N'Golo Kanté is not the best player of his generation, but is he the most unique? It's an interesting question. Nobody -- on or off the pitch -- is quite like Kanté.
On the field, the 35-year-old midfielder is the ultimate water-carrier with a seemingly supernatural work ethic. He tackles, he harries and he duels. He is the subject of jokes -- "71% of the earth is covered by water, the rest is covered by N'Golo Kanté" -- and he has one of the most complete trophy cabinets in world football, featuring the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, Europa League and, of course, the 2018 World Cup.
Do not expect Kanté to brag about it, though.
Off the field, his humble character is universally loved. In a sport defined by fan tribalism, Kanté, somehow, never seems to incite division. His former Chelsea teammate Antonio Rüdiger put it best.
"Before I came to Chelsea, I had heard all the beautiful stories about him," Rüdiger wrote in The Players' Tribune in 2022. "They said he is always smiling. They said he still drives an old Mini Cooper. They said he never raises his voice. But you know how it goes in football, right? No one is really like that. There is too much pressure, too much disappointment. We are all human. No one is that cool all the time. It's impossible.
"Then I met N'Golo."
Kanté was undoubtedly one of France's best players in their 2018 World Cup-winning squad despite not scoring a goal or contributing a single assist. He is a player who delivers plenty but demands little adoration in return.
After the World Cup final, as France's players passed around the trophy in Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, Kanté waited patiently for his turn. His teammate, Steven Nzonzi, had to ask the other players to pass it to Kanté. Later, in a celebration at the Stade de France, each of the players danced when Vegedream sang their name in his World Cup anthem "Ramenez la coupe à la maison" (Bring the cup home). When it came to Kanté, he stood shyly before his teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders, chanting his name.
Those chants will return at this summer's World Cup, likely for the last time. Kanté missed the 2022 tournament with a hamstring injury and was unselected for long spells since then. However, after being included in Didier Deschamps's France squad, he is set to make his last appearance at the height of world football.
Glory in 2018
Someday, someone should ask Messi about Kanté.
France sailed through their group, winning two of their three games and conceding just once. However, their road to the final got bumpy from there. They faced Argentina in the round of 16, and Deschamps wanted Kanté to man-mark Messi. In over 600 career appearances, it may be the performance that best defines Kanté and produced a result that simply wouldn't have been possible without him.
He completed his job near-perfectly. There were no dark arts, no shirt pulling, no kicking or wrestling. He fouled Messi only once -- the Argentina No. 10 went down after feeling pressure from the France midfielder, although it could easily have been let go by the referee. Instead, Kanté just went where Messi went, stopping him in a way few players ever have.
In a seven-goal thriller in Kazan that France won 4-3, Kanté's performance was one of the big talking points. "N'Golo is an essential element because of his work rate, the number of balls he recovers for us, as well as his positioning," Deschamps said afterward. "He often cuts out cross-field passes aimed at their attack.
"We saw N'Golo up against Argentina's Messi -- he was given a specific role, and he did exactly what was asked of him."
It was the springboard for France's run to the final. They didn't concede a goal in either their quarterfinal or semifinal, beating Uruguay and Belgium respectively. Kanté, as ever, had been crucial to all of it.
Yet, if Kanté produced his best performance against Argentina, his worst came against Croatia in the final. He had a horrible day -- he touched the ball just 19 times, fewer than any of France's starters, and completed just seven passes. He lasted just 55 minutes before being substituted for Nzonzi. It was later revealed that Kanté was suffering from a stomach bug.
Still, France won the World Cup and the squad wouldn't let anyone forget about Kanté's impact. Days after winning the title, France's squad went to meet the country's president, Emmanuel Macron, at the Élysée Presidential Palace, where star midfielder Paul Pogba sang an adapted version of a song about his teammate, after the players claimed he cheats when playing cards:
"He is short / He is kind / He stopped Leo Messi. But we all know he is a cheat / N'Golo Kanté!"
Still, Kanté wouldn't have it. His teammate, Blaise Matuidi, made a similar comment in an interview after the Argentina clash.
"No, no," Kanté responded. "We did it together."
Missing in Qatar
Kanté missed the 2022 World Cup with a hamstring injury that kept him out for six months. It meant he missed France's follow-up run to the final -- Real Madrid's Aurélien Tchouaméni filled in the deeper role, with Antoine Griezmann doing Kanté's running instead -- but his presence was still missed.
France again cruised through their group, but were greeted this time with a more forgiving round-of-16 clash with Poland, ending in a 3-1 victory. A quarterfinal win over England was followed by a 2-0 victory over Morocco in the semifinals.
It set up a final clash with Argentina, led by Messi.
France needed another solution. In the lead-up to the game, Pogba compared Griezmann to Kanté, posting "Griezmannkante" on his social media. This time, though, it was a different match. Argentina looked comfortable at 2-0 up, thanks in part to a glittering performance from Messi, who scored the game's opening goal from the penalty spot. Kylian Mbappé's inspired pair of goals before the end levelled the scores, only for Messi and Mbappé to fire again in extra-time, with Argentina ultimately winning on penalties.
Back for 2026
Few players of Kanté's quality who play for major nations have made such few appearances at the World Cup. He played just seven games, all in the 2018 tournament, the only time he was called up. It is not a foregone conclusion that he will add to that tally, either.
Kanté ended his seven-year stay at Chelsea in 2023 to join Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad, where he lifted the league title last season before moving to Turkish side Fenerbahce last summer. His stint in Saudi Arabia cost him caps for France, with Deschamps not calling him up for over 12 months between November 2024 and November 2025.
Kanté made his France return in their penultimate World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine. He was on the bench for their final qualifier against Azerbaijan, but he appeared in France's March internationals against Brazil and Colombia, wearing the captain's armband in the latter. Whether he plays remains to be seen -- France boast one of the tournament's best midfields, led by Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaïre-Emery -- but he will be there, ready.
