It is almost one week since the major football tournament Fifa World Cup 2022 reached its iconic end. However, people all over the world are still talking about it and just can’t let the fever about it go. And it’s clear why: with such a majestic final between Argentina and France, it’s impossible to forget that madness.
I have previously written about watches that have been spotted by the most remarkable football players in Qatar. Logically, I’ve predominantly been focusing on the Argentina team, as it was the one that has written history by winning the Championship. This time, my full attention goes to France’s team exclusively. The reason for that is that I think this team deserves special attention. Even if it has given in to the Argentina team, it made it proudly and with all the dignity possible.
The dream never came true…
The French team has been dreaming a lot about winning the World Cup. Especially Killian Mbappe who was the absolute hero of the game, recording the legendary hat trick during the last game. But, it wasn’t meant to be. Still, his age and the exclusive professionalism of Mbappe are two major assets that will surely help him shine again during the World Cup 2026.
So, today I’ll share with you the list of the favorite watches that the National France Team wears. Some of the members have a vast collection, while others are a bit more modest in their preferences. Either way, it was a pleasure for me to write this article and discover the horological tastes of the fabulous Face football team. With all that in mind, here we go!
Killian Mbappe
Phenomenal speed, outrageous tactics, and remarkable ambition-all these descriptives are about the rising star Mbappe. Currently, he is one of the most promising football players and after the finals, all of the major football clubs began hunting him actively.
I’ve pre piously mentioned that Mbappe has been wearing a Hublot Big Bang 642.OX.0180.RX during the tournament. And it is no surprise, actually, because this young player is the ambassador of the big brand. So, don’t think that this Hublot is the only one in his watch collection. By the way, the hero’s collection is pretty large and is mostly formed by Hublot timepieces. At least, I barely found information about other watches on his wrist, except for Hublot.
So…
Apart from the above-mentioned model, the hero has, at least, 7 more Hublot timepieces. It’s hard for me to tell you whether he bought these watches by himself or if the brand offered them as a gift to him. But, it doesn’t matter after all. What matters is that Hublot watches resonate with Mbappe’s spirit and personality like no other watches could do. Long story short, here are the models I could spot on Mbappe’s wrist. If I’m missing something, please share your knowledge in the comments below.
- Big and Unco Titanium Rainbow 441.NX.1117.LR.0999;
- Big Bang E FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 450.CI.1100.RX.FWC22;
- Hublot Big Bang Integrated King Gold 451.OX.1180.OX;
- Big Bang Steel Diamonds 341.SX.130.RX.114;
- Big Bang Millennial Pink 441.UP.7320.NR.GIT20;
- Big Bang Integrated King Gold 451.OX.1180.OX;
- Big Bang Unico Sapphire 441.JX.4802.RT.
The truth is…
… that I was curious to know the estimative price of these time-keeping beauties. The “cheapest” of them is 15,000, while the most expensive is about $93,000. After the championship was over, fans all over the world began to “attack” sports stores, buying all that is somewhat related to Lionel Messi and Killian Mbappe. T-shirts, pants, accessories, balls-everything that features even minor design elements suggesting that these heroes’ iconic game is sold out like hotcakes. Watches are not an exception and people became more interested than ever in knowing what watches the big players wear. And buy their imitations. The point is that you won’t find the Big Bang E FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 450.CI.1100.RX.FWC22 in the replica industry. This model has been specially designed for the big event and Hulot offered it to a limited number of players.
The great news is that the rest of the Mbappe models are available in the replica industry. More than that, these are available in our stock. So, if you resonate with this iconic player, feel free to choose any of his models on our platform.
Theo Hernandez
This is another legendary hero of France’s national team. In fact, he was the one who scored the first goal against Morocco, in the semi-finals. A football player with a lot of potential and most probably, with a brilliant football career. Apart from being the pride of the team, Herandez enjoys a strong and reliable friendship with his team member Mbappe. And guess what! Hernandez wears the same timepiece as his close friend. It’s about the 45mm Big Bang Unico Titanium Rainbow timepiece.
