| DEMBELE | French footballer, Barcelona forward: Masour Ousmane... (7) |
| DECO | Former Portugal midfield footballer; Barcelona 2006 Champions League Final winner |
| DABO | Ousmane .... , 2003 France and 2006-08 Manchester City midfielder (4) |
| CANTONA | Swiss division supported by a one-time French footballer (7) |
| PLATINI | Michel ___; French footballer and manager (7) |
| THIERRY | _ Henry, French footballer who played for Arsenal from 1999-2007 (7) |
| BENZEMA | French footballer awarded the Ballon d'Or on 17 October, 2022 (5,7) |
| LAURENT | - Blanc, French footballer who managed Paris Saint-Germain from 2013 to 2016 (7) |
| NZOGBIA | Charles ___, French footballer who played for Newcastle United, Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa in the Premier League, having begun his career at "23" |
| MESSI | Lionel - - -, Argentina and Barcelona forward, 2019 Ballon d'Or winner (5) |
| MARCGUIU | Chelsea and 2023-24 Barcelona forward (4,4) |
| LIONELMESSI | Barcelona forward who led soccer players (and all athletes) on Forbes's 2019 list of the World's Highest-Paid Athletes: 2 wds. |
| ERICCANTONA | French footballer turned actor (4,7) |
| MICHEL | Needing a lot of academic help, Latin impossible for former French footballer (6,7) |
| KARIM | French footballer awarded the Ballon d'Or on 17 October, 2022 (5,7) |
| HENRY | Thierry _; French footballer (5) |
| GIROUD | Olivier _, French footballer (6) |
| STICKLEBACK | Fish will remain with the French footballer (11) |
| ZIDANE | Zinedine _; French footballer (6) |
| PAUL | __ Pogba, French footballer |
