Warren Zaïre-Emery Ready to Shine for France at World Cup | OneFootball

France is days away from beginning its World Cup journey against Senegal (June 16th @ 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET). Eyes are on Didier Deschamps’ team, which somehow does not arrive at the tournament with the same cachet as they did at Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

That said, that does not mean they cease to be one of the big favorites. But that expectation is not so much because of what they showed in Russia and Qatar, but because of the number of young elite players they field.

A clear example is Warren Zaïre-Emery, a twice Champions League champion with PSG at just 20 years old. Let’s get into who he is, how he plays, and what we can expect from him at the World Cup.

Warren Zaïre-Emery Background

Zaïre-Emery was born on March 8, 2006, in Montreuil, an eastern suburb of Paris. Since childhood, he showed great talent for soccer and trained at FCM Aubervilliers, a modest club in his neighborhood.

At eight years old, he signed for PSG. Among the academy, Zaïre-Emery stood out for his technique, vision, leadership ability, and maturity. Zaïre began playing as a midfielder, usually as a defensive pivot. He made his debut with the PSG first team on Aug. 6, 2022, at just 16 years old, in a Ligue 1 match against Clermont Foot 63.

That day, Zaïre-Emery fulfilled his dream of playing alongside his idols and became the second youngest player to debut for PSG.

Zaïre-Emery has also shone with France’s youth national teams. He was called up for the first time in April 2022 for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, held in England. In that tournament, the Frenchman was the star of his team, which went on to lift the title.

In November 2023, he received his first call-up to the senior national team from Deschamps due to the absences of Paul Pogba and Adrien Rabiot.

How Does Warren Zaïre-Emery Play?

Zaïre-Emery is considered a new phenomenon in French soccer and one of the world’s best talents. His playing style combines elegance, tactical intelligence, and sacrifice.

He is a born leader; taking charge of the Parisian midfield despite his young age, and he is dangerous arriving from the second line. His future is promising, and many see him as the successor to N’Golo Kanté in France’s midfield.

In the current PSG season, the 5-foot-10 player was the most used by Luis Enrique, accumulating 4,224 minutes on the field across all competitions. He played all 54 of his club’s matches this season, 50 of them as a starter, sometimes as a midfielder and other times occupying the right-back position.

The latter is something that makes him quite special. When Hakimi was absent for the Africa Cup of Nations, Zaïre-Emery covered for him and did it wonderfully. He is a real threat in one-on-one duels, and he is fast, has attacking instincts, and has confidence when shooting. Added to his natural qualities as a midfielder, this makes him a Swiss army knife for any coach.

Warren Zaïre-Emery & France

His versatility and commitment, qualities that he combines with remarkable accuracy, have convinced Deschamps. As if that were not enough, on the day of his debut against Gibraltar he became the second youngest goalscorer in the history of France, after Maurice Gastiger (who scored at 17 years and 4 months in 1914).

He was called up for Euro 2024 but did not play a single minute in Germany, as the coach opted for other teammates. He recently put on a real show in a friendly against Colombia (3-1), which surely earned him points in the coach’s eyes. Now everything points to him having the opportunity to redeem himself this summer in North America and participate, now in a leading role, in the first World Cup of his career, to which many others could well follow.