France national football team

Olympic medal record
Men's Football

France
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Les Bleus (The Blues) Les Tricolores (The Tricolours)
Association	Fédération Française; de Football
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Raymond Domenech
Captain	Thierry Henry
Most caps	Lilian Thuram (142)
Top scorer	Thierry Henry (46)
Home stadium	Stade de France
FIFA code	FRA
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	11
Highest	1 (May 2001-May 2002)
Lowest	25 (April 1998)
First international
	Belgium 3 - 3 France ; (Brussels, Belgium; 1 May 1904)
Biggest win
	France 10 - 0 Azerbaijan ; (Auxerre, France; 6 September 1995)
Biggest defeat
	Denmark 17 - 1 France ; (London, England; 22 October 1908)
World Cup
Appearances	12 (first in 1930)
Best result	Winners, 1998
European Championship
Appearances	7 (first in 1960)
Best result	Winners, 1984 and 2000
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 2001)
Best result	Winners, 2001 and 2003

The French national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation and competes as a member of UEFA.

France was one of the four European teams that participated at the inaugural World Cup in 1930. In the 1980s, led by midfielder and captain Michel Platini, the team reached semi-finals at both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, and won the 1984 European Championship.

France then reached an even higher status in international football by being especially successful at the end of the 1990s and in the 2000s; they won the World Cup as the host nation in 1998, and the European Football Championship two years later, while also placing second at the 2006 World Cup tournament. Midfielder Zinédine Zidane was particularly instrumental in achieving those honours.

France and Argentina are the only national teams which have won the three most important men's titles organized by FIFA: the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, and the Olympic Tournament.

History

Early years

France's first ever game was a 3-3 draw against Belgium in 1904.

They played in all three of the pre-World War II World Cups. Lucien Laurent scored the first ever World cup goal in 1930, in a 4-1 win over Mexico. They reached the quarterfinals in 1938 when they hosted the World Cup.

France came third in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, defeating Germany 6-3 for the bronze. France was beaten by Brazil in semi-finals, after central defender Robert Jonquet's injury and Pelé hat-trick. Striker Just Fontaine scored a record 13 goals in the tournament, doing so in just six matches. The team used mainly players and former players from Stade de Reims, such as Raymond Kopa, Robert Jonquet,Roger Marche or Just Fontaine, who was at the time one of the best teams in European football.

Platini era

During the captaincy of Michel Platini France's World Cup performance markedly improved, finishing fourth in Spain '82, and third in Mexico '86. In both tournaments, they lost in the semi-finals to West Germany. The 1982 semi-final is unfortunately remembered by many for West German keeper Harald Schumacher's elbowing of France's Patrick Battiston in the face as the latter made a shot on goal. Despite severely injuring Battiston, Schumacher was not penalized. This was the turning point of the match: after leading 3-1, les bleus were eliminated in the penalty-kicks, after FC Nantes' defender Maxime Bossis saw his shot stopped by Schumacher.^[1] France were also knocked out in the semi-final 1986, again by West Germany. However, with Platini as skipper, France, as host nation, won Euro '84, as well as capturing Olympic gold in Los Angeles the same year.

Zidane era

France's most successful years were the late 1990s, the generation of Zinédine Zidane . This team started off well by reaching the semi-finals of Euro 96. After Euro 96, coach Aimé Jacquet adopted a very defensive strategy and made fans anxious because his team never seemed to develop a definitive offensive tactic. The press began to attack the team manager, calling his methods "Paleolithic" and claiming that the team had no hope for the upcoming World Cup which would be hosted in their home country. In June 1997 at the Tournoi de France, cries of "Resign!" could be heard from the stadium as the French team came in under Brazil, England and Italy. The media's distrust of Jacquet reached fever pitch in May 1998 when, instead of a list of 22 players meant to play in the World Cup, Jacquet gave a list of 28 players, causing the sports daily L'Équipe to write an editoral arguing that Jacquet was not the right man to lead the French team to victory.

Euro 2000

Jacquet stepped down after France's World Cup triumph and was succeeded by assistant Roger Lemerre who guided them through Euro 2000. Zidane cemented his FIFA World Player of the Year form, scoring a direct free kick in the quarter-final against Spain and a golden goal penalty in the semi-final against Portugal.

