World Cup 2026: How France created football’s deepest talent pool
Summary
France has built a very strong pool of football players through a system of training academies started in the 1970s. These centers helped develop many talented players, leading France to win major tournaments like the World Cup in 1998 and 2018, and they continue to have a deep group of skilled players today.Key Facts
- Belgian player Thomas Meunier said France has enough football talent to field three World Cup-winning teams.
- French players who were not selected for the 2022 World Cup squad have a combined value that would place them in the top five teams worldwide.
- France began creating regional football training centers called Centres de Formation in the early 1970s to improve national team performance.
- The first training center opened in 1974 in Vichy and eventually expanded to 16 centers across France.
- The training program was supported by the French government to promote sports and national pride.
- France won the European Championship and Olympic gold in 1984 but had early World Cup qualifying setbacks in 1990 and 1994.
- The 1998 World Cup-winning team was multiethnic and included players from the training centers and immigrant backgrounds.
- France also won the World Cup in 2018 and finished as runners-up in 2006 and 2022.
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