This is a record of France's results at the FIFA World Cup. France was one of the four European teams that participated at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and have appeared in 14 FIFA World Cups, tied for the fifth most of any country.[1]
The national team is one of eight national teams to have won at least one FIFA World Cup title.[2]
The France team won its first and only World Cup title in 1998.[3][4]
The tournament was played on home soil and France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the final match.[5][6]
In 2006, France finished as runners-up losing 5–3 on penalties to Italy. The team has also finished in third place on two occasions in 1958 and 1986 and in fourth place once in 1982. The team's worst result in the competition was a first-round elimination in 2002 and 2010.
In 2002, the team suffered an unexpected loss to Senegal and departed the tournament without scoring a goal, while in 2010, France suffered defeats to Mexico and South Africa and earned a point from a draw with Uruguay.[7][8]
The 1998 final was held on 12 July at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. France defeated holders Brazil 3–0, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and a stoppage time strike from Emmanuel Petit. The win gave France their first World Cup title, becoming the sixth national team after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina to win the tournament on their home soil. They also inflicted the heaviest defeat on Brazil since 1930.[9]
The pre-match build up was dominated by the omission of Brazilian striker Ronaldo from the starting lineup only to be reinstated 45 minutes before kick-off.[10] He managed to create the first open chance for Brazil in the 22nd minute, dribbling past defender Thuram before sending a cross out on the left side that goalkeeper Fabian Barthez struggled to hold onto. France however took the lead in the 27th minute after Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos conceded a corner which Zidane scored with a header from the right.[11]
Three minutes before half-time, Zidane scored his second goal of the match, similarly another header from a corner, this time from the left side. The tournament hosts went down to ten men in the 68th minute as Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second bookable offence. Brazil reacted to this by making an attacking substitution and although they applied pressure France sealed the win with a third goal: substitute Patrick Vieira set up his club teammate Petit in a counterattack to shoot low past goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel.[12]
French president Jacques Chirac was in attendance to congratulate and commiserate the winners and runners-up respectively after the match.[13] Several days after the victory, winning manager Aimé Jacquet announced his resignation from the French team with immediate effect.[14][15][16]
1 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). 2 Have been member of multiple confederations. 3 Team and national federation no longer exist.
1930
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1990
1994
2002
2010
2014
