Portal:Football in France
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
Association football is the most popular sport in France, followed by rugby union. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the country, both professional and amateur. The federation organizes the Coupe de France and is responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's and youth national football teams in France. The federation gives responsibility of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to the Ligue de Football Professionnel who oversee, organize, and manage the country's top two leagues. The LFP is also responsible for organizing the Coupe de la Ligue, the country's league cup competition. The French Football Federation also supervises the overseas departments and territories leagues and hosts football club AS Monaco, a club based in the independent sovereign state of Monaco. In 2006, the FFF had 2,143,688 licenses, with over 1,850,836 registered players and 18,194 registered clubs.
The first football club was introduced to France in 1863, as described in a newspaper article by The Scotsman, which stated "A number of English gentlemen living in Paris have lately organised a football club... The football contests take place in the Bois de Boulogne, by permission of the authorities and surprise the French amazingly." Modern football was introduced nine years later in 1872 by English sailors playing in Le Havre in 1872.
Selected general articles
- The French Guiana Honor Division is the top football league in French Guiana. It was created in 1962 and is headed by the Ligue de Football de Guyane. 12 teams participate in this league. The 11th- and 12th-placed teams are relegated to the French Guiana Promotion of Honor.
Despite being a league competition in CONCACAF none of the French Guianan teams have recently played in CFU Club Championship or CONCACAF Champions' Cup, their last appearance was in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup 1992 represented by ASC Le Geldar. Read more...
Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques (USFSA) is a former French sports governing body. During the 1890s and early 1900s it organised numerous sports including athletics, cycling, field hockey, fencing, croquet and swimming. However it is perhaps best known for being the principal governing body of both football and rugby union in France until it was effectively replaced by the French Football Federation and the French Rugby Federation. The USFSA rejected any form of professionalism and were strong advocates of amateur sport.
As well as contributing to the growth of sport in France, the USFSA also helped pioneer the development of international sport. Among its founding members were Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games. In 1900, together with the Union Vélocipédique de France, it was also one of two federations that represented France at the inaugural meeting of the Union Cycliste Internationale. Then in 1904 Robert Guérin, secretary of the USFSA football committee, was one of the principal movers behind the foundation of FIFA. He also served as its first president. Read more...
The Centre Technique National Fernand Sastre (English: Fernand Sastre National Technical Centre), commonly referred to as INF Clairefontaine ("Institut national du football de Clairefontaine"), INF, or simply Clairefontaine, is the national football centre that specializes in training French football players. The academy is one of twelve élite academies located in and around France that are supervised by the French Football Federation (FFF). Only the best players from the Île-de-France région train at the Clairefontaine academy. The twelve other academies are situated in Castelmaurou, Châteauroux, Liévin, Dijon, Marseille, Ploufragan, Vichy and Reims, Réunion, Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire, Guadeloupe and Talence.
Clairefontaine opened in 1988 and is named after Fernand Sastre, the president of the FFF from 1972–1984. The academy is located 50 km southwest of Paris at Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines and is one of the best known football academies in the world. It has a high reputation of producing some of the most gifted French and non-French players including Nicolas Anelka, Louis Saha, William Gallas, Hatem Ben Arfa, Abou Diaby, Sébastien Bassong, Mehdi Benatia, Blaise Matuidi, Kylian Mbappé, Olivier Giroud and national team top scorer Thierry Henry. The academy is also used to house the national football teams of France and the centre drew media spotlight following its usage as a base camp by the France team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Read more...- The France national under-21 football team (French: Equipe de France Espoirs), known in France as Les Espoirs (French pronunciation: [ɛs.pwaʁ], The Hopes), is the national under-21 football team of France and is controlled by the French Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years.
Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, under-21 football teams in Europe were formed. The team is exclusively for football players that are age 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship meaning a player can represent the national team until the age of 23. Read more...
The list shown below shows the France national football team all-time international record against opposing nations. The stats are composed of FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, FIFA Confederations Cup, and Summer Olympics matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches.
The France 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. The team played its first official match on 1 May 1904 against Belgium. France and Belgium have since contested 70 official matches against each other, the most all-time between each team. Aside from Belgium, France have contested matches against over 80 other national teams. Of the 80 teams, France have not lost to 39 of them having earned a perfect winning percentage against 26 of the teams. France have also not beaten two teams; the Ireland national team from 1882–1950 and Senegal. France have contested these two teams only once. Read more...- The Mayotte national football team represents the French overseas department and region of Mayotte in international football.
