Association: Fédération Française de Football (FFF) Founded: 1919 Joined FIFA: 1904 Confederation: UEFA Colors: Blue, White The Game: Football
Description:
Football in France has long played a secondary role to cycling and rugby though the great success of the national team in 1998 and 2000 has begun to change that. French clubs have never quite competed as equals in European competition, with Marseille's 1993 European Cup win (tainted by a match-fixing scandal) the country's only one. The French national team is called Les Bleus - The Blues, a reference to their blue jerseys. French football was reorganized after World War I and a new national association created - thus the discrepancy of joining FIFA before the creation of the FFF.
French football was riven by competing associations and a professional/amateur split in its early year. A professional league was not launched until the early 1930s. In the current era there are two cup competitions contested every year - the Coupe de France (open to all comers) and the Coupe de la Ligue (open to teams from the top two tiers). The biggest rivalry in French football is that of Marseille and PSG, although at the moment it is Lyon who are ruling the roost.
French Football Clubs Map:
French National Team History:
World Cup History:
CHAMPIONS (1998)
Finalists (2006)
Semifinals (1958, 82, 86)
Quarterfinals (1938)
First Round (1930, 34, 54, 66, 78, 2002, 10)
Did not qualify (1950, 62, 70, 74, 90, 94)
European Championship History:
CHAMPIONS (1984, 2000)
Semifinals (1960, 96)
Quarterfinals (1964, 68, 2004)
First Round (1992, 20080
Did not qualify (1972, 76, 80, 88)
Confederations Cup History:
CHAMPIONS (2001, 03)
Total Coupe de France Titles:
10 Marseille
8 Paris Saint-Germain
6 Saint-Étienne
5 Lille 5 Monaco 5 Racing Paris 5 Red Star Saint-Ouen
4 Auxerre 4 Lyon
3 Bordeaux 3 Nantes 3 Nice 3 Strasbourg
2 CASG Paris 2 FC Sète 2 Metz 2 Montpellier 2 Rennes 2 Sedan 2 Sochaux 2 Stade de Reims
1 Bastia 1 CA Paris 1 Cannes 1 Club Français 1 EF Nancy-Lorraine 1 Girondins 1 Guingamp 1 Le Havre 1 Lorient 1 Olympique de Pantin 1 Nancy 1 Roubaix 1 Toulouse
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