Tiger Poker, Dec. 3 -- Three French players have appeared in this year's Ballon d'Or favourites, Griezmann, Varane and Mbappe. In history, only four Frenchmen have finally won this golden trophy. The Team Newspaper took stock of the french Ballon d'Or winners.
Raymond Copa (1958)
After finishing third in 1956 and 1957, Kopa finally lifted the Ballon d'Or in 1958, when he led France to third place in the World Cup and himself was voted the world cup player of the best. In the same year he also won the European Champions Cup and La Liga with club team-mate Diestfano. The following year, Kopa finished second in the Ballon d'Or, behind the legendary Argentine/Spanish teammate.
Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985)
Platini finished third in the Ballon d'Or in 1977 and 1980. However, after joining Juventus, the Frenchman finally won the award in 1983 and became the first player in history to win a triple crown. During these three years, he defeated Dagres, Tigana and Preben Elkyer. With his outstanding performances in Serie A, he earned the nickname "Napoleon on the football field". He excelled at euro 1984, scoring nine goals for France. In the 1985 Champions League, he scored seven goals to become the top scorer and won his first Champions League trophy after the tragic Haysel massacre.
Jean Pierre Papán (1991)
Papan was named Ligue 1 top scorer with 23 goals for Marseille in 1991, and although they eliminated AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals, they lost 3-5 to Red Star Belgrade in a penalty shootout, finishing second. However, Papan won the cup's top scorer with six goals, and he became the first player to win the Ballon d'Or for a French club. He defeated Savichevic, Pantsev and Mateus that year. Papan then joined AC Milan, but lost to old club Marseille in the 1992 European Champions League final.
Zinedin Zidane (1998)
With two headers against Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final, Zidane won that year's Ballon d'Or. In the same year he also won the Serie A title with Juventus, only to lose 1-0 to his future club Real Madrid in the Champions League final. 1998 was the most pivotal year of a player's career, with him ahead of Suque and Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or awards. After falling behind Figo in 2000, he finished second and fifth in 2006, never to win the Ballon d'Or again.
In addition, six Frenchmen were in the top three of the Ballon d'Or: Alain Gireser, the frustrated hero of the 1982 World Cup, who finished second that year. Tigana, who finished second in 1984 with the European Championship. Cantona, in 1993, was ranked 3rd with his outstanding performances at Manchester United. Henry, ranked second and third in 2003 and 2006, respectively. Ribery, who won the club's triple crown with Bayern Munich in 2013, is 3rd behind Mero in the Ballon d'Or. Griezmann also finished 3rd in 2016.
(Editor: Yao Fan)