Sylvain Claude Wiltord (born 10 May 1974) is a French former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

. Mainly a right winger, he also played as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, second striker and on the left wing. Wiltord had a four-season spell at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

, with whom he won two

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

titles and two

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

s. He also won the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

title at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

and in each of his three consecutive seasons at

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

. With the France national team, Wiltord earned 92 caps and scored 26 goals. He played at the 1996 Olympics, two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

s and two

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

s. Wiltord was part of the teams which won Euro 2000 (for which he scored a last minute equaliser to take the final to extra time) and reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

of the 2006 World Cup.

Club career

Early career, Rennes and Bordeaux

Wiltord joined

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departme ...

from lower-league side CO Joinville in 1991. At Rennes, he emerged in the 1993–94 season with eight goals in 26 games. In summer 1996, after Wiltord's excelled for France at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

club

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

reached an agreement with Rennes for him to join from 1 July 1997. As part of the agreement a transfer fee of 300 million pesetas (€1.8 million) was paid to Rennes while Wiltord was loaned back to Rennes for the 1996–97 season. In the summer of 1997, at the end of his spell on loan, he returned to Spain only to request a move back to France so as to link up with

. For this transfer a fee of 375 million pesetas (€2.25 million) and a 40% sell-on clause were agreed. He was ever-present in his first term at Bordeaux and went on to score 22 goals in the following 1998–99 season, where he won the golden boot as Bordeaux lifted the

championship.

Arsenal

Wiltord was signed by English club

, for what was then a club record fee of £13 million in August 2000, weeks after scoring the stoppage-time equaliser in the Euro 2000 Final. This record fee was not surpassed until eight-and-a-half years later when Arsenal paid £15 million for Russian winger

Andrey Arshavin Andrey Sergeyevich Arshavin (russian: Андрей Сергеевич Аршавин ; born 29 May 1981) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a winger or midfielder. Arshavin began his career at Zenit Saint Petersburg in ...

. Whilst with the Gunners he was occasionally paired with

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

up front or otherwise upon the wing. Wiltord made his debut as a substitute against Chelsea on 6 September 2000, and his first goal followed against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

on 16 September 2000. A highlight in his first season was scoring a first half hat-trick in a win against West Ham United. Arsenal reached the 2001 FA Cup Final which Wiltord started. He was substituted for Ray Parlour with Arsenal leading 1–0, however Liverpool ultimately came back and scored two late goals to win 2–1. In the 2001–02 season Wiltord scored ten goals in the league as Arsenal finished as champions. He scored crucial winning goals along the way against Chelsea and Everton. The highlight of Wiltord's Arsenal career came at the end of that season; scoring the winning goal over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

, a 1–0 win which clinched the 2001–02 Premier League title as Arsenal achieved The Double on 8 May. Returning to Old Trafford the following season in the FA Cup, Wiltord netted again as Arsenal saw off United 2–0 in a year where they also won the Cup. Wiltord started the 2002 FA Cup Final and played as a substitute in the 2003 final. Wiltord went on to form part of Arsenal's 2003–04 "Invincibles" season, though his appearances were less frequent towards the end of the campaign. During the season he made a total of 12 league appearances, which was enough to earn a title winners' medal. Altogether he played 175 times for the Gunners in all competitions, scoring a total of 49 goals. In June 2008, Wiltord was voted 33rd in a list of 50 of the greatest Arsenal players of all time.

Lyon

When his contract with Arsenal expired in the summer of 2004, Wiltord trained for two weeks with Rennes and rejected a move to newly promoted Premier League team

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. He was also reportedly keen on a move to Arsenal's rivals

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. On 31 August, he signed for

on an initial two-year contract. Moving to Lyon, Wiltord found further success, winning three Ligue 1 titles and reaching the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

in successive seasons.

Rennes

Wiltord signed for

in August 2007 on a two-year contract and with an opportunity to join the coaching staff when he finished his professional career.

Marseille

He joined

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

on 15 January 2009 for the remainder of the Ligue 1 season. On 17 May 2009, he scored Marseille's only goal in a 3–1 loss to Lyon at home. He was released at the end of the 2008–09 season, and was considering a possible move to either America, UAE or perhaps retirement.

Metz

On 30 January 2010, after training with

US Créteil The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, Wiltord signed with FC Metz until the end of the season.

