French national soccer team / world championships

France
République française

World Cup record goalscorer:	Just Fontaine (13)
World Cup record players:	Fabien Barthez and Thierry Henry (17)
Rank :	7th
Organizer:	1938 and 1998
Balance sheet
66 World Cup games 34 wins 13 draws 19 defeats 120: 77 goals
statistics
First World Cup game France 4-1 Mexico Montevideo ( URY ); July 13, 1930
Biggest World Cup victories France 7-3 Paraguay Norrköping ( SWE ); 8 June 1958 France 4-0 Northern Ireland Norrköping ( SWE ); June 19, 1958
Biggest World Cup defeat France 2: 5 Brazil Solna ( SWE ); June 24, 1958
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	15 ( first : 1930 )
Best results	World champion in 1998 and 2018
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 15, 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the French national football team at World Cups .

overview

France was the only European team to register for all World Cups, but reached the World Cup finals only 15 times and failed to qualify six times so far. France has been world champion twice - as the last host to date and at the last event to date.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponents	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	Preliminary round	Mexico , Chile , Argentina	7th	Raoul Caudron
1934	Italy	Round of 16	Austria	9.	Sid Kimpton
1938	France	Quarter finals	Italy	6th	Maurice Cottenet
1950	Brazil	not qualified	---	---	---	Failed in the qualification to Yugoslavia . The subsequent invitation after the withdrawal of other teams was not accepted.
1954	Switzerland	Preliminary round	Yugoslavia , Mexico	11.	Pierre Pibarot
1958	Sweden	3rd place match	Germany	3.	Albert Batteux	Just Fontaine top scorer with 13 goals
1962	Chile	not qualified	---	---	---	Bulgaria failed in qualification
1966	England	Preliminary round	Mexico , Uruguay , England	13.	Henri Guérin
1970	Mexico	not qualified	---	---	---	Failed in qualifying by Sweden
1974	Germany	not qualified	---	---	---	Failed in qualification at the Soviet Union
1978	Argentina	Preliminary round	Italy , Argentina , Hungary	12.	Michel Hidalgo
1982	Spain	3rd place match	Poland	4th	Michel Hidalgo	Germany failed in the semifinals in the first penalty shoot-out in World Cup history ( night of Sevilla )
1986	Mexico	3rd place match	Belgium	3.	Henri Michel	Failed again in the semifinals by Germany
1990	Italy	not qualified	---	---	---	Failed in qualification against Yugoslavia and Scotland
1994	United States	not qualified	---	---	---	Failed in qualification to Sweden and Bulgaria
1998	France	final	Brazil	World Champion	Aimé Jacquet	1st world title
2002	South Korea / Japan	Preliminary round	Senegal , Uruguay , Denmark	28.	Roger Lemerre	The first defending champion to be eliminated without a goal
2006	Germany	final	Italy	2.	Raymond Domenech	Defeat on penalties
2010	South Africa	Preliminary round	Uruguay, Mexico , South Africa	29	Raymond Domenech
2014	Brazil	Quarter finals	Germany	7th	Didier Deschamps
2018	Russia	final	Croatia	World Champion	Didier Deschamps	In the qualification , the team prevailed against Sweden , the Netherlands , Bulgaria , Belarus and Luxembourg .

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Unqualified: 6 × (29%; 1950, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1990, 1994)
• Athletic qualifications (including participation as defending champion): 12 × (57% or 67% of the attempts)
• Participated without qualification (including automatic qualification as host): 3 × (14%; 1930, 1938, 1998)
  • Preliminary round: 6 × (29%; 1930, 1954, 1966, 1978, 2002 and 2010)
  • Round of 16 or first round: 1 × (5%; 1934)
  • Quarter-finals: 2 × (10%; 1938 and 2014)
  • Match for 3rd place: 3 × (14%, 1958, 1982 and 1986)
    • Third: 2 × (10%; 1958 and 1986)
    • Fourth: 1 × (5%; 1982)
  • Final: 3 × (14%; 1998, 2006 and 2018)
    • World champions: 2 × (10%; 1998 and 2018)

Most frequent last opponents: Germany and Italy (each 2 ×, only won once)

World Cup tournaments

World Championship 1930

Lucien Laurent (left), scorer of the first World Cup goal, and Marcel Langiller

Scene from the game against Argentina

France was one of only four European teams, along with Belgium and Romania , to undertake the three-week cruise on the Conte Verde to take part in the first World Cup and the French team was allowed to play the first World Cup match. In this Lucien Laurent scored the first World Cup goal after 19 minutes against Mexico . In the 26th minute, defender Augustin Chantrel had to replace the injured goalkeeper Alex Thépot and kept it clean until the 70th minute. Then the Mexicans managed to score 1: 3. The first two-time goalscorer and thus the record scorer at the World Cup for four days was André Maschinot , who scored 3-0 and 4-1. In the second game there was a narrow 0: 1 defeat against the South American champions and eventual runner-up Argentina and at the end another 0: 1 against Chile , with France being eliminated as third party. On the way home, the first international match against Brazil was played in Rio de Janeiro on August 1st, which was lost 3-2.

World Championship 1934

For the first World Cup in Europe, France had to qualify in a group with Germany and Luxembourg and the two best teams should qualify for Italy. Actually, all three teams should play one game each against the other two teams and each team should have a home and an away game. Since Luxembourg had no chance of qualifying, both games against Luxembourg were played in Luxembourg, so that Luxembourg had at least one financial success despite the defeats. After Luxembourg lost both games, the game between Germany and France, between which there was political tension, was then not necessary and was no longer played because of its irrelevance.

France met Austria at the World Cup in Italy and took the lead after 18 minutes. 16 minutes later Austria managed to equalize and since neither scored another goal in normal playing time, there was the first extension in World Cup history. In this, the Austrians initially scored two goals before Georges Verriest was able to reduce the final score of 2: 3 with a penalty three minutes before the end.

