France National Football Team
The
French football team is among the top teams in international
football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation and
competes as a member of UEFA.
France came third in the 1958 FIFA World Cup. The generation
of Michel Platini and others came fourth in 1982, and third in
1986. In between, they won the European Championship in 1984.
France's most successful years were the late 1990s, the
generation of Zinedine Zidane and others. This team made the
semi-finals of Euro 96. Two years later, they hosted and won
the 1998 FIFA World Cup, defeating the defending champions
Brazil 3-0. France's inaugural triumph also made them the
first host in 20 years to capture the World Cup.
They also won Euro 2000, defeating Italy 2-1
in a come from behind victory, giving them the distinction of
being the first national team to hold both the World Cup and
Euro titles since West Germany did so in 1974. France held the
top position in the FIFA World Rankings system from 2001-2002.
France failed to maintain that pace in subsequent tournaments,
however, suffering a stunning first round elimination in the
the 2002 FIFA World Cup and then losing in the quarter-finals
of Euro 2004. Jacques Santini resigned as coach and Raymond
Domenech was picked as his replacement.
France struggled in the qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World
Cup, even though the team was seeded in a group that included
the relatively unheralded teams of Israel, Switzerland and the
Republic of Ireland, prompting Domenech to persuade "golden
generation" members Claude Makélélé, Lilian Thuram and Zidane
out of international retirement to help the national team
qualify.
The team was greeted with modest expectations as it entered
the World Cup tournament, with many arguing that despite the
return of the three stars, its roster was too old to be
competitive. After a slow start in the group stage, France won
their final group game to advance to the knockout round, where
they upset heavily favoured Spain 3-1 in a come-back victory
to advance to the quarter-finals.
France next eliminated defending World Cup
champion and top-ranked Brazil 1-0 to advance into the cup
semi-finals. The game made France the first team to have shut
out the five-time champions in consecutive matches; Fabien
Barthez was the keeper in both matches, giving him the
distinction of being the only keeper to have defeated Brazil
twice. France now has a 3-1 all-time record against Brazil in
World Cup finals play, having won the last three meetings.
Following a 1-0 semi-final victory over
Portugal, France lost the 2006 final 1-1 (5-3 on penalties) to
Italy, a game in which Zidane scored a goal (becoming only the
third player to score in two World Cup final games) but also
was sent off with a red card.
World Cup record
1930 - Round 1
1934 - Round 1
1938 - Round 2
1950 - Did not qualify
1954 - Round 1
1958 - Third place
1962 - Did not qualify
1966 - Round 1
1970 - Did not qualify
1974 - Did not qualify
1978 - Round 1
1982 - Fourth place
1986 - Third place
1990 - Did not qualify
1994 - Did not qualify
1998 - Winners
2002 - Round 1
2006 - Finalist
European Championship record
1960 - Fourth place
1964 - Did not qualify
1968 - Did not qualify
1972 - Did not qualify
1976 - Did not qualify
1980 - Did not qualify
1984 - Winners
1988 - Did not qualify
1992 - Round 1
1996 - Semifinals
2000 - Winners
2004 - Qualified
Famous Players
Michel Platini
Zinédine Zidane
Marcel Desailly
Laurent Blanc
Raymond Kopa
Just Fontaine
Didier Deschamps
Eric Cantona
Christian Karembeu
Fabien Barthez
Thierry Henry
Bixente Lizarazu
Patrick Vieira
Robert Pires
Lilian Thuram
David Trezeguet
Sylvain Wiltord
| Nickname |
Les Bleus (The Blues) |
| Association |
French Football Federation |
| Most capped player |
Marcel Desailly: 115 |
| Highest goalscorer |
Michel Platini: 41 |
| First International |
Belgium 3 - 3 France
(Brussels, Bel.; 1 May 1904) |
| Largest win |
France 10 - 0 Azerbaijan
(Paris, France; 18 Nov 1994) |
| Largest defeat |
Denmark 17 - 1 France
(London, Eng; 19 Oct 1908) |
| World Cup |
Finals appearances: 11 (First: 1930) |
| Best result: |
Winners 1998 |
| European Championships |
Finals appearances: 6 (First: 1960) |
| Best result: |
Winners 1984, 2000 |
Credits
: This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"France National Football Team".
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