In the finals, France defeated Italy 2-1 in a come from behind victory. David Trézéguet scored the golden goal in extra time after an equalizing goal from Wiltord in the 5th minute of stoppage time. This gave 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, and it was also the first time that a reigning World Cup winner went on to capture the Euro[1]. France held the top position in the FIFA World Rankings system from 2001-2002.

2002 World Cup and Euro 2004

France failed to maintain that pace in subsequent tournaments. They suffered a stunning goaless first round elimination in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, possibly due in part to an injury to key playmaker Zidane. One of the greatest shocks in World Cup history condemned France to a 0-1 defeat to debutante Senegal in the opening game of the tournament. After France finished bottom of the group - only securing one point, conceding three goals and without scoring any - Lemerre was dismissed.

A full strength team started out strongly in Euro 2004, with Zidane scoring a free kick and a penalty to overcome a 0-1 deficit and defeat England in the group stage, but they were upset in the quarter-finals by the eventual winners, Greece. Jacques Santini resigned as coach and Raymond Domenech was picked as his replacement.

2006 World Cup

France struggled in the qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, managing only 0-0 draws with Israel, Ireland, and Switzerland. This prompted Domenech to persuade "golden generation" members Claude Makélélé, Lilian Thuram and Zinédine Zidane out of international retirement to help the national team qualify. This was France's first successful World Cup qualification since 1986 (France received automatic berths in 1998 and 2002, as hosts and defending champions, respectively).

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 squad was too old to be competitive. They had a slow start in the group stage and were in danger of being eliminated after managing only 0-0 and 1-1 draws against Switzerland and South Korea, respectively. Though Zidane was forced to sit out because of accumulated bookings, France found their form and won their final group match, beating Togo 2-0 to advance to the knockout round. There, Zidane would score or assist in every game of the playoffs and his team upset heavily favoured Spain 3-1 in a come-from-behind victory to advance to the quarter-finals.

France eliminated defending champions Brazil 1-0 to advance into the cup semi-finals. Despite the score, France had thoroughly outplayed Brazil in the match, only facing one shot on goal, while Zidane created numerous scoring chances with his dribbles past Brazilian defenders and his free-kick to Thierry Henry resulting in the winning goal. 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. Les Bleus now have a 2-1-1 all-time record against Brazil in World Cup finals play, having shut the Seleção out in the last three meetings (the 1986 match was decided 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw).

France emerged from the semi-finals winning 1-0 over Portugal. Henry was tripped inside the box and a penalty was awarded, which Zidane scored and it stood as the winning goal, as defender Lilian Thuram neutralized offensive threats from Portuguese stars Pauleta and Cristiano Ronaldo. At home, when news came of France's victory, there were mass celebrations at the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.

France took on Italy in the final, but the teams were level at 1-1 at the end of normal time. With extra-time failing to produce a victor, penalty kicks were required to settle the match. Italy won the shoot-out 5-3 to be crowned 2006 World Champions. The tournament's Golden Ball Winner Zinédine Zidane (playing his last professional match) scored the opening goal of the final (becoming only the fourth player to score in two World Cup final games), but his accomplishments in the finals were marred by his sending off (becoming only the fourth player to be sent off in a world cup final) for violent conduct when he headbutted Marco Materazzi with only ten minutes until extra-time.

