Lilian Thuram

He joined Parma from Monaco in the summer of 1996 and went on to spend five seasons in Emilia. During that time, he won one UEFA Cup, one Coppa Italia, and one Supercoppa Italiana, forming one of the strongest defensive trios in world football at the time alongside Buffon and Cannavaro.

While still a Parma player, he won the World Cup in 1998 and the Euros in 2000 with France. He would go on to finish his career with Les Bleus with a total of 142 appearances, making him France’s most-capped player of all time, and two goals to his name; both goals came in the semi-final against Croatia at the ’98 World Cup. In 2000, he was part of the side that won the Euros in the Netherlands and Belgium.

He retired from football in 2008. He has always been heavily engaged in social issues and integration; since his retirement, he has published numerous books on the topic and started the Lilian Thuram Foundation, which is dedicated to education in the fight against racism.