Although ranked first in the world, France failed spectacularly in the 2002 World Cup, crashing out in the group stage without scoring a single goal, despite David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry and Djibril Cissé being the top goalscorers respectively in Serie A, the Premier League and Ligue 1 that season.
On 9 July 2008, he announced his retirement from international football, finishing his France career ranked third among France's all-time top goalscorers with 34 goals from 71 caps [REF].