France women's national football team

France

Nickname(s)	Les Bleues (The Blues)
Association	French Football Federation
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Bruno Bini
Captain	Sandrine Soubeyrand
Most caps	Sandrine Soubeyrand (191)
Top scorer	Marinette Pichon (81)
FIFA code	FRA
FIFA ranking	5
Highest FIFA ranking	5 (March 2005 and August 2012)
Lowest FIFA ranking	10 (September 2009)
First colours Second colours
First international
France 2 – 0 England (Manchester, England; October 1920)
Biggest win
France 14 – 0 Algeria (Cesson-Sévigné, France; 14 May 1998)
Biggest defeat
United States 8 – 0 France (Indianapolis, United States; 29 April 1996)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 2003)
Best result	Fourth Place, 2011
European Championship
Appearances	5 (First in 1997)
Best result	Quarter-finalists, 2009

The French women's national football team represents France in international women's football. The team is directed by the French Football Federation (FFF) and competes as a member of UEFA in various international football tournaments such as the FIFA Women's World Cup, UEFA Women's Euro, the Summer Olympics, and the Algarve Cup.

The France women's national team initially struggled on the international stage failing to qualify for three of the first FIFA Women's World Cups and the six straight UEFA European Championships before reaching the quarter-finals in the 1997 edition of the competition. However, since the beginning of the new millennium, France have become a mid-tier national team and one of the most consistent in Europe having qualified for their first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup in 2003 and reaching the quarter-finals in two of the three European Championships held since 2000. In 2011, France recorded a fourth-place finish at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup; its best finish overall at the competition. In the following year, the club captured the 2012 Cyprus Cup.

The current manager of the national team is Bruno Bini. Bini is a former player and has managed all levels of French international women's football beginning with the under-16 team in 1993. He has been in charge of the team since February 2007 when he replaced Elisabeth Loisel following her failure to qualify for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. The current captain of the national team is 38-year old midfielder Sandrine Soubeyrand. On 29 October 2009, Soubeyrand earned her record 143rd career international cap in a match against Estonia. The achievement surpassed French men's international defender Lilian Thuram as the nation's most capped football player. As of December 2011, France is ranked No. 6 in the FIFA Women's World Rankings.

History

Early history

In 1919, a women's football championship was established in France by the Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France (FSFSF). On 29 April 1920, a team led by French women's football pioneer Alice Milliat traveled to England and played its first international match against English team Dick, Kerr's Ladies. The match, held in Preston, attracted more than 25,000 spectators. France won the match 2–0 and ended its tour with two wins, one draw, and one defeat. The following year, a return match in France at the Stade Pershing in Vincennes, a suburb of Paris, took place in front of over 12,000 spectators. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. In May 1921, France returned to England for friendlies. The team won its first match 5–1, then suffered three consecutive defeats. In October 1921, the English team returned to France contesting matches in Paris and Le Havre with both matches ending in stalemates. Despite women's football in England being prohibited by The Football Association in December 1921, France continued to go there on tour for matches. A victory for the French in Plymouth was followed by 0–0 draws in Exeter and Falmouth. By 1932, the female game had been called to an end and the women's league formed in 1919 by the FSFSF was discontinued. The last match by the FSFSF international team was another scoreless draw against Belgium on 3 April 1932.

Throughout the late 1960s in France, particularly in Reims, local players worked hard to promote awareness and the acceptance of women's football. A year before getting officially sanctioned, France took part in a makeshift European Cup against England, Denmark, and Italy. The tournament was won by the Italians. The Federal Council of the French Football Federation officially reinstated women's football in 1970 and France played its first official international match on 17 April 1971 against the Netherlands in Hazebrouck. That same year, France took part in the unofficial 1971 Women's World Cup, held in Mexico. The ladies continued the pirate games, which just made it into the margins of FIFA's records, until FIFA began overseeing the competition in 1991. Since 1982, UEFA has governed the European games.

