In France, the man of the match is in space (7)
I believe the answer is:
legroom
'space' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'in france the man of the match' is the wordplay.
'in france the' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'man of the match' becomes 'groom' (I've seen this before).
'le'+'groom'='LEGROOM'
'is in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for legroom that I've seen before include "Space needed to avoid cramped position" , "Space to stretch out when sitting" , "Space in front of a seat" , "Space to stretch for seated person" , "Space often lacking on a plane!" .)