I’ve been looking at our Unico Titanium Rainbow replicas. The only thing I can tell you is to avoid the cheap replicas. I didn’t like what I saw in them. The skeleton dial is far from looking similar to the authentic model. In addition, the rainbow-like bezel has severe irregularities and the sapphires are cut unprofessionally. I don’t remember what factory exactly provided us with these imitations, but they are awful to me.
In contrast…
The Swiss models deserve all the appreciation. If I’m not mistaken, we got them from another factory. The idea is that the imitation works flawlessly, including the chronograph and the stopwatch function. These feature a reliable Swiss 7753 movement with a pretty smooth sweeping seconds hands system. The bezel looks much closer to the real watch with highly accurate cutting and integration of sapphires. In addition, the sapphire crystal comes with a strong anti-reflective coating, making these imitations look far more clean and clear than the cheaper versions.
The only downside of these Swiss imitations is their water resistance profile. They are only 5 meters waterproof, so the manufacturer doesn’t really recommend immersing them underwater. But, whenever you don’t need a watch to get to the beach, this Hublot imitation is more than decent.
Olivier Giroud
Every time Giroud was stepping on the football field, he was playing like crazy, giving the best that he could. And it doesn’t matter that he hadn’t scored many goals during the World Cup, he still became France’s all-time top scorer after recording the goal against Poland. Ironically or not, experts think that this player is underrated.
Sorry for talking so much about football instead of talking about watches, but the fever of the event has hit me like it has hit the entire world.
Back to our muttons, Giroud was a bit more modest in terms of watches at the World Cup tournament. He has been spotted with just one, yet fabulous timepiece on his wrist. It’s about the iconic Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold Openworked 15407BC. What a taste, huh?! It’s a marvelous piece in white gold all adorned with frosted gold, enhancing the beauty of the open-worked dial. On the whole, the genuine piece is nothing more and nothing less than about 82,000 USD. It’s a drop in the bucket for most of us, right? 🙂
If speaking seriously though…
It’s a phenomenal watch indeed, even if the price is pretty spicy. In this context, I must let you know that the replica version of this watch is as marvelous as it can be. And the great news is that even the AAA-grade quality imitations in our store have an extremely decent look and functionality. Of course, if you have the money, you can get a Swiss imitation which is fabulously similar to the genuine model. But, I really don’t find it reasonable because the AAA replicas are very promising in terms of quality and price.
The imitation comes with a 41mm diameter, which is perfect for most wrists. His set-winding mechanism operates with high precision. At least, I didn’t spot any critical deviations during my inspection of the watch for more than 3 days. Even if the dial of the original watch is pretty complex due to its skeletonized construction, replica manufacturers have made a great job of reproducing all the details perfectly. To me, this replica watch is the perfect example of when a reasonable price meets decent quality.
Raphael Varane
This young man is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Apart from competing for the French national team, Varane makes himself remarkable in the Premier League club Manchester United. The press wrote spectacular feedback about his phenomenal defensive skills. If this sounds unimpressive to you, know that Varane received the title of one of the best-paid Premier League players in 2022-2023.
During the World Cup tournament, Varane wasn’t boasting around much with his watches. He seemed pretty modest in this regard. Either way, the only watch “blinking” on his wrist was the Richard Mille RM 030 EMEA. This line actually includes different models, but the one on the Varane wrist was a blue ceramic timepiece. The brand released this one in only 100 pieces. What a stroke of luck for Varane to be the owner of one of them.
Sadly…
I wish I could tell you that we have this imitation in our stock now. But, the truth is that we don’t and I don’t know when exactly we are going to receive it. I was disappointed about the last iteration we had received from our replica manufacturers, and to be honest, I asked our managers to send the tranche bay to the factory. The blue color looked absolutely different from the genuine model. The minute and seconds hands were much shorter and disproportional in comparison to the authentic Mille RM 030. In short, the imitation was complete crap and I couldn’t allow ourselves to sell that to the public.