Reinstatement

In 1975, the women's football league was officially reinstated, this time with backing from the French Football Federation, the governing body of football in France. Stade Reims was the best team in the country throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, thus constituted much of the French national squad. For the non-official World Cup in 1978 in Taiwan, the team included the entire Reims squad. The team shared the title with Finland, who never actually played the final. Due to receiving minimal support from the French Football Federation, who ultimately looked at women's football as not being highly regarded, France struggled in international competition failing to advance past the first round of qualification in both the 1984 and 1987 UEFA Women's Championship. Francis Coché, who managed the team during these failures, was later replaced by Aimé Mignot. Mignot helped the team finally get past the first round, however, in the quarterfinals, they lost to Italy, which meant they wouldn't appear at the 1989 UEFA Women's Championship. Despite the initial positives, Mignot failed to continue his success with France failing to qualify for both the 1991 and 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup and losing in the first round of qualification in three straight UEFA Women's Championships. After almost a decade in charge, Mignot was replaced by former women's international Élisabeth Loisel.

With Loisel in charge, the FFF, along with then France national football team manager Aimé Jacquet, moved the women's national team to Clairefontaine, which had quickly become a high-level training facility for male football players. As a result of the move, younger women were afforded the same benefits from the facilities offered by Clairefontaine as the men. The success of female training led to the formation of the Centre National de Formation et d'Entraînement de Clairefontaine, which is now referred to as the female section of the Clairefontaine academy. Under the tutelage of Loisel, the first results appeared encouraging. They reached their first-ever Women's World Cup qualifying for the 2003 edition after defeating England over two legs in a play-off game in London and again at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. The match in Saint-Étienne attracted more than 23,000 spectators and was broadcast by the popular French broadcasting company Canal Plus. Loisel's squad later qualified for the 2005 European Championship, where they were knocked out in the group stage. She was eventually sacked after failing to qualify for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Team under Bruno Bini

Loisel was replaced by former football player and now coach Bruno Bini. Bini had been in charge of several France female international youth sides before accepting the role and was tasked with the job of qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2009. Due to the success of the Clairefontaine project and the surprising emergence of the French women's first division, Division 1 Féminine, Bini inherited a team full of emerging, young, and influential talent, which included the likes of Camille Abily, Sonia Bompastor, Louisa Necib, Élise Bussaglia, Laura Georges, and Corine Franco. Bini was also provided with leadership from captain Sandrine Soubeyrand. Early results under Bini were extremely positive with France finishing first in their Euro qualifying group only conceded two goals. France also performed well in friendly tournaments, such as the Nordic Cup and Cyprus Cup. At UEFA Women's Euro 2009, France were inserted into the group of death, which consisted of themselves, world powerhouse Germany, no. 7 ranked Norway, and an underrated Iceland. France finished the group with 4 points, alongside Norway, with Germany leading the group. As a result of the competition's rules, all three nations qualified for the quarterfinals. In the knockout rounds, France suffered defeat to the Netherlands losing 5–4 on penalties after no goals were scored in regular time and extra time.

2011 Women's World Cup

The French team at the 2011 Women's World Cup prior to the 2-4 first round loss to Germany on 5 July 2011.

Bini's next task was to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup after the disappointment of four years earlier. In the team's qualifying group, France finished the campaign scoring 50 goals and conceded none over the course of ten matches (all wins). On 16 September 2010, France qualified for the World Cup following the team's 3–2 aggregate victory over Italy.

At the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, France qualified to the knockout stage by finishing in second place in its group after wins over Nigeria and Canada, and a loss to the host team. The team went on to beat England on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, but lost to the United States in the semi-finals. France finished the competition in fourth place and earned qualification to the Olympic football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; it was the nation's first appearance in the competition. Striker Marie-Laure Delie was the only multiple goal scorer for France in the tournament, while defenders Sonia Bompastor and Laura Georges as well as midfielder Louisa Necib were selected to the All-Star Team.

Players

See also: List of France women's international footballers

Current squad

The following players havee called up to participate in friendly matches against England and the Netherlands that was played on 20 October and 24 October, respectively.

