The Golden Boy in France

by Harold Marchetti

Already 21 years old, the age of majority of the past. Over two decades of life and not even a wrinkle for the Golden Boy who celebrates every autumn the best talent in football. This highly reputable award, given by European sports journalists, puts young talent at the forefront. A look at the list of winners is impressive. Rooney, Messi, Fàbregas, Agüero, Götze and more recently Haaland. So many nuggets that have become world stars.

In France, three of our flagships have received this prestigious award. First Paul Pogba in 2013, then Anthony Martial three years later and finally Kylian Mbappé in 2017. This is a coincidence that is far from accidental when considering the excellence of French training. Eduardo Camavinga, the gem of Real Madrid, embodies what our football does best: producing high-level players before handing them over to the whole of Europe, often at the expense of the competitiveness of our league.

Year after year, Ligue 1 fosters the emergence of budding genes. The source seems inexhaustible. He allowed Didier Deschamps’ “Les Bleus” to become world champions in 2018 and World Cup finalists in Qatar last December. A country of incredible diversity, France boasts a wide variety of profiles and a “mix” of powerful, fast, technical and physical players. It has, without a doubt, the richest pool of footballers on the planet. In short, France trains, trains well and trains at the highest level. Its detection system leaves nothing to chance and relies on high-quality technicians whose expertise and experience are unanimously recognized beyond our borders.

The figures speak for themselves: of the 736 players who competed in the 2018 World Cup, 52 were born and trained in France. A record in this sense. A number that has never stopped growing. Since 2002, according to a study by the newspaper “Le Monde”, France is the country that has provided the largest number of players in the World Cup (216), clearly detaching the trio composed of Brazil (148), Germany (147) and Argentina (146). Sorry if it’s little.