World Championship 1938

In 1938, France hosted the third World Cup after the French federation won 19: 4: 0 against competitors Argentina and Germany and thus automatically qualified. In the second round, the neighboring Belgium was defeated 3-1 and reached the quarter-finals against defending champions Italy . There was a 1: 3, and for the first time the hosts could not use the home advantage and not win the World Cup.

World Championship 1950

For the first World Cup in Brazil , France had to qualify against Yugoslavia , which initially eliminated Israel. Since the return leg ended 1-1, there was a playoff in Florence , which was lost 3-2 after extra time. After several qualified teams waived their participation, France was invited retrospectively, but waived on the grounds that it should have played group matches at locations 3,000 kilometers apart.

World Championship 1954

For the World Cup in neighboring Switzerland to France had against Ireland and Luxembourg qualify what succeeded impressively with four straight wins. In Switzerland, France and Brazil were seeded in their group and did not have to play against each other. But France lost the opening game against unseeded Yugoslavia 0-1 and since Yugoslavia scored 1-1 against Brazil, the French 3-2 win against Mexico was worthless.

World Championship 1958

For the World Cup in Sweden to France had to Albert Batteux , who had since 1955 coach, against Belgium and Iceland qualify . In the first three games, the French scored 19 goals, only the last game in Belgium ended goalless, which France qualified. In the event of a defeat, there would have been a playoff despite a better goal difference. After successfully qualifying, France lost 4-0 to England in London and then played three draws. In addition, striker René Bliard was injured so badly in friendly matches that he was canceled for the World Cup. The French press therefore placed little hope in the team and feared an early exit like four years earlier. In Sweden the French team scored a total of 23 goals - only Hungary (27) and Germany (25) scored more goals at a World Cup in 1954. Just Fontaine , who came into the team as a substitute for Bliard and became the top scorer with 13 goals, played a major role in this , setting a record for a single World Cup tournament that is still valid today , surpassing Sándor Kocsis' previous record by two goals and 16 years long remained the record scorer in the World Cup before Gerd Müller set a new record with a total of 14 goals, which lasted twice as long. Despite the many goals, it was only enough for third place as Brazil scored even more goals in the semi-finals. Pelé managed a flawless hat trick at 2: 5 in the second half . After all, Fontaine managed the first goal against the eventual world champion, who had not allowed a goal in the previous four games. With the third place, which was achieved by a 6: 3 against defending champions Germany and in which Fontaine scored four goals alone, France achieved the best placement until 1998 and then had to wait 8 years to be back at a World Cup. In addition, this remained the only competitive win against Germany to date and remained the biggest defeat of a defending champion - albeit already dethroned - until 2014.

World Championship 1962

For the third World Cup in South America, France had against Bulgaria and Finland qualify . France and Bulgaria won their games against Finland as well as their home games against each other, so a play-off was necessary. The better goal difference for France counted for nothing. The Bulgarians won the decider in Milan , qualifying for the World Cup for the first time. National coach Albert Batteux remained in office, but his term of office ended after a 2-1 draw in a friendly against Italy in May 1962.

World Championship 1966

France qualified for the World Cup in England under Henri Guérin , who took over as national coach in 1962, again against Yugoslavia and Luxembourg and for the first time Norway . France and Yugoslavia won their home games against each other 1-0, but while Yugoslavia lost in Norway and only achieved a 1-1 draw against the Norwegians at home, France won all games against the other two teams and reached the World Cup finals . Here France was drawn into the group with hosts England , North and Central American champions Mexico and ex-world champions Uruguay and only scored one point in the game against the Mexicans. Guérin's term of office ended with the World Cup.

World Championship 1970

In the qualification for the first World Cup in Central America France went under Louis Dugauguez , where France again met Norway and its Scandinavian neighbor Sweden . France lost the qualification in the first home game, which was lost 1-0 to Norway, whereupon Dugauguez was replaced by Georges Boulogne . Although the second leg was won in Oslo , but after also losing in Stockholm , the qualification was no longer possible because Sweden had won both games against Norway. The final 3-0 against Sweden didn't change anything.

1974 World Cup

In qualifying for the first World Cup in neighboring Germany , France under Georges Boulogne had to deal with the Soviet Union and Ireland . Although the first game against the Soviet Union was won in Paris , it was lost in Ireland and only scored 1-1 at home against Ireland, whereas the Soviet Union won all the remaining games, including the last decisive game against France 2-0. The Soviet Union then had to compete in the intercontinental relegation against Chile, but refused to play in the stadium in Santiago de Chile , since supporters of the previous civilian government were interned there after the military coup in 1973 , and was therefore disqualified. With the end of the qualification, the term of office of Georges Boulogne ended, his successor was Ștefan Kovács , whose term of office ended after the missed European Championship qualification in 1976 .

World Championship 1978

12 years after the last participation, France was able to qualify again under Michel Hidalgo , with Ireland as four years earlier and Bulgaria as in 1962 the opponents against which the last decisive game was won. At the World Cup in Argentina , France played in a group with hosts Argentina , Hungary and ex-world champion Italy . Since they only won against Hungary, but the other two games were lost 2-1, the World Cup was over for the French after the preliminary round.

World Championship 1982

For the fourth World Cup in a neighboring country , France and Belgium qualified against Ireland , the Netherlands and Cyprus again , with the better goal difference compared to Ireland being decisive. In Spain , the opening match against England was lost 3-1, but then won against World Cup newcomers and Asian champions Kuwait and Czechoslovakia , which meant they reached the second final round in second place in the group. This was only played in groups of three at this World Cup and France won both games against Austria and Northern Ireland . This meant that France was the favorite in the semifinals against European champions Germany , the so-called “ Night of Seville ”, but had to accept the 0: 1 by Pierre Littbarski in the 17th minute . Although succeeded Michel Platini as nine minutes later through a penalty of compensation, but the two teams did not manage another goal anymore, so there was an extension. In this France quickly took a 3-1 lead, but had to accept the equalization, so that it came to the first penalty shoot-out in World Cup history. In this first the French were ahead again when Uli Stielike failed to Jean-Luc Ettori . Since Toni Schumacher was able to save two penalties from the French, the French only had the small final, as in 1958. Without several regular players, it was lost 3-2 to Poland .