Caps and goals as of 24 October 2012 after the team's match against the Netherlands.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club 1GK Karina Benameur (1989-04-13) 13 April 1989 2 0 Paris Saint-Germain 1GK Sarah Bouhaddi (1986-10-17) 17 October 1986 61 0 Lyon 2DF Laure Boulleau (1986-10-22) 22 October 1986 33 1 Paris Saint-Germain 2DF Sabrina Delannoy (1986-05-18) 18 May 1986 1 0 Paris Saint-Germain 2DF Corine Franco (1983-10-05) 5 October 1983 74 10 Lyon 2DF Laura Georges (1984-08-20) 20 August 1984 128 5 Lyon 2DF Ophélie Meilleroux (1984-01-18) 18 January 1984 65 0 Montpellier 2DF Julie Soyer (1985-06-30) 30 June 1985 3 0 Juvisy 3MF Camille Abily (1984-12-05) 5 December 1984 108 23 Lyon 3MF Camille Catala (1991-05-06) 6 May 1991 14 2 Juvisy 3MF Kheira Hamraoui (1990-01-13) 13 January 1990 1 0 Saint-Étienne 3MF Jessica Houara (1987-09-29) 29 September 1987 2 0 Paris Saint-Germain 3MF Louisa Necib (1987-01-23) 23 January 1987 90 17 Lyon 3MF Mélissa Plaza (1988-07-28) 28 July 1988 2 0 Montpellier 3MF Sandrine Soubeyrand (captain) (1973-08-16) 16 August 1973 187 18 Juvisy 4FW Eugénie Le Sommer (1989-05-18) 18 May 1989 66 25 Lyon 4FW Marie-Laure Delie (1988-01-29) 29 January 1988 51 42 Montpellier 4FW Gaëtane Thiney (1985-10-28) 28 October 1985 81 32 Juvisy

Recent call-ups

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK Laëtitia Philippe (1991-04-30) 30 April 1991 3 0 Montpellier v. England, 20 October 2012 GK Céline Deville (1982-01-24) 24 January 1982 56 0 Lyon v. Scotland, 19 September 2012 DF Sonia Bompastor (1980-06-08) 8 June 1980 156 18 Lyon v. England, 20 October 2012 DF Wendie Renard (1990-07-20) 20 July 1990 31 6 Lyon v. England, 20 October 2012 DF Sabrina Viguier (1981-01-04) 4 January 1981 92 1 Lyon 2012 Summer Olympics DF Kelly Gadéa (1991-12-16) 16 December 1991 4 0 Lyon 2012 Summer Olympics DF Laure Lepailleur (1985-03-07) 7 March 1985 38 2 Paris Saint-Germain v. Mexico, 20 November 2011 MF Marina Makanza (1991-07-01) 1 July 1991 3 0 Freiburg v. England, 20 October 2012 MF Julie Morel (1982-08-06) 6 August 1982 1 1 Guingamp v. England, 20 October 2012 MF Élise Bussaglia (1985-09-24) 24 September 1985 108 20 Lyon v. Republic of Ireland, 15 September 2012 FW Élodie Thomis (1986-08-13) 13 August 1986 82 26 Lyon v. Netherlands, 24 October 2012

Previous squads

FIFA Women's World Cup squads

• 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup – France
• 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup – France

UEFA European Championships squads

• UEFA Women's Euro 2009 – France

Summer Olympics squads

• 2012 Summer Olympics – France

Statistics

Most capped French players

  Still active national team players are highlighted

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Sandrine Soubeyrand	1997–present	191	17
2	Sonia Bompastor	1997–present	156	19
3	Laura Georges	2001–present	132	5
4	Corinne Diacre	1993–2005	121	14
5	Stéphanie Mugneret-Béghé	1992–2005	115	14
6	Camille Abily	2003–present	112	23
6	Marinette Pichon	1994–2006	112	81
8	Hoda Lattaf	1997–2007	111	31
9	Élise Bussaglia	2003–present	108	20
10	Louisa Nécib	2005-	94	20

