Aimé Jacquet

France national team After the France national team was knocked out of qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, finishing third of the group behind Sweden and Bulgaria, Jacquet was made the manager of the national team, but only provisionally. After a promising series of friendly matches including a victory over Italy, his provisional status was upgraded to permanent.

Jacquet initially selected Eric Cantona as captain and made him the team's playmaker. Cantona was successfully establishing his career in the FA Premier League and was playing some of the best football of his career, but notoriously kicked a Crystal Palace fan in January 1995, which earned him a year-long suspension from all international matches.

As Cantona was the key playmaker, Jacquet was forced to make major changes to the team in the wake of his suspension. Jacquet revamped the squad with some new blood and built it around Zinedine Zidane and other younger players while dropping Cantona, Jean-Pierre Papin, and David Ginola. Jacquet succeeded in helping France qualify for the Euro 96.

Making it all the way to the semi-finals, Les Bleus managed to show they could survive without veterans such as Papin, Cantona, or Ginola. Jacquet himself stated that the team had done well without Cantona, and that he wanted to keep faith with the players who had taken them this far.

1998 World Cup triumph

In the months that followed the Euro 96, Jacquet honed his team's skills in a series of friendly matches. He adopted a very defensive strategy. The press began to criticize the team manager, calling his methods "paleolithic".

In June 1997 at Le Tournoi, cries of "Resign!" could be heard from the crowd as the French team finished third behind England and Brazil, only coming out ahead of Italy by virtue of goal difference. The media also continued to criticize Jacquet.

The media's distrust of Jacquet reached fever pitch in May 1998 when, instead of a list of 22 players meant to play in the World Cup, Jacquet gave a list of 28 players, causing the sports daily L'Équipe to write an editorial arguing that Jacquet was not the right man to lead the French team to victory.

A display at the Musée National du Sport, featuring a France 1998 jersey with Jacquet's name and a match ball used during the 1998 FIFA World Cup final.

However, all that changed when the team kicked off their 1998 FIFA World Cup campaign in the group stage. It was clear that though Jacquet's team was far from being the most flamboyant in the French team history, it was a perfectly well-oiled machine that neither injury, nor expulsions, nor suspensions, managed to stop. Advancing through the group stage with a perfect record, France faced a challenging path in the knockout phase. After overcoming Paraguay with a golden goal in the round of 16 and defeating Italy in a tense quarter-final penalty shootout, the hosts maintained their momentum by rallying to beat Croatia in the semi-finals. Driven by a resilient defense and the tactical discipline instilled by Jacquet, the team secured their place in the final, where they would face defending champion Brazil.

On 12 July 1998, France soundly beat Brazil 3–0 in the final, to become world champion for the first time in its history. Crucial to the win, Jacquet identified Brazil's defensive fragility at set-pieces, which allowed Zidane to capitalize by nodding two goals from corner kicks.

Following the victory, Jacquet announced that he was leaving his position as manager of the France national team due to previous pressures and criticisms against him. He then became technical director of French football in August 1998, a position which he held until his retirement in December 2006.

Career statistics Club Jacquet (top row, second left) with AS Saint-Étienne, the Division 1 winning team of 1968.

International

Managerial Source:

Honours As a player Saint-Étienne Division 1: 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70 Division 2: 1962–63 Trophée des Champions: 1967, 1968, 1969 Coupe de France: 1967–68, 1969–70

As a manager Bordeaux Division 1: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87 Coupe de France: 1985–86, 1986–87 Trophée des Champions: 1986

France FIFA World Cup: 1998

Individual French Manager of the Year: 1981, 1984, 1998 French Manager of the Century Onze d'Or Coach of the Year: 1998

Orders Knight of the Legion of Honour: 1998