1986 World Championship

For the second World Cup in Mexico , the newly crowned European champion France qualified under the new national coach Henri Michel together with Bulgaria (both 11: 5 points) against the GDR , Yugoslavia and Luxembourg . In Mexico, the French had to do with World Cup newcomers Canada (1: 0), the Soviet Union (1: 1) and Hungary (3: 0) and tied on points with the Soviet Union, they reached the round of 16, which will take place again from this World Cup, in second place in the group. Here the French met defending champions Italy and reached the quarter-finals against Brazil with a 2-0 win . In one of the best World Cup games of all time, the score was 1: 1 after 120 minutes and the penalty shoot-out had to decide. Unlike four years earlier against Germany, the French now had the better shooters and reached the semi-finals again, where Germany was again the opponent. Like four years before, France was again the favorite, because on the one hand France had impressively won the European Championship two years earlier, while the German team had already been eliminated in the preliminary round and on the other hand the Germans had struggled through the World Cup until then. But already after nine minutes Andreas Brehme was able to bring the German team into the lead and they were able to defend this advantage against the stormy attacking French. Rudi Völler then scored the second goal in the 90th minute after a counterattack. Unlike four years earlier, France then won the game for third place against Belgium and then said goodbye to the World Cup for 12 years.

World Cup 1990

The second World Cup in neighboring Italy missed France under coach Michel Platini in the qualifying again against Yugoslavia and also Scotland . Decisive for this were not only the defeats in Yugoslavia and Scotland, but also that France only played a draw in Cyprus and Norway and at home against Yugoslavia. Platini remained in office and led France to the European Championship in 1992, which ended in the preliminary round, which ended his term of office.

World Championship 1994

The qualification for the World Cup in the United States did not go any better under the new national coach Gérard Houllier . This time the French had to give way to the Swedes and Bulgarians , with a 2: 3 home defeat against Israel being decisive and a 1: 2 home defeat against Bulgaria ultimately decisive. Both games were only won against Finland and Austria . After the missed qualification, national coach Houllier resigned, his successor was Aimé Jacquet , who ushered in a new era.

World Championship 1998

Starting grid in the final

France did not have to qualify for the second World Cup in their own country, only prevailed in the bid against Morocco and Switzerland. France then used their home advantage, unlike 60 years earlier, and became world champions for the first time under Aimé Jacquet . In the preliminary round, World Cup newcomers South Africa and Asian champions Saudi Arabia were confidently defeated 3: 0 and 4: 0 and Denmark just 2: 1, thus ending the preliminary round with three wins for the first time. In the round of 16 against Paraguay , the first golden goal in World Cup history had to bring victory and in the quarter-finals France profited from Italy's weakness on penalties. Against Croatia in the semi-finals the normal playing time was enough and in the final against defending champions and South American champions Brazil achieved one of the two biggest victories against a defending champion with a 3-0 win, which was only outbid in 2014. Two years later, France was also the first world champion to win the European Championship, which, in reverse order, had previously only been achieved by Germany . Jacquet moved to the post of technical director after the World Cup success. He was succeeded by Roger Lemerre , who won the European Championship with the team two years later.

World Championship 2002

The last time the defending champions did not have to qualify for the finals and after winning the Euro 2000 and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001 , France was one of the favorites for the first World Cup in Asia . But already the opening game against the newcomer to the World Cup Senegal was lost 1-0. After a goalless draw against Uruguay , France still had a chance to reach the round of 16. This was gambled away with a 2-0 draw against Denmark and France is the only defending champion to date to be eliminated without a goal. Roger Lemerre's term of office also ended with his departure . He was followed by Jacques Santini , who was unable to build on the successes of his predecessors and announced his departure before the 2004 European Championship, which took place after the quarter-finals.

World Championship 2006

After France participated twice in a row without qualification and had failed twice in the qualification, under Raymond Domenech the qualification for the second World Cup in neighboring Germany was sovereign. They started differently than expected with a 0-0 win against Israel , and a 2-0 win in the Faroe Islands was followed by goalless home games against Ireland and Switzerland , with an intermittent 2-0 in Cyprus . But since the pursuers also left points and France did not lose a game, this time the qualification succeeded.

At the World Cup in Germany , France met qualifying opponents Switzerland (0-0), South Korea (1: 1) and World Cup newcomer Togo , who secured second place behind Switzerland with a 2-0 win. In the second round, Spain was the opponent, who had won their group sovereign and also took an early lead against France with a penalty kick. Franck Ribéry was able to equalize this in the 41st minute and when both were already expecting extra time, Thierry Henry was able to obtain a free kick with a play that led to the 2-1 for France. In stoppage time, Zinédine Zidane made it 3-1. In the quarter-finals, defending champions and South American champions Brazil waited , who had not convinced until then. The decisive factor was a stroke of genius by Zinédine Zidane, who could not build on his form from 1998 in the previous games, but now steered the game, played the Brazilians off in a tight space and with a free kick Thierry Henry served in the six-yard box, who made the 1-0 Winning goal scored. Brazil then pushed vehemently but unsuccessfully for the equalizer and France was in the semifinals against Portugal , which was won 1-0. Italy was the opponent in the final . Both had faced each other six years earlier in the European Championship final when France won in extra time with a golden goal. After just seven minutes, Zidane was able to give France the lead with a penalty that he casually lifted under the crossbar. But 12 minutes later Marco Materazzi equalized. It stayed in the normal playing time and no goal was scored in extra time. In extra time, Zidane let Materazzi provoke a headbutt for which he saw the red card and was therefore missing from the penalty shoot-out. Italy, which had previously lost three penalty shoot-outs at World Cups, was able to win a World Cup penalty shoot-out for the first time and France was only the runner-up.