Last updated: 10 March 2013

Top France goalscorers

  Still active national team players are highlighted

#	Player	Career	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Marinette Pichon	1994–2008	81	112	0.72
2	Marie-Laure Delie	2009–present	43	55	0.78
3	Gaëtane Thiney	2007–present	33	84	0.39
4	Hoda Lattaf	1997–2007	31	111	0.28
5	Eugénie Le Sommer	2009–present	26	70	0.37
6	Élodie Thomis	2005–present	26	86	0.30
7	Camille Abily	2001–present	23	112	0.21
8	Louisa Nécib	2005-present	20	94	0.21
9	Élise Bussaglia	2003–present	20	108	0.19
10	Sonia Bompastor	2000–present	18	156	0.12

Last updated: 10 March 2013

Results

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualification

Group Stage 15 September 2012	France	4 – 0	Republic of Ireland	Stade du Roudourou, Guingamp
20:50 CEST	Thomis  8' Le Sommer  12', 43' Morel  86'	Report		Referee: Mihaela Gurdon Basimamović (Croatia)

Group Stage 19 September 2012	Scotland	0 – 5	France	Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh
20:45 CEST		Report	Delie  17', 72' Le Sommer  34', 66' Nécib  64'	Referee: Silvia Tea Spinelli (Italy)

Friendly

20 October 2012	France	2 – 2	England	Stade Sébastien Charléty, Paris
20:50 CEST	Delie  59', 83'	Report	Houghton  34' Scott  39'	Attendance: 5,914 Referee: Silvia Tea Spinelli (Italy)

24 October 2012	Netherlands	1 – 1	France	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven
19:00 CEST	Spitse  61'	Report	Le Sommer  89'	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Maarten Ketting (Netherlands)

29 November 2012	Germany	1 – 1	France	Erdgas Sportpark, Halle
15:15 CEST	Faisst  2'	Report	Franco  23'	Attendance: 5,200

13 February 2013	France	3 – 3	Germany	Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg
	Nécib  15', 22' Delie  53'	Report	Schmidt  12' Kessler  66', 81'	Attendance: 15,888 Referee: Pernilla Larsson

6 March 2013	France	2 – 2	Brazil	Stade Marcel-Picot, Nancy
	Le Sommer  57' Thiney  86' (pen.)	Report	Giovania  32', 79'	Attendance: 16,752 Referee: Alexandra Ihringova

9 March 2013	France	1 – 1	Brazil	Stade Robert-Diochon, Le Petit-Quevilly
	Nécib  96'	Report	Georges  48' (o.g.)	Attendance: 6,884 Referee: Simona Ghisletta

4 April 2013	France	1 – 1	Canada	Stade du Ray, Nice
	Thomis  45'	Report	Kyle  95'	Attendance: 5,583 Referee: Jana Adamkova

Last updated: 4 April 2013
Source: French Football Federation Women's Schedule

Competitive record

For single-match results of the women's national team, see French football single-season articles.

World Cup record

Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1991	Did not qualify
1995
1999
2003	Group stage	–	3	1	1	1	2	3
2007	Did not qualify
2011	Fourth place	4	6	2	1	3	10	10
Total	2/6	0 Titles	9	3	2	4	12	13

Olympic Games record

Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1996	Did not qualify
2000
2004
2008
2012	Fourth place	4	5	3	0	3	11	8
Total	1/5	0 Titles	5	3	0	2	11	7

European Championship record

Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
No Host 1984	Did not qualify
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997	Group stage	6	3	1	1	1	4	5
2001	Group stage	6	3	1	0	2	5	7
2005	Group stage	6	3	1	1	1	4	5
2009	Quarter-final	8	4	1	2	1	5	7
2013	Qualified
Total	5/11	0 Titles	13	4	3	6	18	24

*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.