Euro 2008 Qualifiers

France started its qualifying round for Euro 2008 on September 2, 2006 by beating Georgia in Tbilisi 3-0.The goal scorers for this match were Malouda, Louis Saha and Malkhaz Asatiani (own goal). They then took on world champions Italy 3-1 in Paris on September 6, 2006 with Sidney Govou striking twice along with Henry, but suffered an upset when beaten 1-0 by Scotland on October 7, 2006, their first European Championship qualifying defeat since they lost 3-2 to Russia on June 5, 1999. On October 11, 2006, France defeated Faroe Islands by 5-0. All the French strikers that played in the match scored. Goals came from Louis Saha, Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and 2 goals from the Juventus striker David Trézéguet. France beat Lithuania 1-0 on March 24 2007 with Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka rescuing an injury hit French side by shooting a wonderful long range effort.The injuries suffered by France were Louis Saha, Thierry Henry, Franck Ribéry, Patrick Vieira and David Trézéguet. France took on Ukraine on June 2 2007 in Paris. Both teams were hit by injuries with France missing Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry while Ukraine missed their world-class striker Andriy Shevchenko. The game ended in a 2-0 victory for France with second-half strikes from Franck Ribéry and Nicolas Anelka, who scored his third goal in three matches. Then on June 6 2007 France defeated Georgia in Auxerre by 1-0, with Samir Nasri scoring his first senior international goal. On September 8, 2007, in a much-anticipated rematch, France and Italy played to a 0-0 draw at the San Siro in Milan. Once again though, on September 12, 2007, France fell to Scotland and were defeated 1-0 after Landreau was caught off guard with a strike from Scotland's James McFadden adding another loss, but this time at the Parc des Princes in Paris. On October 12, 2007, their match with the Faroe Islands, was threatened with postponement after bad weather kept their plane from landing in the Faroe Islands; they had to spend the night in Norway. The next day, however, on 13 October, 2007, the match went ahead as planned, albeit around 30 minutes after scheduled kick-off time with France taking just 8 minutes to open up a 2-0 lead; the match eventually finished 6-0 with strikes from Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, and 2 goals from Karim Benzema just before half time. In the second half Jérôme Rothen and Hatem Ben Arfa completed the rout. With Italy's victory over Scotland on November 17, 2007, France only just, by 2 points over Scotland, qualified for Euro 2008.

Euro 2008

Despite high expectations from followers of Les Bleus, the squad made a stuttering start to the 2008 European Championships, drawing 0-0 to Romania in Zurich and then finishing on the receiving end of a 4-1 mauling at the hands of the Netherlands in Berne. For the final group game, Domenech dropped Thuram and replaced him with Abidal. This proved to be a bad decision as Abidal looked out of his depth in the centre of defence and subsequently was sent off for a rash challenge on Luca Toni. France continued to play poorly and when they lost 2-0 to Italy, they came last of their group and failed to get to the quarterfinals.

France's performance at Euro 2008 effectively marked the end of its golden era stemming back to the team's World Cup win on home soil in 1998, which was followed by their triumph at Euro 2000 two years later in the Netherlands and Belgium. Only three players from those successful teams were selected in the final squad for Euro 2008 by French coach Raymond Domenech, with only Thierry Henry and Lilian Thuram earning game time, though their effectiveness and performances were soundly criticised by French football media. The remaining player and despite initially being named as the squad captain, Patrick Vieira, was unable to take the field in any of France's Euro 2008 matches due to a thigh injury. The team felt the loss of Zidane. The primary reason for France's failure is the average age of the players with many talented, but over-30 members in the squad. The team's early exit from the tournament signalled the international retirements of Lilian Thuram, and Claude Makélélé, with Willy Sagnol also announcing that he would take time to contemplate his international future.

Despite possessing one of the most talented squads at Euro 2008, France's efforts were comparable to their disastrous 2002 World Cup campaign where they were also eliminated in the first round without winning a game. France bettered their efforts from 2002 by scoring a solitary goal in this tournament compared to their goalless campaign six years prior.

In the aftermath of the tournament, calls have been made for the sacking of Raymond Domenech, with World Cup and Euro 2000 winning captain, Didier Deschamps, being sounded out as a suitable replacement. However, on July 3rd, at a French Football Federation high level meeting in Paris, Domenech has survived the sack with the French Football Federation announcing that he had kept his job as manager despite France's poor showing at Euro 2008.

2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification

Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 7

France's campaign for 2010 World Cup qualification got off to a disappointing start with a 1-3 defeat at the hands of Austria in Vienna on September 6 2008. Speculation followed regarding the future of Raymond Domenech as team coach before a goal each from Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka saw France to a 2-1 home victory over Serbia on September 10.

