Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini… The other four French winners before Karim Benzema

A very closed club. Sacred Ballon d’Or, Monday October 17, 2022, Karim Benzema became the fifth French winner of the prestigious trophy rewarding the best football player in the world since its creation in 1956. The opportunity for franceinfo: sport to look back on the history of four glorious Benzema seniors.

Raymond Kopa, the pioneer

The first star of French football is called Raymond Kopa. Son of a miner, he was socially emancipated thanks to football. After Angers and Stade de Reims, the attacking midfielder signed for Real Madrid in 1956, at a time when French players very rarely played abroad. If he shines with the Merengues, it is his performances in the France team that bring him to another dimension.

During the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, Kopa was the main architect of the beautiful third place of the Blues. He is even crowned best player of the competition in front of Pelé. Enough to offer Raymond Kopa the first Ballon d’Or for a French player. The Kopa trophy, created in 2018 to reward the best player under 21, pays tribute to him.

Michel Platini, a historic hat-trick

It was worth the wait. 25 years after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini has become the second Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or. Third in 1977 in Nancy, “Platoche” failed to do better with Saint-Etienne (1979-1982) and had to go into exile like Kopa to finally lift the trophy. With Juventus Turin and the France team, Michel Platini stacks up goals and titles. His masterpiece is Euro 1984 won with the Blues, where he finished top scorer (9 goals in 5 games). Between 1983 and 1985, the Turinese monopolized the Golden Ball and became the first to win it three times consecutively, until Lionel Messi (four times in a row between 2009 and 2012).

Jean-Pierre Papin, the only number 9

During the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, in which the French team finished in third place, Michel Platini was able to rub shoulders with the third Frenchman crowned Ballon d’Or: Jean-Pierre Papin. Revealed in Bruges in Belgium, the center-forward became the cornerstone of Olympique de Marseille during the Bernard Tapie years.

Four-time French champion, JPP took OM to the Champions League final in 1991. Despite a cruel defeat against Belgrade, his “papinades” allowed him to win the Ballon d’Or. Transferred to AC Milan, Jean-Pierre Papin will once again lose the C1 final, against Marseille in 1993, before finally winning it with the Rossoneri in 1994.

Zinédine Zidane, a double that changes everything

A career can sometimes be played out on details. Before the World Cup final between the France team and Brazil on July 12, 1998, the Golden Ball was far from won for Zinédine Zidane. If he was coming out of a big season with Juventus Turin, number 10 had not had the same success during the World Cup in France.

His double header at the Stade de France will make “Zizou” the hero of the Blues’ first world title. The native of Marseille won the Ballon d’Or with 244 points, far ahead of the Croatian Davor Suker (68 points) and the Brazilian Ronaldo (66 points). Recruited at a golden price by Real Madrid in 2001, Zinedine Zidane will never succeed in doing the double, despite a victory in the Champions League in 2002 and a World Cup final in 2006.