Overall competition record

Competition	Stage	Result	Opponent	Position	Top scorer
1984 European Championship qualification 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	1–0 0–3 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–0	Italy Portugal Switzerland	0 0 2 / 4	Musset Musset, Wolf Musset
1987 European Championship qualification 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	0–1 3–5 1–3 3–1 0–4 0–1	Netherlands Belgium Sweden	0 0 2 / 4	Constantin, Musset, Romagnoli ? 0
1988 Mundialito 0	1st Stage 0	1–1 1–1	England Italy B	0 2 / 3	Musset Bernard
	Semifinals	0–3	Italy
	Third place	0–1	United States
1989 European Championship qualification 0 0 0	1st Stage 0 0 0	2–0 0–0 5–0 2–0 3–1 0–0 2–2 0–0	Belgium Bulgaria Spain Czechoslovakia	0 0 1 / 5	Musset, Puentes Baracat, Breton, Mismacq, Musset, Puentes Musset 2, Loisel Loisel, Romagnoli
	Quarterfinals	1–2 0–2	Italy		Musset
1991 European Championship qualification 0	1st Stage 0	3–1 2–0 0–2 1–4	Poland Sweden	0 2 / 3	Mismacq 2, Le Boulch, Jézéquel, Musset Jézéquel
1993 European Championship qualification 0	1st Stage 0	1–4 0–4 1–1 5–1	Denmark Finland	0 2 / 3	Jézéquel Fusier 2, Bernauer, Cassauba, Locatelli, Petit
1995 European Championship qualification 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	0–2 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–0 3–0	Italy Portugal Scotland	0 0 2 / 4	Sykora Sykora 2, Gout, Richoux Béghé, Guitti, Hillion, Pichon
1997 European Championship qualification 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	3–3 3–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–1	Iceland Russia Netherlands	0 0 2 / 4	Pichon 4, Sykora + 1 o.g. 0 Gout, Olive, Pichon
	Repechage	2–0 3–0	Finland		Pichon 2, Diacre, Roujas, Woock
1997 European Championship 0	1st Stage 0 0	1–1 3–1 0–3	Spain Russia Sweden	0 0 3 / 4	Roujas Roujas 3 0
1999 World Cup qualification 0 0	1st Stage (Class A) 0 0	2–1 3–0 2–2 0–1 0–0 2–3	Switzerland Finland Italy	0 0 3 / 4	Lattaf 2, Lagrevol, Roujas + 1 o.g. Lagrevol, Pichon Pichon, Soubeyrand
2001 European Championship qualification 0 0	1st Stage (Class A) 0 0	2–2 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1	Sweden Netherlands Spain	0 0 1 / 4	Jézéquel 2, Herbert, Zenoni Diacre 2, Lattaf Béghé 2, Diacre
2001 European Championship 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	0–3 3–4 2–0	Norway Denmark Italy	0 0 4 / 4	0 Béghé, Blouet, Pichon Jézéquel, Pichon
2003 World Cup qualification 0 0	1st Stage (Class A) 0 0	0–3 1–3 2–0 2–1 2–1 4–1	Norway Ukraine Czech Republic	0 0 2 / 4	Pichon Pichon 3, Soubeyrand Pichon 3, Béghé, Blouin, Soubeyrand
	Repechage	1–0 1–0	England		Diacre, Pichon
2003 World Cup 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	0–2 1–0 1–1	Norway South Korea Brazil	0 0 3 / 4	0 Pichon Pichon
2005 European Championship qualification 0 0 0	1st Stage (Class A) 0 0 0	4–0 6–0 2–0 3–0 7–1 5–1 3–0 2–5	Hungary Iceland Poland Russia	0 0 1 / 5	Pichon 5, Lattaf 2, Béghé, Bompastor, Tonazzi Lattaf 2, Tonazzi 2, Béghé Pichon 6, Diacre, Diguelman, Herbert, Lattaf, Tonazzi, Woock Lattaf 2, Pichon 2, Tonazzi