Representing multicultural France

When it comes to racial equality the French national team is seen as being one of the most progressive footballing teams in the world. They have introduced more and more black players to the team; there is a growing movement to stamp racism out of football. The French have led the way by selecting players based on ability not due to country of origin or race. On the 2006 French national team, 17 of the 23 players were members of racial minorities, including many of the most prominent players. The team featured players from the overseas departments and players who are themselves immigrants or the children of immigrants from former French colonial territories. Zinédine Zidane is the child of an immigrant couple from Algeria; of the current squad Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri are of French Algerian origin. Vikash Dhorasoo — the first French player of Indian origin - played in the 2006 World Cup. Meanwhile, several players are of African or West Indian origin. Patrick Vieira immigrated as a child from Senegal, Bafétimbi Gomis has dual French-Senegalese nationality, and Claude Makélélé did likewise from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lilian Thuram is from France's overseas department of Guadeloupe. Thierry Henry is the son of parents born in Guadeloupe and Martinique, while Louis Saha, Sylvain Wiltord, and Pascal Chimbonda all have parents who hail from Guadeloupe. Finally, Florent Malouda was born in French Guiana.

The French national football team has long reflected the ethnic diversity of the country. The first black player playing in the national team was Raoul Diagne in 1931, the son of the first black African elected to the French National Assembly, Blaise Diagne. In the 1950s, the first French national team reaching international success with a semi-final at the World Cup 1958 already included many sons of immigrants such as Raymond Kopa, Roger Piantoni, Maryan Wisnieski and Bernard Chiarelli. This tradition continued through the 1980s, when such successful players as Michel Platini, Jean Tigana, Luis Fernández, Gérard Janvion, Manuel Amoros or Eric Cantona were all of either foreign-born or overseas-born ancestries. Since the 1990s, the team has been widely celebrated as an example of the modern multicultural French ideal.^[1]

In recent years, critics on the far right of the French political spectrum have taken issue with the proportional underrepresentation of white Frenchmen on the team. National Front politician Jean-Marie Le Pen protested in 1998 that the Black, Blanc, Beur team that won the World Cup did not look sufficiently French. In 2002, led by Ghanaian-born Marcel Desailly, the French team unanimously publicly appealed to the French voting public to reject the presidential candidacy of Le Pen and instead return President Jacques Chirac to office in a landslide. In 2006, Le Pen also resumed his criticism, charging that coach Raymond Domenech had selected too many black players.^[2]

In 2005, French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut caused a controversy by remarking to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that despite its earlier slogan, "the French national team is in fact black-black-black," adding "France is made fun of all around Europe because of that." He later excused himself for this comment, which he declared was not meant to be offensive.^[3]

In 2004, a television crew recorded Spanish coach Luis Aragonés motivating Thierry Henry's Arsenal teammate José Antonio Reyes by saying Demuestra que eres mejor que ese negro de mierda ("Show that you're better than that shitty black"). After an investigation, UEFA fined the RFEF and warned that future incidents would be punished more severely. Henry and Nike began a Stand Up Speak Up campaign against football racism as a result of the incident. Before the start of France's 2006 World Cup second round match against Spain, which France would win 3-1, coach Raymond Domenech claimed that Spanish fans were making racial taunts^[4], this however was not proved.

The Zidane-Materazzi headbutt incident in the 2006 World Cup final and its aftermath served as a symbol for the larger issue of Europe's struggle to integrate its non-white immigrant population: even though both players denied it,^[5] international media speculated for days about the presence of a racist element in the exchange,^[6] observing that the Italian team contained no ethnic minorities,^[7] although this observation is not true as Italy midfielder Mauro Camoranesi, who was in the team at the time, is from Latin America.

The national team's overall impact on France's efforts to integrate its minorities and come to terms with its colonial past has been mixed, however. In 2001, France played a friendly match in the Stade de France, site of its 1998 World Cup triumph, against Algeria. It was France's first meeting with its former colony, with whom it had fought a war from 1954-62, and it proved controversial. France's national anthem, La Marseillaise, was booed by Algerian supporters before the game, and following a French goal that made the score 4-1 in the second half, spectators ran onto the field of play and caused the game to be suspended. It was never resumed.

