The France national football team represents France in men's international football and is controlled by the French Football Federation (Fédération française de football), also known as FFF. The team's colours are blue, white, and red, and the coq gaulois its symbol. France are colloquially known as Les Bleus (The Blues). They are the reigning world champions, having won the most recent World Cup final in 2018.
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| Nickname(s) | Les Bleus (The Blues) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Fédération Française de Football (FFF) | ||
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach | Didier Deschamps | ||
| Captain | Hugo Lloris | ||
| Most caps | Lilian Thuram (142) | ||
| Top scorer | Thierry Henry (51) | ||
| Home stadium | Stade de France | ||
| FIFA code | FRA | ||
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| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 3  (31 March 2022)[1] | ||
| Highest | 1 (May 2001 – May 2002, August – September 2018) | ||
| Lowest | 26 (September 2010) | ||
| First international | |||
 Belgium 3–3 France  (Uccle, Belgium; 1 May 1904) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
 France 10–0 Azerbaijan  (Auxerre, France; 6 September 1995) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Denmark 17–1 France (London, England; 22 October 1908) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 16 (first in 1930) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1998, 2018) | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 10 (first in 1960) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1984, 2000) | ||
| UEFA Nations League | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2021) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2021) | ||
| CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 1985) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1985) | ||
| FIFA Confederations Cup | |||
| Appearances | 2 (first in 2001) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2001, 2003) | ||
France plays their home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, and their manager is Didier Deschamps. They have won two FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, two FIFA Confederations Cups, one CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions and one UEFA Nations League title. France experienced much of its success in three different eras: in the 1980s, late 1990s/early 2000s and 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. Twenty-eight years later, the team, led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, finished in third place at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.
In 1984, under the leadership of the three-time Ballon d'Or winner Michel Platini, France won UEFA Euro 1984 (its first official title), a CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions (1985) and reached another two World Cup semi-finals (1982 and 1986). However, France only began to reach its prime from the 1990s onward, with the establishment of INF Clairefontaine.
During the captaincy of Didier Deschamps, and with Zinedine Zidane on the pitch, Les Bleus won the FIFA World Cup in 1998 and triumphed at UEFA Euro 2000. They also won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003. Three years later, France made it all the way to the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where they lost 5–3 on penalties to Italy. A decade later, the team reached the final of the UEFA European Championship, where they lost 1–0 to Portugal in extra time. Two years later, France won the 2018 FIFA World Cup, its second title in that competition, defeating Croatia 4–2 in the final match on 15 July 2018. Finally, the French team became the first European national team to have won all possible senior FIFA and confederation competitions after winning the UEFA Nations League in October 2021.[3][4]