Mayotte is a member of neither FIFA nor CAF, so it is not eligible to enter the World Cup or the African Cup of Nations. Till 2007, Mayotte had played two friendly matches against the French overseas island of Réunion and three against Madagascar. Read more... - The French women's football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in France for women, the Division 1 Féminine. Since the creation of the women's first division by the French Football Federation in 1975, the women's football championship of France has been contested through the Division 1 Féminine. Prior to this, the first division championship of French women's football was contested through a league ran by the Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France (FSFSF), a women's football organization in France that was led by women's football pioneer Alice Milliat. The FSFSF's league ran from 1918–1932 and awarded 14 league titles before being disbanded due to the prohibition of women's football. Read more...
- New Caledonia Super Ligue is the top division of the Fédération Calédonienne de Football in New Caledonia. It is played as a double round robin between the top-4 clubs from the Division Honneur of Grande Terre and the champions of the Îles. Read more...
- The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2, and the Championnat National. Contested by 64 clubs, the Championnat National 2 operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Championnat National and the Championnat National 3, the fifth division of French football. Seasons run from August to May, with teams in four groups playing 32 games each totalling 1280 games in the season. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the second week of January.
The Championnat de France amateur was initially founded by the French Football Federation in 1927 and was composed of the regional amateur league champions. The league served as the first division of French football until 1929 before the league was converted to the professional league that exists today in 1932. The current incarnation of the league is a simple rebrand of the CFA, which was founded in 1993 as National 2 and lasted for five years before being converting to the CFA name in 1998 and the National 2 name in 2017. Most clubs that participate in the league are amateur clubs, hence the league name, but a small number of clubs are semi-professional. The matches in the league attract on average between 800 and 1,000 spectators per match. However, this average is dragged down by the minuscule turnouts for the pros' home reserve matches. Read more... - The France national under-16 football team is the national under-16 football team of France and is controlled by the French Football Federation. The team previously competed in the annual UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship before it was converted into an under-17 competition in 2002. The under-16 team competes in regional tournaments, such as the Tournoi de Val-de-Marne and the Montaigu Tournament and international tournaments, such as the Aegean Cup.
Prior to the UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship being converted into an under-17 event, France never won the competition, but finished as runners-up on two occasions in 1996 and 2001. Read more... - Le Centre Technique National Henri Guérin (Henri Guérin National Technical Centre), commonly referred to as PEF Ploufragan, is the regional association football centre and is one of the nine élite academies of France; only the best players from the Brittany région train there. There are eight other élite youth academies in Metropolitan France (Castelmaurou, Châteauroux, Clairefontaine, Liévin, Dijon, Marseille, Vichy and Reims) covering the whole territory. Read more...
- Réunion Premier League is the top division of football on the French overseas territory of Réunion. The league is run and managed by the Ligue de Football de la Réunion under the watch of the French Football Federation. Réunion Premier League was created in 1950 and the most successful club is JS Saint-Pierroise, who have won 17 league titles. The defending champions are JS Saint-Pierroise. The winner of the competition earns a berth in the CAF Champions League. In the French pyramid system, the Réunion Premier League is positioned in the Division d'Honneur, the sixth level of French football.
The league has produced several professional Ligue 1 players, as well as players who have gone on to have successful careers abroad. Players such as Jean-Pierre Bade, Guillaume Hoarau, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Dimitri Payet, and Jean-Pascal Fontaine all began their careers on the island before achieving success abroad. Read more... - La Coupe de l'Outre-Mer de football (English: The Overseas Football Cup) was a biennial football competition that was created in 2008. It was designed to have the national football teams of the overseas departments and territories of France play against each other. This competition replaces the Coupe des Clubs Champions de l'Outre-Mer that involved clubs from the territories. The first edition took place between 24 September and 4 October 2008 in Île-de-France.
Although scheduled for a 2014 edition, the competition was dissolved on late 2013 after the Fédération Française de Football considered that it was too expensive. Read more... - For the 2017–18 season, this was the structure of the regional leagues, operating directly below the national leagues. Read more...
