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Sacre Bleu: from Zidane to Mbappé - A football journey
Remember when Zinédine Zidane lifted the World Cup in 1998? Kylian Mbappé doesn’t. The gifted young forward wasn’t born when the French team became world champions for the first time. But it was Mbappé’s unique talent that helped France to reach the summit of world football once again in 2018, erasing years of failure, rancour and shame.
These two crowning achievements made Les Bleus the envy of the world, but the road between these two highs was blighted by bitterly painful lows. Zidane’s headbutt; a players’ strike; infighting and recriminations; even sex scandals and blackmail. This was also a turbulent time for French society, as the promise of racial harmony in 1998 gave way to rising tensions and riots.
Mbappé witnessed it all, honing his prodigious talent in the banlieues of Paris as the nation threatened to implode. His story embodies France’s journey from disaster to triumph; football’s hottest new property growing up in a troubled neighbourhood and inspiring a divided country on and off the pitch.
In Sacré Bleu, Matthew Spiro traces the rise, fall and rise again of Les Bleus through the lens of Kylian Mbappé. Featuring a foreword by Arsène Wenger and interviews with leading figures in French football, including Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram, Emmanuel Petit, Robert Pirès and Olivier Giroud, Spiro asks what went wrong for France and what, ultimately, went right.
These two crowning achievements made Les Bleus the envy of the world, but the road between these two highs was blighted by bitterly painful lows. Zidane’s headbutt; a players’ strike; infighting and recriminations; even sex scandals and blackmail. This was also a turbulent time for French society, as the promise of racial harmony in 1998 gave way to rising tensions and riots.
Mbappé witnessed it all, honing his prodigious talent in the banlieues of Paris as the nation threatened to implode. His story embodies France’s journey from disaster to triumph; football’s hottest new property growing up in a troubled neighbourhood and inspiring a divided country on and off the pitch.
In Sacré Bleu, Matthew Spiro traces the rise, fall and rise again of Les Bleus through the lens of Kylian Mbappé. Featuring a foreword by Arsène Wenger and interviews with leading figures in French football, including Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram, Emmanuel Petit, Robert Pirès and Olivier Giroud, Spiro asks what went wrong for France and what, ultimately, went right.
- GenresFootballSportsNonfiction
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 28, 2020
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109 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 24, 2023
MUST REAS FOR FOOTBALL FANS
I’ve been following French football for nearly 20 years and this is a fantastic read. Matt goes into great detail, merging the past and present beautifully. C’est magnifique
I’ve been following French football for nearly 20 years and this is a fantastic read. Matt goes into great detail, merging the past and present beautifully. C’est magnifique
April 25, 2021
The turn of the century saw a burst of country-specific football books. As time has passed and the big nations have gradually all been covered one way or another, the new releases in the genre have gotten gradually more obscure. It will not be long before we see ‘Fish and Football: A Study of the Beautiful Game in the Faroe Islands’ on the shelves of our favorite bookshop.
There has remained a gaping hole in the literature, however. A country that has won three major tournaments in the last 23 years and currently develops more talent for export than any other. Thankfully, Matthew Spiro’s Sacre Bleu provides a much-welcomed book on the Gallic game.
What’s it about?
Sacre Bleu is focused on the French National team during their rise and fall and rise again. From the glory of the 1998 World Cup win, to the 2010 debacle which saw the players go on strike, losing the final at home in Euro 2016 in the aftermath of the Paris terror yet attacks and finally to the 2018 victory in Russia.
The author examines the impact of the fabled Clairefontaine academy, seen by many as a key reason for France’s rise in the late 90s and early 00s, with graduates including Trezequet, Henry and Anelka. The story of Kylian Mbappé is weaved through the book, himself a child of the suburbs, the son of a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother, and a product of Clairefontaine.
The book features interviews with a number of key figures including Gerard Houllier, Lillian Thuram, Robert Pires and Olivier Giroud as well as drawing on French language sources throughout.
Who wrote the book?
Matthew Spiro, a French-based English journalist who commentates and writes about the Gallic game. He is the lead commentator for BeIN Sports coverage of Ligue 1.
He can be found on Twitter @mattspiro. Sacre Bleu is his first book.
What are the best bits?
The diverse makeup of the French team has been a much discussed topic over the last two decades and Spiro does an excellent job analyzing the changing nature of the topic in conjunction with France’s successes and Closely connected to wider political discourse throughout the country. The ‘98 team was celebrated as a symbol of modern France, known as the black-blanc-beur (black-white-brown) with many of the player’s recent immigrants or sons of the ‘Happy Labourers’ imported post-war contrasting with the strike of 2010 embodying the post-industrial suburban decay of the country driven by far-right politicians like Marie Le Pen.
