• Thirty years ago today, Aime Jacquet took charge of his first match with Les Bleus

• He would go on to thrust Zinedine Zidane into the international limelight

• Jacquet would make history by winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil

France fans can’t help but smile when Aime Jacquet crosses their mind. The man from Sail-sous-Couzan evokes memories of one of the greatest chapters in France’s footballing history – their triumph at the 1998 FIFA World Cup™.

Before reaching that pinnacle, Jacquet’s tenure had been characterised by formative successes, bold decisions and criticism that he swept aside in building a squad fully intent on shooting for the stars. The success story of the World Cup-winning coach – now aged 82 – began 30 years ago today, on 16 February 1994, with victory over Italy in a friendly.

In his first match in caretaker charge of France, Jacquet made his mark with a 1-0 win in Naples against an Italy side whose preparations were in full swing ahead of the 1994 World Cup. The victory at the legendary San Paolo Stadium – now called the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium) – came courtesy of Youri Djorkaeff’s goal on the stroke of half-time and was notable for being France’s first win on Italian soil since 1912!

“I remember that match perfectly because it was the first time I started for Les Bleus,” reminisced Djorkaeff, now Senior Football Advisor at FIFA. “I think we only had one chance in the match, and I buried it. That was the start of my journey in the French national team. I often say that Aime Jacquet is my spiritual father. He’s one of the few people who knew how to get me into the best positions to express myself.”

The success in Italy proved to be a pivotal event, not only putting smiles back on French faces following the trauma of having failed to qualify for USA 1994, but also allowing Jacquet to win over his critics and establish himself as a permanent fixture in the national team dugout. Jacquet had first entered the national team set-up as a member of France’s national technical department, before becoming Gerard Houllier’s assistant in 1992.

After the memorable victory over Arrigo Sacchi’s Italy, eventual runners-up at 1994 World Cup, the former Lyon, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Nancy coach embarked on a series of radical decisions that would ultimately pay dividends. First, he had the inspirational idea of thrusting a certain Zinedine Zidane onto the international stage. By scoring a brace on his international debut in a 2-2 friendly draw against Czechia in Bordeaux on 17 August 1994, Zizou, then aged 22, showed he had quality and ambition to make a significant impact at international level.

The other, more contentious decision was to drop the team’s star and captain, Eric Cantona, as well as David Ginola and Jean-Pierre Papin, all three of whom were very popular. At that time, Papin was France’s third highest goalscorer of all time, with 27 goals, behind only Michel Platini and Just Fontaine. In the months that followed, Jacquet developed a close-knit group centred around Didier Deschamps and Laurent Blanc, who had reversed his decision to retire early from international football at the age of 28.

It didn’t take long for Jacquet’s decisions to bear fruit. With his new-look squad, he steered France to UEFA EURO 1996 qualification, largely thanks to victory in another pivotal encounter, a 3-1 win in Romania in October 1995, which highlighted the collective spirit in his team. He led Les Bleus to the semi-finals of the tournament, where they lost on penalties to Czechia, but nevertheless achieved France’s best performance in an international competition for 12 years.

Having qualified automatically as hosts for the 1998 World Cup, France played a series of friendlies in which Jacquet was criticised for their style of play. In the aftermath of France’s respective failed attempts to qualify for the finals in 1990 and 1994, the coach found himself in the media spotlight in the lead-up to the most important competition of them all. He suffered, but weathered the storm, convinced of the potential of his players, not least Zidane.

What followed proved him right, as a historic tournament culminated in France claiming a fairy-tale 3‑0 victory against Brazil in the final.

On top of the world, Jacquet bowed out at the end of his contract, having etched himself into the hearts of the nation once and for all.

Today, France are still reaping the rewards of the Jacquet era, and he is convinced Les Bleus can continue to flourish on the game's biggest stages. When addressing members of the French Football Federation in November, he said: “As long as the connection is not broken, we can go very, very far, and French football is proving that at the highest level. Everything Didier Deschamps is doing at the helm of Les Bleus, as well as the progress made by our women's team, is extraordinary.”