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Coupe de la Réunion is the top knockout tournament of the Réunion football. It was created in 1957. Read more... - The French football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in France, Ligue 1. Since the National Council of the French Football Federation voted in support of professionalism in French football in 1930, the professional football championship of France has been contested through Ligue 1, formerly known as Division 1 from 1933–2002. Prior to this, the first division championship of French football was contested through a league ran by the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), an organization that supported amateur sport. The USFSA's league ran from 1894–1919 and awarded 22 league titles before being suspended in 1915 due to World War I and the creation and success of the Coupe de France, which had quickly become the country's national competition. The USFSA returned in 1919 changing the league into numerous regional amateur leagues that awarded no league title. This system lasted from 1919–1926. In 1926, the first division's reigns were handed over to the French Football Federation. The federation organized and ran a league composed of the regional amateur league champions called the Championnat de France amateur from 1927–1929 and awarded three titles before the league was converted to the professional league that exists today in 1932.
The first champions of French football were Standard Athletic Club, who defeated The White Rovers 2–0 in Courbevoie on 6 May 1894. The initial championship match was held on 29 April but finished 2–2, so the match was replayed. Standard went on to win the French championship four more times over the next seven years before RC Roubaix took control of the league becoming the first French club to win three straight titles beginning in 1902. Following Roubaix's success, the ownership of the amateur league title began rotating back and forth from the north of France to the south of France with Marseille eventually winning the last amateur title in 1929. Read more...
Ligue 2 (French pronunciation: [liɡ dø], League 2), also known as Domino's Ligue 2 due to sponsorship by Domino's Pizza, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with both Ligue 1 and the third division Championnat National. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 games each totalling 380 games in the season. Most games are played on Fridays and Mondays, with a few games played during weekday and weekend evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the second week of January.
Ligue 2 was founded a year after the creation of the first division in 1933 under the name Division 2 and has served as the second division of French football ever since. The name lasted until 2002 before switching to its current name. Since the league is a part of the LFP, it allows clubs who are on the brink of professionalism to become so. However, if a club suffers relegation to the Championnat National, its professional status can be revoked temporarily until they return to Ligue 2. Read more...- The Tahitian Ligue 1 is the top division of the Fédération Tahitienne de Football in French Polynesia. The league is currently named Ligue 1 Vini for sponsorship reasons. Read more...
- The French Division d'Honneur, referred to as simply Division d'Honneur, is the common generic name for the highest level football league competitions run by each of the 22 Regional Leagues in France. Together, these league competitions serve as the sixth division of the French football league system, promoting one club per season each into the Championnat de France Amateur 2, subject to certain criteria being met.
The name is also given to the highest level football league competitions in the French overseas territories of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion. Read more... - The Trophées UNFP du football are a number of awards given annually by the National Union of Professional Football Players to players playing in France's Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, as well as to managers and referees, the most prestigious one being the Player of the Year.
Created in 1988 under the name Oscars du football, they were renamed in 2004 after a complaint by the Academy Awards committee. The ceremony has been broadcast live on Canal + since 1994. Read more... - The New Caledonia Cup is New Caledonia's premier knockout tournament in men's football (soccer). It was created in 1954, and gives the winner of the tournament a berth in the Coupe de France. Read more...
- The France national under-20 football team represents France in association football at this age level and is controlled by the French Football Federation. Since there is no under-20 UEFA tournament, the team competes for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The under-20 team also participates in the Toulon Tournament, usually replacing the under-21 team, and in the football tournaments of the Mediterranean Games and the Jeux de la Francophonie.
France were the world champions, winning the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The team reached the semifinals for the first time in their history in 2011, and they have also made it to the quarterfinals in two occasions, in 1997 and 2001. Read more... - The Trophée des Champions (French pronunciation: [tʁɔ.fe de ʃɑ̃.pjɔ̃], Champions' Trophy), is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super Cups found in many countries. Read more...
- The France national under-18 football team is the national under-18 football team of France and is controlled by the French Football Federation. The under-18 team matches are not competitive, merely for participate in friendly matches and tournaments, such as the Lafarge Foot Avenir and the Taça do Atlântico. The team serves as a feeder team to the under-19 team.