This is most pertinent in the ‘quota’ scandal which saw leading figures at Clairefontaine advocate for racial quotas within the academy. I remember hearing about this at the time it broke, but had long forgotten about it so Spiro’s well-balanced recount of the events that took place at this time was an informative reminder of the ill-advised concept.
Why should I read it?
As mentioned earlier, Sacre Bleu is one of few books on French football so it certainly fills a void. As we’ve seen with Germany and Spain it is certainly trendy to try and unlock the secret sauce of a World Cup winner. Often these can be attempts to reverse engineer the causes, but the reality is often shades of grey rather than black and white. Spiro covers Clairefontaine and the FFF development model but he also does not neglect the other factors that go into winning a World Cup. It’s clear that team cohesion (on and off the field) was an important factor for Didier Deschamps in 2018. If you enjoyed Das Reboot by Rafael Honigstein of Spain by Graham Hunter, it’s likely you’ll enjoy this too.
The interviews conducted provide credible insight into the events that transpired and his immersion in French football, opens a door for us non-French speakers. It’s also a nice review of the last 6 World Cups and 7 European Championships, albeit through a red-white-blue lens.
One negative. Although I enjoyed learning more about Kylian Mbappe, I would have been fine with a profile chapter at the end of the book. I’m not totally certain that having his story as a hook within the book was ultimately necessarily.
Final Word
Overall, a really enjoyable book. Something for football historians, coaches and the socio-political set. Well written, the strength of Sacre Bleu is Spiro’s ability to knit together a history with interviews and anecdotes alongside profiling the key figures of Les Bleus.
There’s certainly a very interesting socio-political book to be written on French football and though I don’t think it was the author’s intention to create that here, but he whets the appetite for further works.
Likewise a travelling story of France the country via its football clubs would be great reading, from Rennes to Marseille, in the style of Morbo. Given Spiro’s current role and writing style, I think this would be a great read. Similarly the country that founded FIFA, developed the idea of the World Cup and European Cup, deserves a full history, in the style of Angels with Dirty Faces.
How long will it take me?
At 352 pages, according to How Long to Read it will take the average reader 5hrs and 50 minutes.
What formats is the book available in?
Kindle and Hardback. In the US, the kindle is better value at $9.99 whilst the hardback comes in at $24.
There has remained a gaping hole in the literature, however. A country that has won three major tournaments in the last 23 years and currently develops more talent for export than any other. Thankfully, Matthew Spiro’s Sacre Bleu provides a much-welcomed book on the Gallic game.
What’s it about?
Sacre Bleu is focused on the French National team during their rise and fall and rise again. From the glory of the 1998 World Cup win, to the 2010 debacle which saw the players go on strike, losing the final at home in Euro 2016 in the aftermath of the Paris terror yet attacks and finally to the 2018 victory in Russia.
The author examines the impact of the fabled Clairefontaine academy, seen by many as a key reason for France’s rise in the late 90s and early 00s, with graduates including Trezequet, Henry and Anelka. The story of Kylian Mbappé is weaved through the book, himself a child of the suburbs, the son of a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother, and a product of Clairefontaine.
The book features interviews with a number of key figures including Gerard Houllier, Lillian Thuram, Robert Pires and Olivier Giroud as well as drawing on French language sources throughout.
Who wrote the book?
Matthew Spiro, a French-based English journalist who commentates and writes about the Gallic game. He is the lead commentator for BeIN Sports coverage of Ligue 1.
He can be found on Twitter @mattspiro. Sacre Bleu is his first book.
What are the best bits?
The diverse makeup of the French team has been a much discussed topic over the last two decades and Spiro does an excellent job analyzing the changing nature of the topic in conjunction with France’s successes and Closely connected to wider political discourse throughout the country. The ‘98 team was celebrated as a symbol of modern France, known as the black-blanc-beur (black-white-brown) with many of the player’s recent immigrants or sons of the ‘Happy Labourers’ imported post-war contrasting with the strike of 2010 embodying the post-industrial suburban decay of the country driven by far-right politicians like Marie Le Pen.
This is most pertinent in the ‘quota’ scandal which saw leading figures at Clairefontaine advocate for racial quotas within the academy. I remember hearing about this at the time it broke, but had long forgotten about it so Spiro’s well-balanced recount of the events that took place at this time was an informative reminder of the ill-advised concept.
Why should I read it?