Competitive record

World Cup record

Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Round 1	7	3	1	0	2	4	3
1934	Round of 16	9	1	0	0	1	2	3
1938	Quarterfinals	6	2	1	0	1	4	4
1950	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1954	Round 1	11	2	1	0	1	3	3
1958	Third place	3	6	4	0	2	23	15
1962	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Round 1	13	3	0	1	2	2	5
1970	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	Round 1	12	3	1	0	2	5	5
1982	Fourth place	4	7	3	2	2	16	12
1986	Third place	3	7	4	2	1	12	6
1990	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Champions	1	7	6	1	0	15	2
2002	Round 1	28	3	0	1	2	0	3
2006	Final	2	7	4	3	0	9	3
2010	Qualification	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	12/18	1 Title	51	25	10	16	95	64

European Championship record

Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960	Semifinals	4	2	0	0	2	4	7
1964	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1980	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	Champions	1	5	5	0	0	14	4
1988	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	Round 1	6	3	0	2	1	2	3
1996	Semifinals	4	5	2	3	0	5	2
2000	Champions	1	6	5	0	1	13	7
2004	Quarterfinals	5	4	2	1	1	7	5
2008	Round 1	15	3	0	1	2	1	6
Total	7/13	2 Titles	28	14	7	7	46	34

Confederations Cup record

Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1997	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1999	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2001	Champions	1	5	4	0	1	12	2
2003	Champions	1	5	5	0	0	12	3
2005	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2009	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	2/8	2 Titles	10	9	0	1	24	5

*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.

**Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won. Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Manager Record

Name	Nat	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses
Raymond Domenech		July 2004-Current	33	17	10	6*

This record does not include friendlies. Also, the World Cup 2006 penalty shoot out final is considered a loss on this record.

Current squad

Squad for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against Serbia on September 10 2008.

Caps and goals as of September 10 2008.

Number	Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut
Goalkeepers
1	Hugo Lloris	December 26 1986 (age 21)	Lyon	0 (0)
16	Steve Mandanda	March 28 1985 (age 23)	Marseille	4 (0)	v Ecuador, 27 May 2008
Defenders
2	Bacary Sagna	February 14 1983 (age 25)	Arsenal	5 (0)	v Slovakia, 22 August 2007
3	Éric Abidal	July 11 1979 (age 29)	Barcelona	38 (0)	v Bosnia and Herzogovina, 18 August 2004
4	Philippe Mexès	March 30 1982 (age 26)	Roma	10 (0)	v Malta, 16 August 2002
5	William Gallas	August 17 1977 (age 31)	Arsenal	68 (2)	v Slovenia, 12 October 2002
13	Patrice Evra	May 15 1981 (age 27)	Manchester United	15 (0)	v Bosnia-Herzegovina, 18 August 2004
15	Gaël Clichy	July 26 1985 (age 23)	Arsenal	1 (0)	v Serbia, 10 September 2008
19	Rod Fanni	December 6 1981 (age 26)	Rennes	0 (0)
Midfielders
6	Mathieu Flamini	March 7 1984 (age 24)	Milan	3 (0)	v Morocco, 16 November 2007
7	Florent Malouda	June 13 1980 (age 28)	Chelsea	42 (3)	v Poland, 17 November 2004
8	Yoann Gourcuff	July 11 1986 (age 22)	Bordeaux	3 (0)	v Sweden, August 20, 2008
9	Sidney Govou	July 27 1979 (age 29)	Lyon	37 (10)	v Tunisia, 21 August 2002
18	Alou Diarra	July 15 1981 (age 27)	Bordeaux	15 (0)	v Ireland, 9 October 2004
20	Jérémy Toulalan	September 10 1983 (age 25)	Lyon	19 (0)	v Faroe Islands, 11 October 2006
21	Lassana Diarra	March 10 1985 (age 23)	Portsmouth	16 (0)	v Lithuania, 24 March 2007
Strikers
10	Karim Benzema	December 19 1987 (age 20)	Lyon	16 (4)	v Austria, 28 March 2007
12	Thierry Henry	August 17 1977 (age 31)	Barcelona	105 (46)	v South Africa, 11 October 1997
14	Nicolas Anelka	March 14 1979 (age 29)	Chelsea	53 (12)	v Sweden, 22 April 1998