France have won the UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship twice in 1996 and 1997. Read more...
Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques (USFSA) is a former French sports governing body. During the 1890s and early 1900s it organised numerous sports including athletics, cycling, field hockey, fencing, croquet and swimming. However it is perhaps best known for being the principal governing body of both football and rugby union in France until it was effectively replaced by the French Football Federation and the French Rugby Federation. The USFSA rejected any form of professionalism and were strong advocates of amateur sport.
As well as contributing to the growth of sport in France, the USFSA also helped pioneer the development of international sport. Among its founding members were Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games. In 1900, together with the Union Vélocipédique de France, it was also one of two federations that represented France at the inaugural meeting of the Union Cycliste Internationale. Then in 1904 Robert Guérin, secretary of the USFSA football committee, was one of the principal movers behind the foundation of FIFA. He also served as its first president. Read more...- The Coupe de France Féminine (French pronunciation: [kup də fʁɑ̃s], Women's French Cup) is a cup competition, exclusively for French women's football clubs. The competition is open to all professional and non-professional women's teams in France. The inaugural edition of the competition was held in 2001. The final match of the competition is normally held at the Stade de France, however other venues may be used. The defending champions are Lyon, who defeated Montpellier 2–1 on 15 May 2016. From the 2011–12 season onwards, the competition is played under the name Coupe de France Feminine after previously being played under the name Challenge de France. Read more...
- The France national football team (French: Équipe de France de football) represents France in international football and is controlled by the French Football Federation, also known as FFF, or in French: Fédération française de football. The team's colours are blue, white and red, and the coq gaulois its symbol. France are colloquially known as Les Bleus (The Blues). The French side are the reigning World Cup holders, having won the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 15 July 2018.
France play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, and the manager is Didier Deschamps. They have won two FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, two FIFA Confederations Cups and one Olympic tournament. France experienced much of its success in four major eras: in the 1950s, 1980s, late 1990s/early 2000s, and mid/late 2010s, respectively, 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 qualifying cycle. Read more... - The Championnat de France de Football Féminin, primarily referred to as the Division 1 Féminine and shortened as D1F, is the highest division of women's football in France. The league is the female equivalent to the men's Ligue 1 and is contested by 12 clubs. Seasons run from September to June, with teams playing 22 games each totaling 132 games in the season. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended after the second week in December before returning in the third week of January. The Division 1 Féminine is ranked the second best women's league in Europe according to UEFA. Read more...
- The Lafarge Foot Avenir is a football competition contested by national youth teams (and club youth teams) in Limoges, France, and held annually since 2007. Read more...
- Martinique Championnat National is the top association football league in Martinique.
It was created in 1919 and is headed by the Ligue de Football de Martinique. 14 Teams participate in this league.
Despite being a league competition in CONCACAF since 2002 any of the Martinique teams ever played in CFU Club Championship or CONCACAF Champions' Cup.
The last 4 placed teams are relegated to the Martinique Promotion d'Honneur. Read more... - The Championnat de France National (English: French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Ligue 2 and the Championnat National 2, the fourth division of French football.
Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 34 games each, totalling 272 games in the season. Most games are played on Fridays and Saturdays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the second week of January. Read more... - The Brittany football select (French: Équipe de Bretagne de football, Breton: Skipailh Breizh) is the professional football team of Brittany, France. It is administered by the Breton Football Association (BFA). It is neither affiliated to FIFA nor UEFA but is characterised as one of the six Celtic nations. Its games are held under the auspices of the French Football Federation and FIFA Regulations Amateur football in Brittany is administered by both the Ligue de Bretagne and the Ligue Atlantique, which are regional associations within the French FA. Read more...
- The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France (French pronunciation: [kup də fʁɑ̃s]), is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation. The cup competition is named after Charles Simon, a French sportsman who died while serving in World War I, and is open to all amateur and professional football clubs in France, including clubs based in the overseas departments and territories. The final is played at the Stade de France and the winner of the Coupe de France qualifies for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. The reigning champions are Paris Saint-Germain who defeated Les Herbiers VF in the final of the 2017–18 competition.