World Championship 2010

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Africa, France had to go through the relegation games of the runners-up in the group. Before that, France had to give way to the Serbs and could only leave Austria , Lithuania , Romania and the Faroe Islands behind. The two draws against Romania were also decisive for the necessary detour. In the playoffs Ireland was the opponent. France initially won 1-0 in Ireland, but in the second leg in France Ireland also made it 1-0 and forced extra time. In this, Gallas was able to equalize 1-1 after two handball from Henry and France was thus qualified. An application by Ireland to be admitted to the World Cup as the 33rd team was rejected.

The World Cup in South Africa was then scandalous for France. In what is actually an easy preliminary group with hosts South Africa , North and Central American champions Mexico and the Uruguayans who qualified as the last team , France only finished last. Off the pitch, the team also made a name for itself through training boycotts. (See the Knysna fiasco ). With the end, the term of office of Raymond Domenech ended , successor was Laurent Blanc , who was no longer in office at the next World Cup.

World Championship 2014

After losing in the quarter-finals of the EM 2012, Didier Deschamps , captain of the 1998 world championship team, took over as national coach. For the qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil, France was drawn into a group with world and European champions Spain as well as Finland , Georgia and Belarus . The French scored 1-1 in Spain, but lost their home game. Since Spain showed no nakedness against the other three teams, France again only had the detour via the playoff games of the group runners-up. This time Ukraine was the opponent and in Kiev they lost 2-0. The second leg could be won 3-0, making France the first team to qualify in the relegation games of the group runners-up after a defeat with two goals difference.

In the group stage of the final round , France first met Honduras (3-0), as in 2006 against Switzerland (5-2) and finally Ecuador (0-0) and reached the second round as the sovereign group winners. Much of the reputation it had lost in 2010 was regained through the appearance and offensive style of play, and France was seen as a possible candidate for the title, especially after the game against Switzerland. In the second round, Africa champions Nigeria were the opponents and in a long open game Paul Pogba only managed to make it 1-0 for France in the 79th minute. In stoppage time, the Nigerian captain and record international player Joseph Yobo then underwent an own goal to make it 2-0. The quarter-finals then brought France and Germany together, both of whom had previously thrown the last African representatives out of the tournament. Unlike in the previous World Cup games of the two, there was no clear favorite. In the 13th minute, Mats Hummels gave the Germans a 1-0 lead and this could be defended until the end. Paul Pogba was named the best young player in the World Cup at the end of the tournament.

World Championship 2018

Starting grid in the final

In the qualification , which started in September 2016, the French met third place in the World Cup - Netherlands , Sweden , Bulgaria , Belarus and Luxembourg . Les Bleus only gave up a point in the first of the first five games in the goalless draw in Belarus, then won four times and were in first place halfway through the games. They started the second half of qualifying with a 2-1 defeat in Sweden, but then rehabilitated themselves with a 4-0 home win against the Netherlands, while Sweden lost in Bulgaria. This was followed by a 0-0 win against Luxembourg, which made the fight for first place exciting again. After that, France won for the first time in Bulgaria, which had previously won their home qualifying games. But since Sweden won 8-0 against Luxembourg, France only had one point more than the Scandinavians before the last matchday. On the last day of the match, the French managed to beat Belarus 2-1, so that they did not depend on the result of the parallel game between the Netherlands and Sweden. Although the two teams had scored more goals than the French in the end, they also conceded more goals and lost more games, so France qualified as group winners for the World Cup and Sweden had to hope for the playoffs as group runners-up.

In the finals, France started with a 2-1 win over Asian champions Australia, with the winning goal only coming in the 81st minute with an own goal by Aziz Behich , who deflected a shot by Paul Pogba into his own goal for his goalkeeper. Against Peru, Kylian Mbappé's first World Cup goal, making him the tournament's youngest scorer, put his team in the lead in the 34th minute, which was then managed to the end. In the last group game against Denmark, national coach Deschamps used several reservists and since the Danes were also satisfied with a draw, it was the only goalless game of the tournament. As group winners, France met vice world champions Argentina in the round of 16 and prevailed 4-3, with the lead changing twice. In the quarter-finals, the French met a South American team, this time Uruguay, which European champions Portugal had eliminated in the second round. The Uruguayans had to do without the triple goalscorer Edinson Cavani due to injury and could not prevail against the French defense, so France won the game with goals from Raphaël Varane (40th) and Antoine Griezmann (61st). In the semi-finals there was a neighborhood duel with Belgium, which had won its five tournament games by then and had already scored 14 goals. But this time too, the French defense did not allow a goal, so that the goal of defender Samuel Umtiti was enough for the French to reach the final. Here they met the Croatians, who were in the final of a World Cup for the first time, but had to go into extra time three times on the way there. The French took the lead with the first final own goal in World Cup history in the 18th minute. They benefited from the fact that the Argentine referee did not recognize a swallow from Griezmann and decided on a free kick for France. Mario Mandžukić falsified the free kick kicked by Griezmann into his own goal. Ten minutes later, however, the French had to accept the equalizer from Ivan Perišić , who ten minutes later got the ball in his own penalty area and from there jumped out. After consulting the video assistant, the referee interpreted this as a deliberate handball and decided on a penalty that Griezmann converted. When the Croatians pressed for an equalizer in the second half, Pogba and Mbappé added two more goals. Despite waning strength, the Croatians tried to turn the game around and Mandžukić was able to use a carelessness of captain Hugo Lloris to correct the result. Ultimately, the French considered the 4: 2 over time and became world champions for the second time. Coach Deschamps, captain of the 1998 world champions, is in line with Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer , who were also world champions as players, coaches and team bosses. Thanks to the World Cup title, France improved its position in the FIFA world rankings by six places and has been at the top since August 2018 - from September together with World Cup third Belgium.