I wrote long-read feedback to the factory and sent it in the hope to receive a new, improved release. Still waiting. The moment we get it, I’ll let you know immediately, whenever the release is worth your attention.
Antoine Griezmann
While Varane made himself noticeable through his defensive abilities, the versatile Griezmann is fabulous for his attacking and passing skills. His watch of choice is a Rainbow Rolex, again!!! It seems that the French national team has a special attitude towards Rolex and Rainbows, in particular. Either way, Griezmann’s watch differs a bit from Mbappe and Hernandez’s. This time we talk about a Daytona Rainbow Rose Gold 116595RBOW.
Just like the vivid charisma of Griezmann on the football field, the watch is all about energy and vibrancy. The authentic version comes with 47 sapphires on the watch case: 11 of them are for the hour markers, while the rest of them are for the bezel decoration. On top of that, no more and no less than 56 brilliant-cut diamonds adorn the lugs and the crown. Shall I mention that Griezmann’s rose gold version is the most expensive one of all the lines?!
If talking about the replica version of this Daytona, the optimal version to me is the 1:1 imitation. I have many pretensions about the rest of the imitations, to be honest. In short, none of them are able to convey the genuine beauty and artistry of the original model. In contrast, replica manufacturers have made great work with the 1:1 copy, indeed. It fabulously imitates the authentic model starting with proportions and ending with the full functionality of the seconds’ chronograph, running at 6 o’clock. In addition, the stainless steel is 904l grade, while the Rainbow chromatics is identical to 100%, which is absent in copies of inferior quality.
Karim Benzema
I know, I know: this legendary player has missed the World Cup 2022 due to his trauma. What bad luck! Imagine how deeply sorry he was to see his team lose the game, without being able to do anything. And I decided to include him in this list because he deserves all the respect for his remarkable achievements in French football, and to honor his title of Ballon d’Or 2022 winner.
What is curious about this legendary player is that he shares the same passion as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo: the passion for collecting luxury cars and… watches. If you follow his Instagram account, you will be surprised to discover how crazy he is as a collector. I only extracted the most iconic pieces from his watch collection, as it would take too long to enumerate all of them. Matter-of-factly, the football player revolves around the most traditional luxury watch brands. These refer to Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Richard Mille. What surprised me the most was seeing a couple of Patek Philippe timepieces in his collection. It turns out that Patek Philippe watches are so rare among football players.
Speaking about the watch models, here is what you can find in Benzema’s watch collection:
- Richard Mille RM65-01 Automatic Winding Split-Seconds Chronograph in rose gold;
- Richard Mille RM67-02 Automatic ‘Mutaz Barshim;
- Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar 265740OR;
- Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Frosted Gold Double Balance Wheel Openworked 15412BC, the one we saw on Giroud’s wrist;
- Rolex Daytona Meteorite Dial 116518LN in yellow gold;
- Rolex Day.Date 36 ref. 128328;
- Rolex GMT-Master II ‘Sprite’ 126720VTNR, which has also been seen on Neymar’s wrist, y the way;
- Patek Philippe Aquanaut Chronograph 5968A.
If you thought that Benzema has a formal Patek Philippe, you thought wrong. His Aquanaut is as sporty as it can be. By the way, you can find Bezema’s model in our stock. I can proudly recommend it as it runs smoothly and reproduces the genuine design with spectacular accuracy. The movement in the replica Patek is a Swiss 7753 model, looking accurate and almost identical to the original version. If you plan to get this imitation from other sources, be prudent because not all imitations from other stores have a functional 6 o’clock sub-dial. Most of them are frozen. So, watch out to not be deceived by the dealer.
Final words to say
It’s a pleasure to discover the horological tastes of the big heroes from football. If you feel like resonating with any of the legendary French team members, you can get the imitation of the watch he has, just to be ”on the same page” and honor his impact in football. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting crazy about this sport lately.