Maxime Bossis

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{{Infobox football biography

| name = Maxime Bossis

| image = 1978_FIFA_World_Cup_-_Italy_v_France_-_Maxime_Bossis.jpg

| upright = 0.8

| caption = Bossis playing for France at the 1978 FIFA World Cup

| full_name = Maxime Jean Marcel Bossis{{cite web |url=https://www.verif.com/en/leaders/Maxime-BOSSIS-2985954/ |title=Maxime Jean Marcel Bossis |website=Verif |publisher=Altares-D&B |access-date=21 April 2025}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|6|26|df=y}}{{cite news |url=https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/FootballFicheJoueur11311.html |title=Maxime Bossis |newspaper=L'Équipe |location=Paris |access-date=21 April 2025 |language=fr}}

| birth_place = Saint-André-Treize-Voies, Vendée, France

| height = 1.86 m

| position = Defender

| currentclub =

| youthyears1 = 1969–1970

| youthclubs1 = Saint-André Sport

| youthyears2 = 1970–1973

| youthclubs2 = FC Yonnais

| years1 = 1973–1985

| clubs1 = Nantes

| caps1 = 379

| goals1 = 24

| years2 = 1985–1989

| clubs2 = RC Paris

| caps2 = 120

| goals2 = 2

| years3 = 1990–1991

| clubs3 = Nantes

| caps3 = 34

| goals3 = 0

| totalcaps = 533

| totalgoals = 26

| nationalyears1 = 1976–1986

| nationalteam1 = France

| nationalcaps1 = 76{{cite web|title=Maxime Bossis: International Matches|website=RSSSF|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/bossis-intl.html|access-date=30 December 2013}}

| nationalgoals1 = 1

| manageryears1 = 1996

| managerclubs1 = Saint-Étienne

| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{fb|FRA}}}}

}}

Maxime Jean Marcel Bossis ({{IPA|fr|maksim ʒɑ̃ maʁsɛl bɔsis}}; born 26 June 1955) is a French retired professional footballer who played as a defender.

Bossis spent most of his career playing for Nantes, a club he helped win three Ligue 1 titles and one Coupe de France. He obtained 76 caps (one goal) for the France national team, won UEFA Euro 1984, and played in two FIFA World Cup semi-finals.

Early life and club career

Bossis was born in Saint-André-Treize-Voies, Vendée. A longtime starter for FC Nantes during the club's most successful period during the 1970s and 1980s,FCNantes.com. [http://www.fcnantes.com/club/champions.php "Les équipes championnes du FC Nantes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170706/http://www.fcnantes.com/club/champions.php |date=3 March 2016 }}. Retrieved on 5 July 2014. he was noted chiefly as a full-back on the left flank, but filled in at various roles in defence. Bossis spent much of his time at right back during Nantes' championship-winning seasons in 1977 and 1980, in which Thierry Tusseau normally started on the left, but made the left back position his own beginning in 1981. Bossis helped Nantes to finish first or second in every season between 1976 and 1981. The club added a third title in 1983, finishing ten points ahead of second-place Girondins Bordeaux. In 1985, Bossis moved to the ambitious RC Paris, but the Parisian club achieved only modest success in spite of heavy spending that acquired such players as Enzo Francescoli and Pierre Littbarski. Bossis returned to Nantes for one final season in 1990, lining up next to future French international Marcel Desailly before retiring from play.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Bossis was named Footballer of the Year by France Football in 1979 and 1981.Garin, Erik & Pierrend, Jose Luis. [https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/franpoy.html "France - Footballer of the Year"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905115225/http://rsssf.com/miscellaneous/franpoy.html |date=5 September 2015 }}. RSSSF, 19 December 2013. Retrieved on 5 July 2014.

International career

Bossis also represented the France national team for ten years, appearing at the 1978, 1982, and 1986 FIFA World Cups, reaching the semifinals of the latter two editions of the tournament.FIFA. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140716155548/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=174423/ "FIFA Player Statistics: Maxime BOSSIS"]. Retrieved on 5 July 2014. He is mostly remembered for missing France's last penalty in the 1982 World Cup semi-final against West Germany. While the score was tied at 4–4, Bossis missed the next penalty, allowing Horst Hrubesch to score the last penalty and send the Germans to the final. Bossis was also an important member of the France team that won UEFA Euro 1984 on home soil in 1984. From 1985 to 1992, he held the French record of caps, before fellow defender Manuel Amoros established a new mark with 82 caps. He also held the French record of matches played in the World Cup with 15, which was subsequently surpassed by Fabien Barthez in 2006.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Personal life

Bossis' younger brother, Joël, also played professional football and holds the all-time record for most goals scored for Chamois Niortais.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

After retirement

After he retired in 1991, Bossis briefly embraced a career as a football executive, heading the Coupe de France Central Commission (1993–1995) before he joined Saint-Étienne as sporting director (1996–1997).{{cite web|language=fr|url=http://www.footengo.fr/L-entretien-FOOTENGO-Maxime-BOSSIS-Revenir-a-Nantes-Pourquoi-pas_a255.html |title=L'entretien Footengo - Maxime Bossis : "Revenir à Nantes ? Pourquoi pas..."|publisher=footengo.fr |access-date=1 March 2016}} He then reinvented himself as a TV commentator, working first for TPS, then for Orange Sport and since 2014 for BeIn Sport.{{cite news|language=fr |url=http://www.nantes.maville.com/sport/detail_-maxime-bossis-j-espere-voir-du-spectacle-en-ligue-1-_37933-2610373_actu.Htm |title=Maxime Bossis : " J'espère voir du spectacle en Ligue 1 "|newspaper=Ouest France|date=1 September 2014|access-date=1 March 2016}}

Honours

Nantes

Division 1: 1976–77, 1979–80, 1982–83{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
Coupe de France: 1978–79{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

France

UEFA European Championship: 1984{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
Artemio Franchi Trophy: 1985{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
FIFA World Cup third place: 1986; fourth place: 1982{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Individual

French Player of the Year: 1979, 1981
Onze Mondial: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985{{Cite web|title="Onze Mondial" Awards|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/onze-awards.html|access-date=2021-12-17|website=RSSSF|archive-date=4 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704020132/http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/onze-awards.html|url-status=live}}
World XI:1984, 1986{{cite web |url=https://beyondthelastman.com/2014/03/10/eric-battys-world-xis-the-eighties-and-nineties/ |website=Beyond The Last Man |date=10 March 2014 |title=Eric Batty's World XI's – The Eighties and Nineties |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131120633/https://beyondthelastman.com/2014/03/10/eric-battys-world-xis-the-eighties-and-nineties/ |url-status=live }}