player

Ranking of the French World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Fabien Barthez and Thierry Henry - 17 appearances in 3 and 4 tournaments respectively

03. Lilian Thuram - 16 appearances in 3 tournaments

04. Maxime Bossis - 15 appearances in 3 tournaments

05. Hugo Lloris , Michel Platini - 14 appearances in 3 tournaments

07. Manuel Amoros , Alain Giresse , Olivier Giroud , Antoine Griezmann , Jean Tigana , David Trezeguet , Raphaël Varane , Patrick Vieira and Zinédine Zidane - 12 appearances in 2 and 3 (Trezeguet, Vieira, Zidane) tournaments

16. Patrick Battiston , Paul Pogba - 11 appearances in 3 and 2 tournaments

18. Marcel Desailly , William Gallas , Blaise Matuidi , Franck Ribéry , Dominique Rocheteau , Didier Six , Marius Trésor , Sylvain Wiltord - 10 appearances each in 2 or 3 (Rocheteau) tournaments

Ranking of the French World Cup players with the most goals

1. Just Fontaine - 13 goals

2. Thierry Henry - 6 goals

3. Michel Platini and Zinédine Zidane - 5 goals

5. Antoine Griezmann , Raymond Kopa , Dominique Rocheteau - 4 goals

World Cup captains

• 1930: Alexandre Villaplane
• 1934: Alexis Thépot
• 1938: Étienne Mattler
• 1954: Robert Jonquet (1st game), Roger Marche (2nd game)
• 1958: Robert Jonquet, Roger Marche (2nd game), Armand Penverne (game for 3rd place)
• 1966: Marcel Artelesa
• 1978: Marius Trésor
• 1982: Michel Platini , Marius Trésor (against Austria and Poland)
• 1986: Michel Platini, Patrick Battiston (game for 3rd place)
• 1998: Didier Deschamps , Marcel Desailly (3rd group game)
• 2002: Marcel Desailly
• 2006: Zinédine Zidane , Patrick Vieira (3rd group game)
• 2010: Patrice Evra , Alou Diarra (3rd group game)
• 2014: Hugo Lloris
• 2018: Hugo Lloris, Raphaël Varane (3rd group match)

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Up to and including 1954, no " legionaries " were used. From 1958 until 1986 only a few legionaries were nominated. From 1998 legionaries made up the majority in the squad. France is the last world champion in whose World Cup squad legionaries made up the majority. Only Brazil nominated legionnaires (12) in 1994 when they won their fourth World Cup title. Besides Argentina (1978/1 legionnaire and 1986/7 legionnaires) and Spain (2010/3 legionnaires), France is the only team that never became world champions without legionnaires.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1930-1938, 1954	0
1958 (6)	1 (Spain)	Raymond Kopa (6)
1966 (3)	2 (1 in Italy, 1 in Spain)	Nestor Combin (1); Lucien Muller (0)
1978 (3)	0
1982 (7)	2 (1 in Germany, 1 in Italy)	Didier Six (7); Michel Platini (5)
1986 (7)	2 (1 in Belgium, 1 in Italy)	Jean-Pierre Papin (4); Michel Platini (6)
1998 (7)	13 (1 in Germany, 4 in England, 7 in Italy, 1 in Spain)	Bixente Lizarazu (6); Bernard Lama (0), Frank Lebœuf (3), Emmanuel Petit (6), Patrick Vieira (2); Alain Boghossian (5), Vincent Candela (1), Marcel Desailly (7), Didier Deschamps (6), Youri Djorkaeff (7), Lilian Thuram (6), Zinédine Zidane (5); Christian Karembeu (4)
2002 (3)	18 (2 in Germany, 8 in England, 5 in Italy, 3 in Spain)	Bixente Lizarazu (3), Willy Sagnol (0); Fabien Barthez (3), Marcel Desailly (3), Youri Djorkaeff (2), Thierry Henry (2), Emmanuel Petit (2), Mikaël Silvestre (0), Patrick Vieira (3), Sylvain Wiltord (3); Alain Boghossian (0), Vincent Candela (2), Johan Micoud (2), Lilian Thuram (3), David Trezeguet (3); Philippe Christanval (0), Claude Makélélé (1), Zinédine Zidane (1)
2006 (7)	12 (1 in Germany, 7 in England, 3 in Italy, 1 in Spain)	Willy Sagnol (7); Jean-Alain Boumsong (0), Pascal Chimbonda (0), William Gallas (7), Thierry Henry (7), Louis Saha (3), Mickaël Silvestre (1), Claude Makélélé (7); Lilian Thuram (7), David Trezeguet (3), Patrick Vieira (7); Zinedine Zidane (6)
2010 (3)	12 (1 in Germany, 7 in England, 1 in Greece, 3 in Spain)	Franck Ribéry (3); Nicolas Anelka (2), Gaël Clichy (1), Abou Diaby (3), Patrice Evra (2), William Gallas (3), Florent Malouda (3), Bacary Sagna (3); Djibril Cisse (1); Éric Abidal (2), Sébastien Squillaci (1), Thierry Henry (3)
2014 (5)	15 (10 in England, 1 in Italy, 1 in Portugal, 3 in Spain)	Mathieu Debuchy (4), Patrice Evra (4), Olivier Giroud (5), Laurent Koscielny (4), Hugo Lloris (5), Loïc Rémy (2), Bacary Sagna (1), Mamadou Sakho (4), Morgan Schneiderlin (1), Moussa Sissoko (4); Paul Pogba (5), Eliaquim Mangala (4); Karim Benzema (5), Antoine Griezmann (4), Raphaël Varane (5)
2018 (7)	14 (2 in Germany, 5 in England, 1 in Italy, 6 in Spain)	Benjamin Pavard (6), Corentin Tolisso (5); Olivier Giroud (7), N'Golo Kanté (7), Hugo Lloris (6), Benjamin Mendy (1), Paul Pogba (6); Blaise Matuidi (5); Ousmane Dembélé (4), Antoine Griezmann (7), Lucas Hernández (7), Steven Nzonzi (5), Samuel Umtiti (6), Raphaël Varane (7)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1982: Manuel Amoros received a yellow card in each of the last two preliminary round matches and was banned from the first round match against Austria .
• 1986: William Ayache received the second yellow card in the round of 16 and was suspended for the quarter-finals. Luis Fernández received the second yellow card in the semifinals and was suspended for the game for third place.
• 1998: Zinédine Zidane received the red card in the second group game for being kicked and was suspended for the last group game and the round of 16. Laurent Blanc received the red card in the semi-finals and was suspended for the final. In this Marcel Desailly received the yellow-red card, which otherwise had no further effect like the second yellow card for Didier Deschamps .
• 2002: Thierry Henry received the red card in the second group match against Uruguay and was suspended for the last group match against Denmark, as did Emmanuel Petit, who received the second yellow card.
• 2006: Éric Abidal and captain Zinédine Zidane were banned for the last group game after two yellow cards in the first two preliminary round matches. Louis Saha received a yellow card in both the quarter and semi-finals and was suspended for the final. Zidane received the red card in the final. Since that ended the tournament, it had no further effect and after Zidane had ended his national team career, not on the following competitive games. Instead, Zidane committed to three days of community service. The second yellow card in the final round, which Willy Sagnol received in the final and which was his third overall in the tournament, no longer had any effect.
• 2010: Yoann Gourcuff received the red card in the last group game, since France was eliminated, it had no further effect for the tournament.
• 2014: Yohan Cabaye was suspended for the last group game after two yellow cards in the first two preliminary round matches.
• 2018: Blaise Matuidi was suspended after two yellow cards for the quarter-finals against Uruguay.