2005 European Championship 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	3–1 1–1 0–3	Italy Norway Germany	0 0 3 / 4	Pichon 2, Lattaf Béghé 0
2007 World Cup qualification 0 0 0	1st Stage (Class A) 0 0 0	0–1 2–0 3–1 2–1 2–0 5–0 0–0 1–1	Netherlands Austria Hungary England	0 0 2 / 5	Soubeyrand 2 Bussaglia 2, Soubeyrand 2, Pichon Pichon 2, Soubeyrand 2, Bompastor, Lattaf, Tonazzi Diguelman
2009 European Championship qualification 0 0 0	1st Stage 0 0 0	6–0 5–0 6–0 2–0 0–1 2–1 8–0 2–0	Greece Slovenia Iceland Serbia	0 0 1 / 5	Abily 3, Soubeyrand 2, Lattaf, Nécib, Franco, Herbert, Thomis Bussaglia 2, Lattaf 2, Abily, Thiney, Thomis + 1 o.g. Herbert, Soubeyrand Brétigny 3, Thomis 2, Abily, Bussaglia, Nécib, Thiney, Traïkia
2009 European Championship 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	3–1 1–5 1–1	Iceland Germany Norway	0 0 3 / 4	Abily, Bompastor, Nécib Thiney Abily
	Quarterfinals	0–0 (PSO: 4–5)	Netherlands		: 1 Soubeyrand, 2 Abily, 3 Henry, 4 Le Sommer : 5 Franco, 6 Meilleroux, 7 Herbert
2011 World Cup qualification 0 0 0 0	1st Stage 0 0 0 0	7–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 12–0 6–0 2–0 7–0 6–0 4–0	Croatia Iceland Estonia Serbia Northern Ireland	0 0 0 1 / 6	Delie 2, Franco 2, Le Sommer 2, Abily, Soubeyrand, Thiney, Thomis Thiney 2, Thomis Delie 4, Thiney 4, Herbert 2, Thomis 2, Abily, Bussaglia, Franco, Nécib, Le Sommer + 1 o.g. Thiney 4, Abily 2, Bussaglia, Delie, Thomis Bompastor 2, Delie 2, Le Sommer 2, Abily, Franco, Nécib + 1 o.g.
2011 World Cup 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	1–0 4–0 2–4	Nigeria Canada Germany	0 0 2 / 4	Delie Thiney 2, Abily, Thomis Delie, Georges
	Quarterfinals	1–1 (PSO: 4–3)	England		Bussaglia — : 2 Bussaglia, 3 Thiney, 4. Bompastor, 5 Le Sommer : 1 Abily
	Semifinals	1–3	United States		Bompastor
	Third place	1–2	Sweden		Thomis
2012 Summer Olympics 0 0	1st Stage 0 0	2–4 5–0 1–0	United States North Korea Colombia	0 0 2 / 4	Delie, Thiney Catala, Delie, Georges, Renard, Thomis Thomis
	Quarterfinals	2–1	Sweden		Georges, Renard
	Semifinals	1–2	Japan		Le Sommer
	Bronze match	0–1	Canada
2013 European Championship qualification 0 0 0	1st Stage 0 0 0	5–0 5–0 3–1 4–0 4–1 4–0 2–0 5–0	Israel Ireland Wales Scotland	0 0 1 / 5	Thiney 3, Abily, Bompastor, Delie, Franco, Rubio, Le Sommer + 1 o.g. Le Sommer 3, Delie, Morel, Nécib, Thomis Thomis 3, Thiney 2, Abily, Delie, Le Sommer Delie 2, Le Sommer 2, Nécib, Renard + 1 o.g.
2013 European Championship 0 0	1st Stage 0 0		Russia Spain England

Coaching staff

As of 30 April 2010.

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager	Bruno Bini	French
Assistant manager	André Barthélémy	French
Assistant manager	Corinne Diacre	French
Goalkeeper coach	Philippe Joly	French
Physiotherapy	Jean-Noël Lavaud	French
Press Secretary	Matthieu Brelle-Andrade	French
Delegation Chief	Marilou Duringer	French

External links

• Official site