Recent call-ups

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Debut	Most recent callup
Goalkeepers
Sébastien Frey	March 18 1980 (age 28)	Fiorentina	2 (0)	v Ukraine, 21 November 2007	UEFA EURO 2008
Mickaël Landreau	May 14 1979 (age 29)	PSG	11 (0)	v Mexico, 3 June 2001	v Ecuador, 27 May 2008
Grégory Coupet	December 31 1972 (age 35)	Atlético Madrid	34 (0)	v Australia, 1 June 2001	UEFA EURO 2008
Defenders
Sébastien Squillaci	August 11 1980 (age 28)	Sevilla	13 (0)	v Bosnia and Herzogovina, 18 August 2004	v Austria, 6 September 2008
Jean-Alain Boumsong	December 14 1979 (age 28)	Lyon	24 (1)	v Japan, 20 June 2003	v Sweden, 20 August 2008
François Clerc	April 18 1983 (age 25)	Lyon	13 (0)	v Faroe Islands, 11 October 2006	UEFA EURO 2008
Willy Sagnol	March 18 1977 (age 31)	Bayern Munich	58 (0)	v Turkey, 15 November 2000	UEFA EURO 2008
Anthony Réveillère	November 10 1979 (age 28)	Lyon	5 (0)	v Israel, 11 October 2003	v Slovakia, 22 August 2007
Julien Escudé	August 17 1979 (age 29)	Sevilla	7 (0)	v Faroe Islands, 11 October 2006	v Ecuador, 27 May 2008
Midfielders
Samir Nasri	June 26 1987 (age 21)	Arsenal	13 (2)	v Austria, 28 March 2007	v Austria, 6 September 2008
Patrick Vieira	June 23 1976 (age 32)	Inter	105 (6)	v Holland, 26 February 1997	UEFA EURO 2008
Franck Ribéry	April 1 1983 (age 25)	Bayern Munich	30 (4)	v Mexico, 27 May 2006	UEFA EURO 2008
Hatem Ben Arfa	March 7 1987 (age 21)	Marseille	6 (1)	v Faroe Islands, 13 October 2007	v Ecuador, 27 May 2008
Abou Diaby	May 11 1986 (age 22)	Arsenal	2 (0)	v Lithuania, 24 March 2007	v Spain, 6 February 2008
Jérôme Rothen	March 31 1978 (age 30)	PSG	13 (1)	v Malta, 29 March 2003	v Spain, 6 February 2008
Strikers
Jimmy Briand	August 2 1985 (age 23)	Rennes	0 (0)	N/A	v Spain, 6 February 2008
Djibril Cissé	August 12 1981 (age 27)	Sunderland	37 (9)	v Belgium, 18 May 2002	v Ecuador, 27 May 2008
Bafétimbi Gomis	August 6 1985 (age 23)	Saint-Etienne	4 (2)	v Ecuador, 27 May 2008	UEFA EURO 2008
Jérémy Menez	May 7 1987 (age 21)	Roma	0 (0)	N/A	v Spain, 6 February 2008

Coaching staff

Head Coach	Raymond Domenech
Assistant Coach	Alain Boghossian Pierre Mankowski
Goalkeeping Coach	Bruno Martini

Previous squads

Players

Famous past players

Template:Famous players

Most capped French players

As of September 10 2008 the ten players with the most caps for France are:

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Lilian Thuram	1994–2008	142	2
2	Marcel Desailly	1993–2004	116	3
3	Zinédine Zidane	1994–2006	108	31
4	Patrick Vieira	1997–	105	6
5	Thierry Henry	1997–	105	46
6	Didier Deschamps	1989–2000	103	4
7	Laurent Blanc	1989–2000	97	16
7	Bixente Lizarazu	1992–2004	97	2
9	Sylvain Wiltord	1999–2006	92	26
10	Fabien Barthez	1994–2006	87	0

Bold denotes players still playing or available for selection.

Top France goalscorers

As of September 10 2008 the highest ten goalscorers for France are:

#	Player	Career	Goals (Caps)
1	Thierry Henry	1997–	46 (105)
2	Michel Platini	1976–1987	41 (72)
3	David Trézéguet	1998–2008	34 (71)
4	Zinédine Zidane	1994–2006	31 (108)
5	Just Fontaine	1953–1960	30 (21)
5	Jean-Pierre Papin	1986–1995	30 (54)
7	Youri Djorkaeff	1993–2002	28 (82)
8	Sylvain Wiltord	1999–2006	26 (92)
9	Jean Vincent	1953–1961	22 (46)
10	Jean Nicolas	1933–1938	21 (25)