Games

France has played 66 World Cup games so far. 34 games were won, 19 lost and 13 ended in a draw. Draw games had to be extended seven times because a winner had to be determined, twice against Italy . It was only possible to win two games in overtime or through golden goal , plus two games on penalties. Two games were lost on penalties, one game in overtime. France took part in the opening and first game of the World Cup twice (1930, 1954, 2002) and lost as defending champions in 2002. So far, the French team has played nine home games at world championships and had to face the hosts three times, always (1966, 1978 and 2010) in the preliminary round and always lost.

France played five times against the defending champions: in 1938 against Italy in the quarter-finals, in 1958 against Germany in the third-place match, in 1986 against Italy in the second round, in 1998 against Brazil in the final and in 2006 against Brazil in the quarter-finals. Only the first game was lost. France has played six times against the eventual world champions: 1938 against Italy in the quarter-finals, 1958 against Brazil in the semi-finals, 1966 against England in the preliminary round, 1978 against Argentina in the preliminary round, 2006 against Italy in the final and 2014 against Germany in the quarter-finals.

France played the most frequently in World Cup finals against Italy (five times) and met eight newcomers to the World Cup: 1934 / Austria, 1958 / Northern Ireland, 1982 / Kuwait, 1986 / Canada, 1998 / South Africa and Croatia, 2002 / Senegal and 2006 / Togo .

So far France has played in 46 World Cup cities, most often (4 ×) in Saint Denis .

