From Thierry Henry to David Trezeguet and Karim Benzema, the top five France strikers in history with no Olivier Giroud

KARIM BENZEMA is a “shoo-in” to win the 2022 Ballon d’Or, according to Rio Ferdinand.

The France striker, 34, has been in ludicrous form in recent months -and capped it off with a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.

Les Bleus have been blessed with a hatful world-class players over the years – winning two World Cups and two European Championship titles.

Strikers such as Thierry Henry, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Eric Cantona and Olivier Giroud have all led the line to devastating effect in the past few decades.

Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini and Raymond Kopa have provided the ammunition from midfield.

But who makes the cut as the best five French strikers in football history? SunSport takes a look…

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5. Antoine Griezmann

Griezmann just about makes the cut – which is bad news for Giroud, Mbappe, Jean-Pierre Papin and many other star names.

However, the Atletico Madrid star Griezmann deserves his place in the top five having spearheaded the attack to two finals in his four major tournaments.

Vital goals past Ireland and Germany set up a Euro 2016 final defeat before he netted the go-ahead goal in the World Cup final two years later.

As good as Griezmann has been, you feel Kylian Mbappe will be working his way up the list very quickly, particularly if he can inspire another World Cup win this winter.

That would be his second World Cup crown at the age of just 23 – with the final two days shy of his 24th birthday.

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4. David Trezeguet

Scoring goals in friendlies or against minnows in qualifying is all well and good, but it is in the biggest of moments when the truest heroes come good.

Trezeguet’s golden-goal winner to snatch the Euro 2000 crown is forever etched in France football history.

And the ex-Juventus ace formed part of an impressive attack for more than a decade, sitting as his country’s fifth-highest scorer of all-time with 34 goals.

3. Karim Benzema

What could have been, had Benzema not become embroiled in a sex-tape blackmail scandal with former France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena, is anyone’s guess.

The 34-year-old denies all allegations but did not feature for Les Bleus between 2015 and his shock comeback to the squad in May for the Euro 2020 – immediately finding the net.

Benzema has won four LaLiga titles, four Champions League crowns and four Ligue 1 medals in a fantastic career.

And he appears to be getting better and better with age as he nears another LaLiga title – and possibly Champions League gong.

With Benzema back in the squad, France will be even more confident of retaining their World Cup title in Qatar this winter – especially with Kylian Mbappe by his side.

2. Just Fontaine

Registering 30 goals for his country is only good enough to make 88-year-old Fontaine the equal-eighth top scorer in the annuls of French football.

But a career-ending injury meant he did so in just 21 games, putting him head and shoulders above almost any player of any nationality for goals-to-games ratio.

Fontaine’s 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup remains a record, in a tournament where only Pele’s Brazil could knock out Les Bleus.

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1. Thierry Henry

Bursting on to the scene as France’s top scorer in the 1998 World Cup triumph, Henry set out his stall for the years to come.

Another trio en route to Euro 2000 continued his ascent before his best calendar year came in 2003 – hitting 11 goals in 14 games.

Retiring internationally in 2010, he held a national record of 51 goals – with his tally of 123 caps by far the most of any attacker to play for France.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk