DF	1988–1996	1	25
74=		MF	1920–1927	1	23
74=		FW	1933–1947	1	22
74=	^§	DF	2002–	1	22
74=		MF	1974–1978	1	19
74=		MF	1993–1996	1	19
74=		MF	1933–1937	1	18
74=		MF	1993–1995	1	17
74=		MF	1931–1934	1	15
74=		MF	1933–1936	1	14
74=	^§	GK	2008–	1	14
74=		DF	1908–1919	1	12
74=		DF	1930–1933	1	12
74=		FW	1904–1908	1	9
74=		MF	1914–1924	1	7
74=		DF	1906–1908	1	6
74=		MF	1927–1930	1	6
74=		DF	1927–1934	1	6
74=		DF	1953–1954	1	2
74=		DF	1914	1	1

External links

Official site

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History

Captains

See also

External links