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent	occasion	venue	Remarks
1.	07/13/1930	Mexico	4: 1	Preliminary round	Montevideo ( URY )	First international game against Mexico, first win against a non-European team, first game outside of Europe, first win against Mexico
2.	07/15/1930	Argentina	0: 1	Preliminary round	Montevideo ( URY )	First international match against Argentina
3.	07/19/1930	Chile	0: 1	Preliminary round	Montevideo ( URY )	First international match against Chile, 100th international match
4th	May 27, 1934	Austria	2: 3 a.d.	Round of 16	Turin ( ITA )
5.	06/05/1938	Belgium	3: 1	Round of 16	Colombes	150th international match
6th	06/12/1938	Italy	1: 3	Quarter finals	Colombes
7th	06/16/1954	Yugoslavia	0: 1	Preliminary round	Lausanne ( CHE )
8th.	06/19/1954	Mexico	3: 2	Preliminary round	Geneva ( CHE )
9.	06/08/1958	Paraguay	7: 3	Preliminary round	Norrkoping ( SWE )	First international match against Paraguay
10.	06/11/1958	Yugoslavia	2: 3	Preliminary round	Västerås ( SWE )
11.	06/15/1958	Scotland	2: 1	Preliminary round	Örebro ( SWE )
12.	06/19/1958	Northern Ireland	4-0	Quarter finals	Norrkoping ( SWE )
13.	06/24/1958	Brazil	2: 5	Semifinals	Solna ( SWE )
14th	06/28/1958	FRG	6: 3	3rd place match	Gothenburg ( SWE )	highest victory against Germany
15th	07/13/1966	Mexico	1: 1	Preliminary round	London ( ENG )
16.	07/15/1966	Uruguay	1: 2	Preliminary round	London ( ENG )
17th	07/20/1966	England	0: 2	Preliminary round	London ( ENG )
18th	06/02/1978	Italy	1: 2	1. Final round	Mar del Plata ( ARG )
19th	06/06/1978	Argentina	1: 2	1. Final round	Buenos Aires ( ARG )
20th	06/10/1978	Hungary	3: 1	1. Final round	Mar del Plata ( ARG )
21st	06/16/1982	England	1: 3	1. Final round	Bilbao ( ESP )
22nd	06/21/1982	Kuwait	4: 1	1. Final round	Valladolid ( ESP )	First international match against Kuwait
23.	06/24/1982	Czechoslovakia	1: 1	1. Final round	Valladolid ( ESP )
24.	06/28/1982	Austria	1-0	2nd final round	Madrid ( ESP )
25th	07/04/1982	Northern Ireland	4: 1	2nd final round	Madrid ( ESP )
26th	07/08/1982	FRG	3: 3 a.d.	Semifinals	Seville ( ESP )	4-5 on penalties ( Seville night )
27.	07/10/1982	Poland	2: 3	3rd place match	Alicante ( ESP )
28.	06/01/1986	Canada	1-0	Preliminary round	Leon ( MEX )	First international match against Canada
29	06/05/1986	Soviet Union	1: 1	Preliminary round	Leon ( MEX )
30th	06/09/1986	Hungary	3-0	Preliminary round	Leon ( MEX )
31.	06/17/1986	Italy	2-0	Round of 16	Mexico City ( MEX )
32.	06/21/1986	Brazil	1: 1 a.d.	Quarter finals	Guadalajara ( MEX )	4: 3 on penalties
33.	06/25/1986	FRG	0: 2	Semifinals	Guadalajara ( MEX )
34.	06/28/1986	Belgium	4: 2 a.d.	3rd place match	Puebla ( MEX )
35.	06/12/1998	South Africa	3-0	Preliminary round	Marseille
36.	06/18/1998	Saudi Arabia	4-0	Preliminary round	Saint Denis	First international match against Saudi Arabia
37.	06/24/1998	Denmark	2: 1	Preliminary round	Lyon
38.	06/28/1998	Paraguay	1: 0 i. V.	Round of 16	Lens	Victory by 1st golden goal in World Cup history
39.	07/03/1998	Italy	0: 0 a.d.	Quarter finals	Saint Denis	4: 3 on penalties
40.	07/08/1998	Croatia	2: 1	Semifinals	Saint Denis	First international match against Croatia
41.	07/12/1998	Brazil	3-0	final	Saint Denis	First world title
42.	05/31/2002	Senegal	0: 1	Preliminary round	Seoul ( KOR )	First international match against Senegal
43.	06/06/2002	Uruguay	0-0	Preliminary round	Busan ( KOR )
44.	06/11/2002	Denmark	0: 2	Preliminary round	Incheon ( KOR )
45.	06/13/2006	Switzerland	0-0	Preliminary round	Stuttgart ( DEU )
46.	06/18/2006	South Korea	1: 1	Preliminary round	Leipzig ( DEU )
47.	06/23/2006	Togo	2-0	Preliminary round	Cologne ( DEU )	First international match against Togo
48.	06/27/2006	Spain	3: 1	Round of 16	Hanover ( DEU )
49.	07/01/2006	Brazil	1-0	Quarter finals	Frankfurt ( DEU )
50.	07/05/2006	Portugal	1-0	Semifinals	Munich ( DEU )	50th World Cup game
51.	07/09/2006	Italy	1: 1 a.d.	final	Berlin ( DEU )	3: 5 on penalties
52.	06/11/2010	Uruguay	0-0	Preliminary round	Cape Town ( ZAF )
53.	06/17/2010	Mexico	0: 2	Preliminary round	Polokwane ( ZAF )
54.	06/22/2010	South Africa	1: 2	Preliminary round	Bloemfontein ( ZAF )	Last game under coach Raymond Domenech
55.	06/15/2014	Honduras	3-0	Preliminary round	Porto Alegre ( BRA )	First international match against Honduras
56.	06/20/2014	Switzerland	5: 2	Preliminary round	Salvador da Bahia ( BRA )
57.	06/25/2014	Ecuador	0-0	Preliminary round	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )
58.	06/30/2014	Nigeria	2-0	Round of 16	Brasília ( BRA )
59.	04/07/2014	Germany	0: 1	Quarter finals	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )
60.	June 16, 2018	Australia	2: 1	Preliminary round	Kazan ( RUS )
61.	June 21, 2018	Peru	1-0	Preliminary round	Yekaterinburg ( RUS )
62.	06/26/2018	Denmark	0-0	Preliminary round	Moscow ( RUS )	First goalless game of the 2018 World Cup
63.	06/30/2018	Argentina	4: 3	Round of 16	Kazan ( RUS )	First World Cup victory against Argentina
64.	07/06/2018	Uruguay	2-0	Quarter finals	Nizhny Novgorod ( RUS )
65.	07/10/2018	Belgium	1-0	Semifinals	Saint Petersburg ( RUS )
66.	07/15/2018	Croatia	4: 2	final	Moscow ( RUS )

The French team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  Brazil : 1998 final - 3-0
•  Germany : Match for 3rd place 1958 - 6: 3 (also a 3: 0 in a friendly game)
•  Honduras : Preliminary round 2014 - 3-0 (only game against Honduras)
•  Italy : Round of 16 1986 - 2-0 (also 2-0 in friendly games and 3-1 at the 1920 Olympic Games, in two friendly games and one qualifier for the 2008 European Championship)
•  Canada : preliminary round 1986 - 1-0 (only game against Canada)
•  Kuwait : preliminary round 1982 - 4: 1
•  Nigeria : Round of 16 2014 - 2-0 (only win against Nigeria)
•  Northern Ireland : quarter-finals 1958 - 4-0 (also a 4-0 in a friendly)
•  Paraguay : preliminary round 1958 - 7: 3
•  Peru : Preliminary round 2018 - 1-0 (only win against Peru)
•  Saudi Arabia : Preliminary round 1998 - 4-0 (only game against Saudi Arabia)
• Spanish national football team : Round of 16 2006 - 3: 1 (also a 3: 1 in the 1992 European Championship qualification and a 2: 0 in the 1984 European Championship final)
•  South Africa  : preliminary round 1998 - 3-0
•  Togo : Preliminary round 2006 - 2-0 (only game against Togo)
•  Hungary : preliminary round 1986 - 3-0 (also a 3-0 in a friendly match)
•  Uruguay : quarter-finals 2018 - 2-0 (also a 2-0 at the 1985 Intercontinental Cup)

