France national football team
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| France national football team |
Nickname(s) Les Bleus (The Blues)
Les Tricolores (The Tri-colors)
Association Fédération Française
de Football
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Laurent Blanc
Asst coach Jean-Louis Gasset
Alain Boghossian
Captain Vacant
Most caps Lilian Thuram (142
Top scorer Thierry Henry (51)
Home stadium Stade de France
FIFA code FRA
FIFA ranking 15
Highest FIFA ranking 1 (May 2001 – May 2002)
Lowest FIFA ranking 27 (September 2010)
Elo ranking 14
Highest Elo ranking 1 (most recently July 2007)
Lowest Elo ranking 44 (May 1928
February 1930)
The France national football team (French: Equipe de France) represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation (French: Fédération Française de Football), the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe. The national team’s traditional colours are blue, white and red, the colors of the national flag of France, known as the drapeau tricolore, and the coq gaulois is the symbol of the team. France is colloquially known as Les Bleus (The Blues), which is the name associated with all of the country’s sporting national teams, due to the blue shirts each team incorporates.
France played its first official match in 1904, and today primarily plays its home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris. The national team has won one FIFA World Cup title, two UEFA European Football Championships, an Olympic tournament, and two FIFA Confederations Cups. Following France’s 2001 Confederations Cup victory, they became, along with Argentina, the only national teams to win the three most important men’s titles organized by FIFA. France has a strong rivalry with neighbours Italy, and has historically also had important rivalries with Belgium, Brazil, England, and Germany.
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| French team |
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| French team |
The national team has experienced much of its success during three major “golden generations”: in the 1950s, 1980s, and 1990s, which resulted in numerous major honours. France was one of the four European teams that participated in the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and, although having been eliminated in the qualification stage six times, is one of only three teams that have entered every World Cup cycle.[3] In 1958, the team, led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, finished in third place at the FIFA World Cup. In 1984, France, led by Ballon d’Or winner Michel Platini, won UEFA Euro 1984. Under the leadership of Didier Deschamps and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane, France became one of eight national teams to win the FIFA World Cup in 1998 when it hosted the tournament. Two years later, the team triumphed again in UEFA Euro 2000 and became the top team in the FIFA World Rankings for the first time. France has since added a pair of Confederations Cup titles, in 2001 and 2003, as well as an appearance in the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which it lost 5–3 on penalties to Italy.
Following the team’s disastrous 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign, a major reconstruction within the federation resulted in the resignation of president Jean-Pierre Escalettes and the appointment of former international Laurent Blanc as manager. After dropping to 27th in the FIFA World Rankings in September 2010, its lowest ranking ever, France is currently ranked 15th.
History
Main article: History of the France national football team
The France national football team was created in 1904 around the time of FIFA’s foundation on 21 May 1904 and contested its first official international match on 1 May 1904 against Belgium, in Brussels, which ended in a 3–3 draw.[4] The following year, on 12 February 1905, France contested their first ever home match against Switzerland. The match was played at the Parc des Princes in front of 500 supporters. France won the match 1–0 with the only goal coming from Gaston Cyprès. Due to disagreements between FIFA and the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), the country’s sports union, France struggled to establish an identity, On 9 May 1908, the French Interfederal Committee (CFI), a rival organization to the USFSA, ruled that FIFA would now be responsible for the club’s appearances in forthcoming Olympics Games and not the USFSA. In 1919, the CFI transformed themselves into the French Football Federation. In 1921, the USFSA finally merged with the French Football Federation.
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| France national football team |
The 1950s saw France handed its first Golden Generation composed of players such as Just Fontaine, Raymond Kopa, Jean Vincent, Robert Jonquet, Maryan Wisnieski, Thadée Cisowski, and Armand Penverne. At the 1958 FIFA World Cup, France reached the semi-finals losing to Brazil. In the third place match, France defeated West Germany 6–2 with Fontaine recording four goals, which brought his goal tally in the competition to 13, a World Cup record. The record still stands today. France hosted the inaugural UEFA European Football Championship in 1960 and, for the second straight international tournament, reached the semi-finals. In the round, France faced Yugoslavia and were shocked 5–4 despite being up 4–2 heading into the 75th minute. In the third-place match, France were defeated 2–0 by the Czechoslovakians.
The 1960s and 70s saw France decline significantly playing under several different managers and failing to qualify for numerous international tournaments. On 25 April 1964, Henri Guérin was officially installed as the team’s first manager. Under Guérin, France failed to qualify for the 1962 FIFA World Cup and the 1964 European Nations’ Cup. The team did return to major international play following qualification for the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The team lost in the group stage portion of the tournament. Guérin was fired following the World Cup. He was replaced by José Arribas and Jean Snella, who worked as caretaker managers in dual roles. The two only lasted four matches and were replaced by former international Just Fontaine, who only lasted two. Louis Dugauguez succeeded Fontaine and, following his early struggles in qualification for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, was fired and replaced by Georges Boulogne, who could not get the team to the competition. Boulogne was later fired following his failure to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and was replaced by the Romanian Stefan Kovacs, who became the first and only international manager to ever manage the national team. Kovács also turned out to be a disappointment failing to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1976. After two years in charge, he was sacked and replaced with Michel Hidalgo.