As mentioned earlier, Sacre Bleu is one of few books on French football so it certainly fills a void. As we’ve seen with Germany and Spain it is certainly trendy to try and unlock the secret sauce of a World Cup winner. Often these can be attempts to reverse engineer the causes, but the reality is often shades of grey rather than black and white. Spiro covers Clairefontaine and the FFF development model but he also does not neglect the other factors that go into winning a World Cup. It’s clear that team cohesion (on and off the field) was an important factor for Didier Deschamps in 2018. If you enjoyed Das Reboot by Rafael Honigstein of Spain by Graham Hunter, it’s likely you’ll enjoy this too.
The interviews conducted provide credible insight into the events that transpired and his immersion in French football, opens a door for us non-French speakers. It’s also a nice review of the last 6 World Cups and 7 European Championships, albeit through a red-white-blue lens.
One negative. Although I enjoyed learning more about Kylian Mbappe, I would have been fine with a profile chapter at the end of the book. I’m not totally certain that having his story as a hook within the book was ultimately necessarily.
Final Word
Overall, a really enjoyable book. Something for football historians, coaches and the socio-political set. Well written, the strength of Sacre Bleu is Spiro’s ability to knit together a history with interviews and anecdotes alongside profiling the key figures of Les Bleus.
There’s certainly a very interesting socio-political book to be written on French football and though I don’t think it was the author’s intention to create that here, but he whets the appetite for further works.
Likewise a travelling story of France the country via its football clubs would be great reading, from Rennes to Marseille, in the style of Morbo. Given Spiro’s current role and writing style, I think this would be a great read. Similarly the country that founded FIFA, developed the idea of the World Cup and European Cup, deserves a full history, in the style of Angels with Dirty Faces.
How long will it take me?
At 352 pages, according to How Long to Read it will take the average reader 5hrs and 50 minutes.
What formats is the book available in?
Kindle and Hardback. In the US, the kindle is better value at $9.99 whilst the hardback comes in at $24.
February 21, 2021
There are some wonderful football books about the sport in different countries. My favourites are David Winner’s book on Dutch Football and Jonathan Wilson’s book on the game in Argentina. They stand out because they do more than just tell the chronological history of the sport in that country and stories about the main events and main characters. These books capture the soul of that country by understanding its relationship with football and how the sports plays a significant role in the cultural , social and political life of that country. Sacre Bleu about French football falls in that same category.
There is an acute dearth of good books about French football in English. This book partially but brilliantly fills that gap. Partially because it only covers the period from the mid 80’s to 2018. But it does a phenomenal job of explaining in great detail the journey from one World Cup victory in 1998 to another in 2018.
That journey is not just about Les Bleus, as the national team is called. It’s about youth development, club football, issues about immigration and racism, superstar footballers and the media, the highs and lows of the national team ( like in South Africa 2010) and how it impacts the nations psyche and the journey of France as a nation though the prism of its football team.
Kylian Mbappe’s story is merged into this narrative. It’s almost a mini biography of the footballer. But it serves as a good backdrop to the larger story about football and France.
There are lots of interesting anecdotes and stories in this book. It also has the views and thoughts of many people closely involved with the game in France. This collective voice gives great balance and offers interesting insights into the topics discussed in the book.
France is one of the giants of the modern game and has overtaken Brazil as the largest exporter of top footballers. Their story will interest any football fan. It’s a must read book for them.
There is an acute dearth of good books about French football in English. This book partially but brilliantly fills that gap. Partially because it only covers the period from the mid 80’s to 2018. But it does a phenomenal job of explaining in great detail the journey from one World Cup victory in 1998 to another in 2018.
That journey is not just about Les Bleus, as the national team is called. It’s about youth development, club football, issues about immigration and racism, superstar footballers and the media, the highs and lows of the national team ( like in South Africa 2010) and how it impacts the nations psyche and the journey of France as a nation though the prism of its football team.
Kylian Mbappe’s story is merged into this narrative. It’s almost a mini biography of the footballer. But it serves as a good backdrop to the larger story about football and France.
There are lots of interesting anecdotes and stories in this book. It also has the views and thoughts of many people closely involved with the game in France. This collective voice gives great balance and offers interesting insights into the topics discussed in the book.
France is one of the giants of the modern game and has overtaken Brazil as the largest exporter of top footballers. Their story will interest any football fan. It’s a must read book for them.
July 27, 2021
Fascinating and comprehensive reporting on the French national team from Zidane to Mbappe (2018). Spiro speaks to some legends of French football in Pires, Thuram, Desailly and some of the most influential figures in French football history like Gérard Houllier and examines the holistic view of French football, from the influence of the 98 win on youth development to issues of race and ethnic origin and how French football struggles to competently deal.
