Frank Leboeuf

Leboeuf was born in Marseille and raised in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer. He was introduced to football by his father, a former Rennes coach, who trained children in the sport. After starting his career in 1986 in the lower divisions of the French leagues, Leboeuf moved to Laval in 1988. In 1991, he moved to Strasbourg and played there until 1996, when he made a switch to English club Chelsea for £2.5m. He played over 200 games for the club and scored 24 goals, mainly from penalties and set pieces. With Chelsea, he won two FA Cups, one League Cup, one Cup Winners' Cup and one UEFA Super Cup. He left in 2001 for club Marseille, before finishing out his career in Qatar. Despite his numerous accolades, Leboeuf never won a first-division title in Europe or the UEFA Champions League.

Leboeuf was capped 50 times for France, scoring four goals. His first two came on 6 September 1995 in a Euro 96 qualifier at home to Azerbaijan, contributing to a 10–0 win, a then-record for France. Although he was mainly a substitute in the 1998 World Cup (started 2 and played in 3 matches out of 7), he stepped in for red carded Laurent Blanc to play in the final, a 3–0 win against Brazil, a match in which he man-marked the highly rated striker Ronaldo. In a Euro 2000 qualifier on 9 June 1999, Leboeuf scored the only goal from the penalty spot with five minutes to go as world champions France struggled away to amateurs Andorra. He received a winner's medal at the finals in Belgium and the Netherlands, though Blanc and Marcel Desailly were the preferred defensive partnership, including in the final. He scored a late winner against co-hosts South Korea on 26 May ahead of the 2002 FIFA World Cup (3–2). Holders France were eliminated in the group stage in a shock, and he retired from the team.

International goals

Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Leboeuf goal.

A cultured centre-back, Leboeuf was noted for his intelligence, composure, and long range passing ability. He also had a powerful long range shot, and was a consistent penalty-taker throughout his career. He took 15 penalties in competitive games for Chelsea, missing just 2 times, and missing only 1 out of his 11 attempts from the spot in the Premier League.

Leboeuf is married to actress Chrislaure Nollet and has two children, Jade and Hugo, from his first marriage to Beatrice. His amateur sporting hobbies include tennis, swimming and boxing. Franck Leboeuf is the cousin of the hotelier Philippe Leboeuf. Following the 1998 World Cup, he was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1998.