# Who is the best player in Ligue 1 history?

> Homegrown maestros, World Cup winners and global imports — French football's top flight has hosted some of the most decorated talents in the sport. Cast your vote!

*By YPB Team · Published May 14, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-player-in-ligue-1-history*

---

## Current results (1 votes)

1. **Michel Platini** — 100% (1 votes · score 1000/1000)
   Three-time Ballon d'Or winner who starred at Nancy and Saint-Etienne before moving to Juventus.
2. **Jean-Pierre Papin** — 0% (0 votes · score 666/1000)
   Marseille bomber who won the 1991 Ballon d'Or after four straight Ligue 1 top-scorer titles.
3. **Pauleta** — 0% (0 votes · score 555/1000)
   Portuguese forward who became PSG's top scorer with 109 Ligue 1 goals across four seasons.
4. **Zlatan Ibrahimovic** — 0% (0 votes · score 555/1000)
   Swedish striker who scored 113 Ligue 1 goals for PSG in four record-breaking seasons.
5. **Thierry Henry** — 0% (0 votes · score 333/1000)
   Monaco wonderkid who won Ligue 1 in 1997 before becoming an Arsenal and World Cup icon.
6. **Didier Drogba** — 0% (0 votes · score 333/1000)
   Marseille striker whose breakout 2003-04 season earned him a Chelsea move and African legend status.
7. **Kylian Mbappe** — 0% (0 votes · score 333/1000)
   Monaco and PSG forward who became Ligue 1's youngest superstar and a serial top scorer of his era.
8. **Jean Tigana** — 0% (0 votes · score 333/1000)
   Bordeaux midfielder and Euro 84 winner who anchored one of the great Ligue 1 sides of the 1980s.
9. **Zinedine Zidane** — 0% (0 votes · score 333/1000)
   Marseille-born playmaker whose early Cannes and Bordeaux years made him France's defining export.
10. **Raymond Kopa** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Reims and Stade de Reims icon, the first Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or in 1958.
11. **Just Fontaine** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Reims striker and 1958 World Cup top scorer with a legendary Ligue 1 goal record.
12. **Sonny Anderson** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Brazilian striker who powered Monaco and Lyon to multiple Ligue 1 titles around the turn of the millennium.
13. **Juninho Pernambucano** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Free-kick master who won seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles with Lyon in the 2000s.
14. **Neymar** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Brazilian winger whose PSG move broke the world record and brought Ligue 1 sustained global attention.
15. **Marius Tresor** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Marseille and Bordeaux centre-back, one of Ligue 1's most influential defenders of the 1970s and 80s.
16. **Alain Giresse** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Diminutive Bordeaux playmaker who twice finished in the Ballon d'Or top three in the 1980s.
17. **Eric Cantona** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Maverick forward whose Auxerre, Marseille and Nimes years preceded his Manchester United fame.
18. **Edinson Cavani** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   Uruguayan striker who became PSG's all-time top scorer with 138 Ligue 1 goals.

Tags: football, france, players, ligue 1