I've followed the French team for a long time and a lot of the questions I've had around the team, the political dynamic in the federation and beyond were provided nuance, context, and indepth reporting I hadn't seen before - all presented fairly
I've followed the French team for a long time and a lot of the questions I've had around the team, the political dynamic in the federation and beyond were provided nuance, context, and indepth reporting I hadn't seen before - all presented fairly
December 1, 2020
A brilliant book for all football fans and / or Francophiles. This book is a tantalising journey into France and its soccer legacy - lifting the lid on a nation that has dramatically impacted the game of football throughout Europe and the world.
The writing is evocative, yet informative, subtle, yet high impact - the football pieces are dramatic and enlivening, and the politics intriguing, chilling, and yet at times, inspiring.
READ IT! You won’t regret giving your time to a zingy and brilliant book.
The writing is evocative, yet informative, subtle, yet high impact - the football pieces are dramatic and enlivening, and the politics intriguing, chilling, and yet at times, inspiring.
READ IT! You won’t regret giving your time to a zingy and brilliant book.
December 18, 2022
A real history book of France national football team taking period from 1998 to 2018. Many facts and insights of French players and experts about main events during that timespan. It's interesting
to get more info about your favorite NT, especially before one more World Cup final - France vs. Argentina today. Allez les Bleus!
to get more info about your favorite NT, especially before one more World Cup final - France vs. Argentina today. Allez les Bleus!
January 31, 2023
As someone with a long-standing obsession for all things French Football related, this book was perfectly pitched for me. However it’s one that all football fans would thoroughly enjoy. From the highs of Frances 1998 World Cup success to the low ebb of the player revolt in 2010 and back to being World Champions in 2018 it is a book full of terrific detail and insight. Magnifique 🇫🇷
December 31, 2020
I’ve had a fascination with the France national football team ever since being inspired by their World Cup triumph as a year 13 year old in 1998. I’ve been on the look out for a book on this subject for years and there’s never really been anything recent and up to date. I’m so happy I found this book! One of the reasons I was so inspired by France winning the World Cup in 1998 was because of the diversity of the French team. Seeing the combination of black, white and Arab footballers combine to deliver so much success was amazing. However, this book really opened up my eyes to all of the highs and lows of the French team since then. The reality of the French football team’s success being used to celebrate the country’s multiculturalism and yet it’s failures being to show why everything is wrong with immigration in the eyes of some is stark and eye-opening. I’ve got to thank the author for showing a side to French football which isn’t always reported on in the UK. The fact the book links France’s triumphs in 1998 to 2018 to their talisman in each victory - Zidane and Mbappe adds further poignancy to it. An excellent read and highly recommended.
November 20, 2022
Sacre Bleu superbly chronicles the rise, fall and rise of French Football over the last two decades. France has become a production line of prolific footballers, overtaking Brazil as the largest exporter of football talent. Matthew Spiro splendidly dives into this by dissecting the socio-political milieu of modern-day France. He details the rise of black-blanc-beur as a core part of France's footballing ethos and the role of the world's favourite sport in embracing multiculturality. The failed generation of 87', the terrorist attacks in Paris, the role of Ligue 1 and Clairefontaine in football development, the controversies and scandals plaguing the current Ballon d'Or Karim Benzema, the global phenomenon called Kylian Mbappe and more - Spiro covers an impossibly wide range of topics in this 350 pager. Sacre Bleu is a must-read for every football fan out there.
August 12, 2022
As someone who loves everything about French football and culture, I genuinely enjoyed this book. However, there are a few weak elements, the first being that the writer does not seem to know what the main focus is of the book. If he wants to connect football to society, the documentary 'Les Bleus: une autre histoire de France' has topped him in that and if he wants to write a sort of Mbappe biography, I guess that's a book on its own. So, a bit of a lack of focus and sometimes a bit cliche, but still worth the read.
January 22, 2025
4.5 stars rounded down to 4. It is a very good read and what the author does get out of the interview subjects is wonderful, but it would have been nice to get one more voice. Obviously, that would have been really hard to do, but it seemed like we were a perspective short on this that could have enhanced it even more. Great read none-the-less.
June 8, 2025
Enjoyed this, especially the interviews with French football figures and the look into France's social fabric during 1998 and 2018. I think I would have preferred it more if there was less focus on Mbappe, which is nothing against him but when the book was written he was still a baby in terms of his footballing career, and more on French football and society in general.
3.5*
3.5*
October 23, 2020
This book is almost a two-in-one book as it acts as an in-dept history of French football from the pre-1998 World Cup win to the 2018 victory, but also as a biography of Kyllian Mbappé and his rise to potentially being on of the best footballers of all time. Easy to read with great detail of the ups and downs of French football between 1998 to 2018.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews