France’s 1998 World Cup winner Franck Leboeuf sees a striking parallel between England’s historic national team tensions and the dysfunction that once tore France apart. In an exclusive conversation with our site, the former defender laid out why squad chemistry — not star power — is the single decisive factor in lifting the World Cup trophy.
Leboeuf pointed directly at England’s so-called Golden Generation as a cautionary tale. “The players were far more invested in their club than the national team,” he said. “Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard wanted to play together, but everything in the environment created animosity — a Chelsea-Liverpool rivalry.”
The comparison to France’s own dark days was intentional. Leboeuf recalled how club hatred between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain bled into the national setup during the early 1990s. “We experienced it. In 1990 we didn’t qualify, 1992 was a disaster at the Euros, and in 1994 we didn’t qualify. There was so much animosity that it didn’t work.”
So what changed? According to Leboeuf, Gareth Southgate deserves real credit for adopting the philosophy that France’s Didier Deschamps and Thomas Tuchel now share. “Southgate took a leaf out of Deschamps’ book and said the most important thing is the 11 that makes the best team, not necessarily the 11 best players.”
That mentality shift, Leboeuf argues, has allowed Tuchel to make ruthless decisions without fracturing the squad. “When he picks Ivan Toney, it’s because he knows if he’s on the bench, he’ll say nothing. If he comes on, he’ll give it his all.”
The 54-year-old also invoked Aimé Jacquet, the manager who led France to glory in 1998. Two months before the tournament, Jacquet told Leboeuf plainly that Laurent Blanc and Marcel Desailly were the starting center-backs. “He said, ‘Maybe I’m making a mistake, maybe you think it’s unfair, but that’s how it is. Either you agree to join the squad and you don’t complain, or you don’t come.’ That was the deal.”
For Leboeuf, that clarity is what separates winners from pretenders. “No one was above the others — that can’t exist in football, especially in a national team. Huge egos are involved, but it’s good that Southgate did that and that Tuchel is continuing where he left off.”
He closed with a warning that applies to both France and England heading into this summer’s tournament. “If there is no chemistry in the squad, if the substitutes aren’t happy to be on the bench, if the starters don’t accept being substituted — it’s over. There is not a team in the world that has won a World Cup with tensions in the squad.”
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