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| France national football team |
Under Hidalgo, France flourished, mainly due to the accolades of playmaker Michel Platini, who, alongside Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse, and Luis Fernández formed the “carré magique” (“Magic Square”), which would haunt opposing defenses beginning at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, where France reached the semi-finals losing on penalties to rivals West Germany. The semi-final match-up is considered one of the greatest matches in World Cup history and was marred with controversy.[5] France earned their first major international honor two years later, winning UEFA Euro 1984, which they hosted. Under the leadership of Platini, who scored a tournament-high nine goals, France defeated Spain 2–0 in the final. Platini and Bruno Bellone scored the goals. Following the Euro triumph, Hidalgo departed the team and was replaced by former international Henri Michel. France later completed the hat-trick when they won gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics football tournament and, a year later, defeated Uruguay 2–0 to win the Artemio Franchi Trophy, an early precursor to the FIFA Confederations Cup. In a span of a year, France were holders of three of the four major international trophies. At the 1986 FIFA World Cup, France were favorites to win the competition, and, for the second consecutive World Cup, reached the semi-finals where they faced West Germany. Again, however, they lost. A 4–2 victory over Belgium gave France third place.
Home stadium
During France’s early run of existence, the team’s national stadium alternated between the Parc des Princes in Paris and the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. France also hosted matches at the Stade Pershing, Stade de Paris, and the Stade Buffalo, but to a minimal degree. As the years moved forward, France began hosting matches outside the city of Paris at such venues as the Stade Marcel Saupin in Nantes, the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, the Stade de Gerland in Lyon, and the Stade de la Meinau in Strasbourg, to name a few. Following the renovation of the Parc des Princes in 1972, which made the stadium the largest in terms of capacity in Paris, France moved into the venue permanently. The team still hosted friendly matches and minor FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championship qualification matches at other venues.
In 1998, the Stade de France was inaugurated as France’s national stadium ahead of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Located in Saint-Denis, a Parisian suburb, the stadium has an all-seater capacity of 81,338. France’s first match at the stadium was played on 28 January 1998 against Spain. France won the match 1–0, with Zinedine Zidane scoring the lone goal. Since that match, France has used the stadium for almost every major home game.
Prior to matches, home or away, the national team train and situate at the Clairefontaine academy in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines. Clairefontaine is the national association football centre and is among twelve élite academies throughout the country. The center was inaugurated in 1976 by former federation president Fernand Sastre and opened in 1988. The center drew media spotlight following its usage as a base camp by the team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
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| france home ground. |
France is often referred to by the media and supporters as Les Bleus (The Blues), which is the nickname associated with all of France’s international sporting teams due to the blue shirts each team incorporates. The team is also referred to as Les Tricolores or L’Equipe Tricolore (The Tri-color Team) due to the team’s utilization of the country’s national colors: red, blue, and white. During the 1980s, France earned the nickname the “Brazilians of Europe” mainly due to the accolades of the “carré magique” (“Magic Square”), who were anchored by Michel Platini. Led by coach Michel Hidalgo, France exhibited an inspiring, elegant, skillful, and technically advanced offensive style of football, which was strikingly similar to their South American counterparts.[20]
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| France national football team |
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| French team |
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| French team |
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| French team |
International career
Laurent Blanc won the 1988 European Under-21 Championship, beating Greece in the final. On 7 February 1989, he made his debut for the national team against Ireland.
France, then in reconstruction after the retirement of numerous key players, did not manage to qualify for the 1990 World Cup. Shortly after that, they started an impressive 19-game unbeaten streak, including eight wins out of eight in Euro 1992 qualifying, making them one of the favorites to win the competition. They would, however, get knocked out in the pool stage by eventual winners Denmark.
After France failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, Laurent Blanc was heavily criticised, as well the rest of the team,[citation needed] and he subsequently decided to retire from international football.[citation needed] Aimé Jacquet, after taking over the managerial position of the national team, made it one of his priorities to convince Blanc to change his mind.[citation needed] Blanc then became one of the key players of this new French squad which reached the semi-finals of the Euro 96, only to lose to Czech Republic in a penalty shoot-out.
France then entered the 1998 World Cup, which was held on home soil. Blanc was exemplary during the competition and, on 28 June 1998, scored against Paraguay in the Round of 16, the first ever golden goal in World Cup history. He missed the final after being sent off in the semi-final against Croatia for elbowing Slaven Bilić, although replays showed that Bilić had clearly feigned the injury, earning the Croat heavy criticism afterwards. The sending off was the first (and only) red card of Blanc’s professional career.
Blanc was also part of the team that won Euro 2000 during which, despite having been criticised for his age and lack of speed during the qualifications, he proved reliable in defence and even scored a goal against Denmark in the group stage.
He announced his retirement from international football after Euro 2000, following the example of his captain Didier Deschamps.
Blanc was also well-known for kissing good friend and goalkeeper Fabien Barthez’s head before the start of every match, supposedly for good luck (the two did repeat this ritual when they played together for Manchester United, but only for Champions League matches). Overall, he recorded 97 caps and scored 16 goals.
In 2006, the readers of France Football magazine voted him the fourth best French player of all time behind Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, and Raymond Kopa.
Coach:
Laurent Robert Blanc
Laurent Robert Blanc (French pronunciation: [loʁɑ̃ blɑ̃]; born 19 November 1965 in Alès) is a French association football manager and former player. He is the head coach of the French national team, having replaced Raymond Domenech in the wake of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[1] He was previously the manager of Bordeaux. Blanc formerly played professional football for numerous clubs, notably Montpellier, Barcelona, Marseille, Internazionale, and Manchester United, often operating in the sweeper position. He is also a former French international, playing in several international tournaments, which includes the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000, both of which France won. On 28 June 1998, Blanc scored the first golden goal in World Cup history against Paraguay. Blanc has the nickname Le Président, which was given to him following his stint at Marseille in tribute to his leadership skills
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| Laurent Robert Blanc(coach) |
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