The French team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Brazil  : semi-finals 1958 - 2: 5 (also a 0: 3 in a friendly match)
•  Chile : Preliminary round 1930 - 0: 1 (also a 1: 2 in a friendly game)
•  Mexico : Preliminary round 2010 - 2-0 (only loss to Mexico)
•  Senegal : Preliminary round 2002 - 0: 1 (only game against Senegal)
•  South Africa : Preliminary round 2010 - 2-1 (only loss to South Africa)

Record against the other world champions at world championships

•  Italy : 5 games (including 1 × final), 1 win, 2 draws (including 1 × won and lost on penalties), 2 defeats, 5: 6 goals (7: 8 on pens)
•  Brazil : 4 games (including 1 × final), 2 wins, 1 draw (won on penalties), 1 defeat, 7: 6 goals (4: 3 on pens)
•  Germany : 4 games (including 2 semi-finals), 1 win, 1 draw (defeat new), 2 defeats, 9: 9 goals (4: 5)
•  Uruguay : 3 games, 2 draws, 1 defeat, 1: 2 goals
•  Argentina : 2 games, 2 defeats, 1: 3 goals
•  England : 2 games, 2 defeats, 1: 5 goals
•  Spain : 1 game, 1 win, 3-1 goals

Records

(Status: after the 2018 World Cup)

team

• The only team that participated in four neighboring countries: Italy / 1934, Switzerland / 1954, Spain / 1982 and Germany / 2006
• The most common semi-final pairings (2 × each) were France against Germany (1982 and 1986) and Germany against Italy (1970 and 2006)
• Highest victories in the quarter-finals after the preliminary round (1954 to 1970) 1958 France - Northern Ireland and 1966 Germany - Uruguay each 4: 0
• First World Cup penalty shoot-out: 1982 France 4-5 Germany
• Last host to become world champion: 1998
• Fewest goals conceded as hosts: France (1998, 2 in 7 games), Italy (1990, 2 in 7 games) and Mexico (1986, 2 in 5 games)
• First team to become world champions, playing against teams from four confederations: 1 × AFC and CAF, 2 × CONMEBOL and 3 × UEFA.
• Most wins against the defending champion: 4
• First world champion who could become European champion: 1998/2000
• Most goals in a match for 3rd place: 6th against Germany in 1958
• Most goals in 3 tournaments:
  • 1958: 23 in 6 games
  • 1982: 18 in 7 games
  • 1998: 15 in 7 games

• France is the second most frequent first World Cup opponent: 6 times (France 1930 for Argentina and Mexico, 1934 for Austria, 1986 for Canada, 1998 for South Africa and 2002 for Senegal) - only Argentina was the first World Cup opponent for newcomers more often (7 times)

player

• The first World Cup goal : Lucien Laurent after 19 minutes against Mexico at the 1930 World Cup.
• First goalkeeper to save a penalty: Alex Thépot 1930 in the game France - Chile in the 30th minute of the game
• Laurent Blanc scored the first golden goal at a World Cup in the round of 16 at the 1998 World Cup against Paraguay to make it 1-0 for France.
• Most clean sheets : Fabien Barthez (1998–2006) and Peter Shilton (England / 1982–1990) - 10 each
• Most goals in a World Cup tournament: Just Fontaine - 13 goals in 6 games at the 1958 World Cup

• Three French were World Cup record goal scorers:
  • Lucien Laurent - July 13, 1930, 19th minute to July 13, 1930, 87th minute with 1 goal
  • André Maschinot - July 13, 1930, 87th minute to July 17, 1930 with 2 goals
  • Just Fontaine - June 28, 1958, 78th minute to July 7, 1974 with 12 to 13 goals

• A Frenchman scored a World Cup anniversary goal:
  • 1200th goal: Jean-Pierre Papin - the 1-0 in the 1-0 in the group game against Canada on June 1, 1986

• Once a Frenchman was named the best player of the tournament: 2006 Zinédine Zidane
• Once a Frenchman was named the tournament's best goalkeeper: 1998 Fabien Barthez
• The French have been named the best young player of the tournament twice: Paul Pogba (2014) and Kylian Mbappé (2018)

Negative records

• First host not to become world champion: 1938
• Most red cards: Zinédine Zidane and Rigobert Song (Cameroon) - twice each in a total of 3 World Cup participations.
• Most goals conceded in the tournament: 1958 - 15 in 6 games
• Only defending champion to be eliminated goalless in the preliminary round: 2002
• Together with Italy, the world champions who were eliminated most often in the preliminary round or 1st round: 7 × (only Scotland , which never (8 ×) survived the preliminary round, was eliminated more often in the preliminary round)

See also

• French national soccer team / European championships
• French women's national soccer team / World Championships

References and footnotes

1. ↑ Two games won and two lost on penalties .
2. ↑ According to the all-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2014 [1] (PDF; 200 kB)
3. ↑ dfb.de: World Cup qualification 1934: World Cup ticket bought in 90 minutes
4. ↑ dfb.de: "5: 4 vs. France: The "Thriller of Seville" "
5. ↑ kicker.de: "France can do it - but not on its own"
6. ↑ ran.de: Final referee Pitana in focus - but "hand penalty correct"
7. ↑ cnn.com: "FIFA bans Zidane for head butt"

swell

• Football World - Statistics - France on fifa.com
• Süddeutsche Zeitung WM library, 2006
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"