Real Madrid’s talisman Karim Benzema recently became the highest-scoring French player in history. He also made headway to replace the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano to become the third-highest goal scorer for Real Madrid in history. Currently, he sits at 311 goals only 13 behind Raul who is currently the second-highest scorer for Real Madrid with 324 goals. It is reasonable to argue that Benzema will soon surpass the Spaniard and sit at his spot.
While Benzema’s scoring exploits at 34 years of age are taking the football world by surprise, I was intrigued to find out where he’d rank among the best French strikers of all time. Therefore, here is a list of the top five French Strikers in history to answer the same question.
5. David Trezeguet
When we talk of French football, David Trezeguet is one name that is always uttered with the utmost respect. The scorer of the golden goal that won Les Blues the European Championships in 2000, Trezeguet’s name would always go down in history as one of the French greats of the game.
He played the center-forward role in the iconic French side that featured Zinedine Zidane, arguably the best French player in history. Trezeguet was still able to make a name for himself despite being surrounded by stars. With 34 goals for the National outfit, he is the sixth-highest scorer for France in history.
However, International football is only the trailer of his goal scoring. His real exploits were with the old lady. He played for Juventus from 2000 to 2010, his longest stint with any club. He is an undisputed legend in Turin with 171 goals for the club. He is Juventus’s fourth highest goal scorer in history. Paulo Dybala is the closest active player who could challenge Trezeguet’s position although he is behind by a good 58 goals margin.
He has five major titles with Juventus that include two Serie A wins. He was a part of the squad that lifted the World Cup for France in 1998 and was the scorer of the infamous golden goal against Italy that won France the European Championship in 2000. He also ended up as the top scorer of Seria A in the 2001/02 season with 24 goals to his name. What a champion!
4. Jean-Pierre Papin
Jean-Pierre Papin played his football alongside Eric Cantona in the French national team. The two formed the attacking duo of France’s golden generation that surprisingly didn’t win any major titles for France. While Cantona was out from the International scene, Papin enjoyed a better spell without him. France cruised to a third-place finish in the 1986 World Cup and Papin, the newcomer was a key campaigner for Les Bleus.
He stood out in the Striker’s role and undoubtedly deserves a place on this list. He is the joint eighth-highest scorer for France with 30 goals to his name in the national colors alongside the legendary Just Fontaine. He scored a staggering 156 goals in the Ligue 1 while playing for Olympique Marseilles and sits on a career tally of 252 goals.
Papin wasn’t all about goals. While he never played any other position but the center-forward, he made sure his goal scoring was accompanied by a decorated trophy cabinet. His club career includes two successes at the continental stage. He won the coveted Champions League with AC Milan in 1994 and the UEFA Super Cup with Bayern Munich in 1996.
But, it was actually his time in France where he absolutely shines, having finished as the top scorer of Ligue 1 for five consecutive seasons, from 1987/88 through 1991/92. He finally won his Ballon d’Or in 1991 for his exploits with Olympique Marseilles. He is the only player on this list to have won the coveted individual prize.
3. Just Fontaine
Just Fontaine came like a flash and left like a flash scoring 30 goals in only 21 appearances for Les Bleus. A ratio of 1.4 goals every match. He is the only player with more than 1 goal per game average among the top 20 scorers for France.
He also had 10 European Cup goals in eight appearances. Fontaine only knew how to deal in goals. And if it wasn’t for the career-ending injury that forced him to stop playing football, he would’ve been much higher up than the eighth spot on the list of highest goal scorers for France.
He was a prolific goal-scorer and his display in the 1958 World Cup is probably the best Individual-campaign of all time. He scored a total of 13 goals and only the legendary Gerd Muller, and Brazil’s phenomenon, Ronaldo, has been able to better it. Only those two players and, more recently, Germany’s Miroslav Klose became the only players with more World Cup goals than the legendary Fontaine. But all of them played more than one World Cup unlike him.
At the club level, Fontaine won four Ligue 1 titles, three with Reims and one with OGC Nice. He also won two French Cups, one with each club alongside being the top scorer in Ligue 1 twice in his career in 1957/58 and 1959/60. He was famously voted as the best French player of the last 50 years by the French Football Federation back in 2003. He was a player to have done complete justice to the Striker’s position.
2. Thierry Henry
One of the greatest goal-scorers France had ever produced, Thierry Henry was instrumental in the World Cup-winning campaign in 1998 and the European Championship win in 2000. He was the top scorer for Les Bleus in the 1998 World Cup. He still holds the record of being the highest scorer for Les Bleus of all time with 51 goals. But, I think players like Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, and Karim Benzema have a clear chance at surpassing his tally.
As amazing as his International career was, Henry could easily say that he had an equally impressive record at the club level. While his time at AS Monaco prepared him and his time at Juventus made him a sought-after player, it was truly his time at Arsenal that he exploded as one of France’s greatest of all time.
He won seven major titles with the Gunners alongside being the highest goal scorer in gunners’ history with 228 goals and the most assists (106). He then went to FC Barcelona in 2007 and won the sextuple with them in 2009. To summarize, titles were never a scarcity for the great Henry.
He has a total tally of 360 goals in his career but a considerable 51 goals were scored in Major League Soccer where he played for New York Red Bulls. This is where Henry losses his battle with the player ending first on this list. A great player in his own right and one of the best strikers to don the French Blue kit, Henry was of the finest breed of players.
1. Karim Benzema
Thierry Henry, in my opinion, was overtaken as the greatest French Striker in history even before the official statistics claimed more goals for Karim Benzema after his brace against Mallorca on Matchday 28 of LaLiga 2021/22. And, that obviously made Benzema the highest scoring French Player in history.
The sort of play that Benzema brings to the table is much more diverse than the skillset possessed by Henry. He was a fantastic player in his own right but considering Benzema’s form for the last few seasons, I think he surpassed Henry’s level after Real Madrid’s Supercopa win earlier this season. That title also made him the most decorated French Player in history. Moreover, Benzema is the only player on this list who has a chance at improving his record further and putting this debate to bed.
Benzema is making all sorts of headway at 34 years of age. He is aging finer and finer like wine. With Real Madrid’s latest title, the Supercopa de Espana which they won in Saudi Arabia, Benzema has now won 29 major honors. 28 at the club level and one International title in the Nations League. This makes him the most decorated French player of all time.
If anything is lacking that is a major International trophy and a Ballon d’Or. This year, he deserved a podium finish but instead, he finished only fourth in the final Ballon d’Or rankings. He’ll look to better that in the coming year and has won a title and scored 32 goals in all competitions alongside 12 assists for Los Blancos already, per WhoScored.
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His Real Madrid side is also on course to winning the LaLiga this season. Moreover, he has a great shot at dropping a good individual performance at the FIFA World Cup 2022. There’s no doubt that he would be Les Bleus’ first choice center-forward. The French side will be strong title contenders and Benzema needs to make sure he plays a key role in their campaign at Qatar.