MEDALS 1 CAPS 0
PSG keeper Alphonse Areola becomes first man in 36 years to win a World Cup despite never being capped
Third-choice goalkeeper Areola kissed the Jules Rimet trophy and returned to Paris with a winners' medal round his neck
Tom Roddy
FRENCH goalkeeper Alphonse Areola became the first World Cup winner in 36 years to claim a medal despite never being capped.
France's third-choice keeper stepped off the team plane in Paris with the gold dangling round his neck after Didier Deschamps' team beat Croatia in Sunday's final.
Alphonse Areola won the World Cup having never been capped by FranceCredit: Getty - Contributor
The PSG shot-stopper then planted a kiss on the Jules Rimet trophy amid celebrations outside the Elysee Presidential Palace as the squad celebrated.
And yet Areola has never played a minute for Les Bleus first-team.
At World Cups gone by, there are players who went home with winners' medals despite not playing a minute of the tournament.
Borussia Dortmund's Erik Durm received a medal after Germany won the trophy four years ago, yet he didn't make an appearance in Brazil.
Didier Deschamps' half-time speech in the World Cup final to France revealed
PSG's shot-stopper kissed the Jules Rimet trophy outside the Elysee Presidential PalaceCredit: EPA
Areola holds the trophy aloft on France's open-top busCredit: EPA
Areola was third-choice goalkeeper in Didier Deschamps' squadCredit: Reuters
But Durm did have one cap to his name.
In 2010, despite being Barcelona's No1, Victor Valdes was back-up to Iker Casillas and never made an appearance for champions Spain in South Africa.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Valdes had also made just one appearance for the first team.
You have to go back to 1982 to find a World Cup winner who hadn't even been capped when they took a gold medal home — and he's a household name.
France players share their own footage of World Cup winning parade in Paris on social media
Italian icon Franco Baresi was the last man to win a World Cup without being cappedCredit: PA:Empics Sport
Goalkeeper Giovanni Galli also won the 1982 World Cup without having an appearance to his nameCredit: Getty - Contributor
Franco Baresi, the AC Milan icon who won six Serie A titles and three European Cups, hadn't played a single minute for Italy when he won the World Cup in Spain.
Baresi did end up claiming 81 appearances for Italy across 12 years, and almost helped the nation win another World Cup in 1994 when they were beaten by Brazil in the final.
Baresi wasn't the only Italian to claim a medal in 1982 and not have a cap to his name, though.
Like Areola, Giovanni Galli was the third-choice goalkeeper for Enzo Bearzot's team and had never made an appearance before the tournament.
Areola returns to PSG's Camp des Loges training base a World Cup winner, and yet completely fresh for the new season.