The Coupe de France was first held in 1917–18 and, during the 2016–17 season, celebrated its 100th season. Combined with random draws and one-off matches (no replays), the Coupe de France can be difficult for the bigger clubs to win. The competition is usually beneficial to the amateur clubs as it forces higher-ranked clubs, usually professional clubs, to play as the away team when drawn against lower-league opposition if they are competing two levels below them. Despite the advantages, only two amateur clubs have reached the final since professionalism was introduced in French football in 1932: Calais RUFC in 2000 and Les Herbiers VF in 2018. Two clubs from outside Ligue 1 have won the competition, Le Havre in 1959 and Guingamp in 2009. The Coupe de France is managed and run by the Coupe de France Commission, whose president is former French international Willy Sagnol. Read more... - The Tahiti national football team is the national team of French Polynesia and is controlled by the Fédération Tahitienne de Football. The team consists of a selection of players from French Polynesia, not just Tahiti, and has competed in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) since 1990.
Tahiti is traditionally one of the stronger footballing nations of the Pacific Islands, with the second-best record at the football section of the South Pacific Games, with five victories. They were runners-up in the first three instalments of the Nations Cup (1973, 1980 and 1996). The nation went through a period of less success, but showed promise when it qualified for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt. This success was followed up with the title of 2012 OFC Nations Cup, becoming the first team other than Australia and New Zealand to win the competition. Read more... - In Saint-Pierre and Miquelon there are three amateur clubs, playing only one level. Read more...
- The France national under-17 football team is the national under-17 football team of France who will be playing in the UEFA European Championship this year or next year and is controlled by the French Football Federation. The team competes in the annual UEFA European Under-17 Championship and the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which is held every two years. The under-17 team also participates in local and international friendly tournaments, such as the Montaigu Tournament.
France have won the FIFA U-17 World Cup once in 2001 and also won the UEFA European Under-17 Championship twice in 2004 and 2015. Read more... - French football clubs have entered European association football competitions since 1955–56 season, when Reims took part in the inaugural European Cup. Marseille became the first French club to win the European Cup in 1993 and Paris SG won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1996. Read more...
- The French Guiana national football team (French: sélection de Guyane de football) is the regional team of the French overseas department and region of French Guiana and is controlled by the Ligue de Football de Guyane, the local branch of Fédération Française de Football. Read more...
Didier Deschamps was named manager of the French national team on 8 July 2012.
The France national football team manager was first established on 25 April 1964 following the appointment of the country's first national team manager Henri Guérin. Before this, the France national team was selected by a selection committee, a process in which the French Football Federation would select coaches and trainers from within the country or abroad to prepare the side for single games and tournaments, but with all decisions ultimately remaining under the control of the committee. From 1904–1913, the USFSA headed the committee, which was referred to as the Commission Centrale d'Association. The committee was controlled by André Espir and André Billy and featured little to no physical preparation for upcoming matches. In 1913, the Comité Français Interfédéral, a precursor to the French Football Federation, took over the committee following the USFSA becoming affiliated with the organization and secretary general Henri Delaunay took control.
Following the creation of the French Football Federation, the committee was converted into a five-man board and lasted from 1919–1964. Gaston Barreau served as the head of the committee in two different stints; from 1920–1945, then, after four years, returned to select the team from 1949 until his death in 1958. From 1945–1949, Gabriel Hanot headed the committee and, following Barreau's death, Paul Nicolas (1958–1959) and Georges Verriest (1959–1964) controlled the committee until it was officially disbanded in 1964. Read more...
Paris Saint-Germain celebrated their 7th Coupe de France title.
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation. The competition began in 1919 and is open to all amateur and professional football clubs in France, including clubs based in the overseas departments and territories. The competition culminates in May with the final, which is held at the Stade de France, the country's national stadium. Since 1927, the President of France has always attended the cup final and presented the trophy to the winning team's captain.
As of 2018, thirty-three clubs have lifted the trophy, of these Paris Saint-Germain have the most title with 12 victories. They are followed by Marseille, who have ten and Saint-Étienne, who have six. The current champions are Paris Saint-Germain, who defeated Les Herbiers VF 2–0 in the 2018 final. Read more...- For the 2017–18 season, this was the structure of the departmental leagues, operating at various levels below the regional leagues. Read more...
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Selected images
Parc des Princes is home stadium of club Paris Saint-Germain.
France at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain in 2015.
Coupe de la Ligue trophy.
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