Franck Leboeuf elevated to Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour for his charitable work

Franck Leboeuf, defender and World Cup champion with France in 1998, has been elevated to Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in the July 14, 2026 promotion. This distinction rewards his commitment as ambassador for the Bleuet de France association, which supports wounded soldiers, their families, children of the Nation and victims of terrorist acts.

Leboeuf had been made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in the aftermath of France’s first World Cup title in July 1998. The former Chelsea defender has thus climbed several ranks in the national order, moving from Knight to Grand Officer.

His elder Marius Trésor, already decorated in 1984, also benefits from this summer promotion and accedes to the same rank of Grand Officer. An emblematic figure of French football in the 1970s and 1980s, Trésor was one of the first major names in French football to receive this distinction.

The July 14, 2026 promotion also includes several personalities from the sports world. Jean-Paul Giachino, who has just retired from the France biathlon team after more than forty years of service as an athlete and then as a coach — including a recent title leading the women’s Olympic relay — is also among the honoured. Alan Bondue, former sports director of the Cofidis cycling team and silver medallist in the pursuit at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, receives the same honours.

Beyond sport, the promotion notably includes actress Natalie Portman, comedian Pierre Arditi, presenter Patrick De Carolis and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Serge Haroche.