Nantes

On 18 July 2011, Wiltord came back from retirement and signed a contract at

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

until the end of 2011–12. He announced his immediate retirement on 11 June 2012.

International career

Wiltord made his debut for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in a 2–0 victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

on 10 February 1999 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. For

, Wiltord has been capped 92 times, scoring 26 goals. His most memorable goal for Les Bleus was scored in dramatic fashion in the last seconds of the

UEFA Euro 2000 Final The UEFA Euro 2000 Final was the final match of Euro 2000, the eleventh European Football Championship, UEFA's top football competition for national teams. The match was played at De Kuip in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 2 July 2000 and was co ...

against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to tie the match 1–1 and bring the game to extra-time. France then won the final from a

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

scored by David Trezeguet. Wiltord remained in the national squad for the 2002 World Cup, where France endured a shocking first round exit without a single win or scoring a single goal, the worst ever performance by a defending champion at the World Cup. Wiltord also took part at

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

in Portugal, having played seven games in the qualifying campaign with a fantastic return of six goals. However, a poor performance from ''Les Bleus'' saw a shocking quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual surprise winners

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. Wiltord also was a part of Raymond Domenech's France squad that played in the 2006 World Cup final against arch-rivals Italy. Wiltord scored France's first penalty in the ensuing

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

following the 1–1 draw, but France lost the shootout 5–3. Wiltord is France's 12th highest scorer with 26 goals netted for Les Bleus.

Personal life

Wiltord's parents moved from

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

before his birth. Born in Neuilly-sur-Marne, a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, to a mother from the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

and a father he did not know. he was one of eight children. At the age of 14, he went to live at his 27-year-old sister's apartment where he cared for his 2-year-old niece. In 2015, he competed on the TF1 reality show '' Dropped'', in which sportspeople were dropped by helicopter into inhospitable environments. The day after his elimination from the programme, there was a mid-air helicopter collision which killed ten, including three contestants: swimmer

Camille Muffat Camille Muffat (; 28 October 1989 – 9 March 2015) was a French swimmer and three-time Olympic medalist. Swimming for the Olympic Nice Natation club, she specialised in the individual medley and the free style events. Her career ran from 200 ...

, boxer Alexis Vastine, and sailor

Florence Arthaud Florence Arthaud (28 October 1957 – 9 March 2015) was a French sailor from Boulogne-Billancourt. She was the daughter of Jacques Arthaud, director of the Arthaud publishing house. Biography At age 17, she was in a serious car accident, which ...

. He wrote on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

after the crash, "I'm sad for my friends, I'm trembling, I'm horrified, I have no words, I don't want to say anything."

Media

Wiltord was sponsored by sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials. In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "

Secret Tournament "Secret Tournament" (also known as "Scorpion KO" or "The Cage") was a Nike global advertising campaign coinciding with the 2002 FIFA World Cup. With a marketing budget estimated at US$100 million, the advert featured 24 top contemporary footb ...

" commercial (branded "Scopion KO") directed by

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

, appearing alongside football players such as

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

Edgar Davids Edgar Steven Davids (; born 13 March 1973) is a Dutch-Surinamese former professional footballer and current coach. After beginning his career with Ajax, winning several domestic and international titles, he subsequently played in Italy for AC ...

Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of club Benevento. A centre-back, he spent the majority of his career in Italy. He started his career at N ...

, Francesco Totti,

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one ...

and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

the tournament "referee".

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wiltord goal''.

Honours

Bordeaux * Division 1: 1998–99 Arsenal *

: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

: 2001–02, 2002–03 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA C ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Lyon *

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07 France *

: 2000 *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

runner-up:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

Individual * French Footballer of the Year: 1999 * Premier League Player of the Month: August 2002 * UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2004–05, 2005–06

References

External links

Sylvain Wiltord's profile, stats & pics

Photos & stats
at sporting-heroes.net * *
survived a crash dropped
at segundoenfoque.com.ar {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiltord, Sylvain 1974 births Living people French people of Martiniquais descent People from Neuilly-sur-Marne Footballers from Seine-Saint-Denis Black French sportspeople French footballers Association football midfielders Stade Rennais F.C. players Deportivo de La Coruña players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Arsenal F.C. players Olympique Lyonnais players Olympique de Marseille players FC Metz players FC Nantes players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players Premier League players France under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers of France France international footballers Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics UEFA Euro 2000 players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England FA Cup Final players