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Five Players With Most International Goals For France

International football fever is back ablaze as the hunt for continental glory in Europe will come to life in less than 48 hours. The mercury has already started rising with the international friendlies being played ahead of the tournament.

With the speculations running wild, one of the most discussed deliberations across the entire world at the moment is about the likeliest contender of the tournament. Given France’s sheer domination in the 2018 World Cup that saw them running riots in the campaign, they will be featuring two of their most prolific goal-scorers in the upcoming Euro as well.

They were unfortunate to lose out the final on a solitary strike from Eder who hammered it in the 109th minute to win the tournament for Portugal who was stripped off their star player after Ronaldo hobbled off the pitch with tears in his eyes.

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However, the French national team simply refused to give up and went on to build a team extremely strong that toppled the other oppositions from the perch of the world. Thanks to an excellent display from the attackers that could make this incredible feat transpire.

However, this attacking supremacy isn’t something new to France. A team that has featured the iconic likes of Zinedine Zidane, Jean-Pierre Papin, Michel Platini, Eric Cantona and Thierry Henry is obviously supposed to be the crux of some fascinating attacking pirouettes.

In this story, we will be looking at the top five scorers from France in its glittering antiquity over the years across all formats of the sport.

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Players with the highest number of goals for France:

5. David Trezeguet – 34 goals

The man who had an exceptionally bumpy ride in his international career that saw him riding the wave of supporters to become the hero in 2000, also witnessed his own spiralling into a tailspin so dark that he was being demonized by the same fans. The latter happened in 2006 when he became the solitary player to miss his penalty against Italy in the tie-breaker in the World Cup. However, keeping aside the glory and infamy, Trezeguet was a clinical striker. He was absolutely dominant for any teams that he played in the decennium of his prevalence. He banged in 34 goals from the 71 games that he played for France. His marauding instincts ahead of the goal were what made him one of the most sublime strikers of the French national team.

4. Antoine Griezmann – 37 goals *

Griezmann was at the helm of affairs in the last Euro Cup when he inspired France to a few handful performances. Despite not being one of the destructive aficionados of France in the last World Cup, he is still one of the best attacking weapons that Deschamps has up his sleeves. From 91 appearances he has managed to hammer 37 goals and is still very much active in the international roster. With a supply line that comprises Paul Pogba and N’golo Kante compounded by the fierce Mbappe upfront, things will look a lot easier for Griezmann to add on to his tally.

3. Michel Platini – 41 goals

Despite being dragged into controversy for his late role while he was a part of the authorities, no one can deny the playing brilliance that he brought along with himself to the platter. He is one of those rare personalities to have played football for two nations at the international level. He managed to hammer 41 goals from 72 matches at a stunning average of 0.57 goals per game which is the highest in the top five players to have achieved this.

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2. Olivier Giroud – 46 goals *

The Chelsea striker who recently celebrated European glory with his club made a lot of remarkable noise after winning the 2018 World Cup without even playing a solitary game. Despite all the banters, this man is a real machine in the French attacking unit given his 46 goals from 108 appearances at a decent average of 0.47 goals per game and the energy that he brings along with himself. He is a menace if he manages to cling on to the ball served at his feet inside the box and can spell doom at any given hour for his opponent.

1. Thierry Henry – 51 goals

The legend of Arsenal and France, the man who changed the course of every single footballing contingency that he was a part of, rules the roost for France in the context of international goals. He has also played the highest number of games with 123 caps under his belt and 51 strikes from the same at a stunning average of 0.41. He wasn’t an out-and-out striker but a gem of a creator. Yet, he never hesitated in banging in those pompous strikes when the time came knocking.

*means active in international football circuit

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