Over the past ten years, no international team has commanded respect quite like France. Les Bleus have always been a force on the world stage, but the level of quality they have possessed in the previous decade has been truly peerless.
Their era of dominance is showing no signs of ending any time soon. France have some excellent young stars who could have a role to play at the 2026 World Cup – here are five of the very best.
Guillaume Remains
With Brice Samba, Lucas Chevalier and Mike Maignan being France’s main trio of goalkeepers, the World Cup may come too soon for Guillaume Restes. However, if any of these three suffer an injury, he has an excellent chance of being included in the squad.
At 21 years of age, Restes has started in every Ligue 1 game for Toulouse this season. He has kept an impressive nine clean sheets along the way – stats such as these are sure to turn Didier Deschamps’ head somewhat.
Restes has won 19 caps for France’s U21 team, but hasn’t been handed a senior cap yet – this will surely come sooner, rather than later.
Mamadou Coulibaly
A fearless midfielder who loves a meaty tackle, Mamadou Coulibaly is a bit of a throwback – he resembles the battling central midfielders of the 1980s and early 1990s, rather than fitting into the modern mould.
This isn’t a bad thing – far from it. He will have to ameliorate his disciplinary record, though, having missed three games this season due to suspension.
His explosivity in the middle of the park is effective at both ends of the pitch – he has scored three goals this season, alongside three assists.
Ayyoub Bouaddi
The youngest player in the list at just 18 years of age, Ayyoub Bouaddi is amongst the most mature midfield starlets in world football today.
He is team captain of France U21s, despite being almost four years younger than some of his teammates. If that isn’t leadership material, we don’t know what is.
A defensive midfielder by trade, he’s also very comfortable playing a bit further up as a central midfielder. A composed player who’s very strong in the tackle, we’re expecting this young man to have incredibly bright future.
Desire Doue
Desire Doue is one of two players in this list who’ve already been handed a senior France cap. When you look at his stats over the last pair of seasons, it isn’t too difficult to see why.
We’d like to highlight his performance in the Champions League this season – he has scored four goals and has two assists in Europe’s top competition this season, despite making just eight appearances in the tournament.
He’ll almsot certainly have a part to play at the World Cup – he has already scored two goals for his country, over the course of six appearances on the international stage.
Warren Zaire-Emery
One of the most impressive wonderkids in world football, Warren Zaire-Emery swiftly established himself as a top star upon his promotion to PSG’s senior team.
Receiving his first call-up to the France national team in 2023, Zaire-Emery became the youngest player to win a cap for Les Bleus since Maurice Gastiger all the way back in 1914.
An energetic midfielder with magical ability on the ball, Zaire-Emery will be France’s star player for years to come.
