France occupies a special place in world football. Of course, the British are rightfully the founders of football, but it was the French who put forward the ideas of holding the World Cup and European Football Championships.
And thanks to the ideas of Henri Delaunay, we have the opportunity to watch the battles of the strongest teams of the Old World.
As for the French national team, they try not to let their outstanding compatriots down and have been one of the leading teams in the world for decades.
History of the France national football team
World Championships
Achievements
- World champion 1998, 2018.
- Silver medalist of the 2006 World Cup.
- Bronze medalist at the 1958 and 1986 World Championships.
Pre-war world championships
Since we are talking about personalities in football, I note that it was a Frenchman who scored the first goal at the World Cup - Lucien Laurent hit the goal of the Mexican national team and the French won their debut match at the first World Cup 4:1. However, subsequent defeats to Argentina and Chile prevented them from qualifying for the second stage of the tournament.
On the distant approaches to the final match, the French team also stopped at the 1934 and 1938 World Championships, in the first case there was a defeat from the Austrians, in the second from the current and future world champions - the Italians.
First success
France did not qualify for the first post-war World Championship, but at the 1958 tournament it was a prize-winner for the first time.
That French team was one of the best teams in the history of football: Raymond Kopa, Juste Fontaine, Jean Vincent, Roger Piantoni simply tore apart the opponents' defense.
The French team scored 23 goals in 6 matches at that World Cup and Just Fontaine scored 13 of them. I don't think these records will ever be broken.
But the French were unlucky: it was the time of another, greater team, whose name was Brazil, and their confrontation in the semi-finals ended with the victory of the South American team 5:2. By the way, those same phenomenal Brazilians scored “only” 16 goals at that tournament, i.e. 7 less than the French.
Of the subsequent five World Cups from 1962 to 1978, France was able to make it to only two - in 1966 and 1978, where both times they failed to qualify from the group, winning only one victory and losing four matches.
The long patience of French fans was rewarded in the 80s, when a generation of outstanding French players led by .
At the 1982 World Cup, the French reached the semi-finals, where they led 3:1 in extra time against Germany. But the Germans managed to equalize the score and won in a penalty shootout. That match was marked by the infamous attack of the German goalkeeper Schumacher on the French national team player Battiston, when the latter was seriously injured, and the goalkeeper was not even shown a yellow card.
The “tricolors” lost the match for third place to the Poles 2:3. True, a reserve entered the field - coach Michel Hidalgo allowed all the players who came to Spain to play. Four years later, in the 1/8 finals of the Mexican World Cup, France left the reigning world champion, the Italian team, out of work, and in the quarterfinals, the Brazilian team.
But here the French suffered the same fate as four years ago: again the semi-finals, again the German national team, again defeat. True, this time the defeat is indisputable and deserved 0:2. But this time the reserves of the French national team won the “small final” against the Belgian national team 4:2.
Failures in selections
In the qualifying groups of the 1990 and 1994 World Championships, the French took 3rd place, and, accordingly, flew past the main tournament of the four years. Their failure in the fall of 1993 was especially memorable. Then the French team needed to score only 1 point in the remaining two home matches in order to go to the USA.
However, the French first lost 2:3 to group outsider Israel, leading 2:1 6 minutes before the end of the match, and then, also leading, 1:2.
Long-awaited triumph
The defensive line and support zone consisted of high-quality performers - Laurent Blanc, Lilian Thuram, Bixent Lizarazu, Marcel Desilly, Didier Deschamps, . They were also responsible for organizing the attacking game.
The only problem was with the strikers - Henri and Trezeguet were too young, Guivarche and Dugarry, with all due respect to them, were far from world-class players.
However, the French were able to win, becoming, in fact, the only team that was able to win the World Cup without serious strikers. But the defense was at its best – in seven matches they conceded only two goals.
But it was not only the defense of their goal that the defenders of the French national team became famous at that tournament. Having won the group quite easily, the French were subjected to a monstrous test in every playoff match.
The 1/8 final match with Paraguay, despite all the efforts of the French national team players to score a goal, smoothly slid towards a goalless draw and a penalty shootout, in which the hosts looked by no means favorites - after all, the Paraguayan goal was defended by José Luis Chilavert, one of the best repel specialists penalty. Only 6 minutes before the end of extra time he came to the aid of his attackers, scoring a much-needed goal for France.
The penalty still had to be taken at the next stage in the match with Italy, and here the nerves of the French team players did not fail.
In the semi-finals, the star Croatian team took the lead for a long time after a goal from Davor Suker, and again France was saved by the defender - he hit the goal twice and brought France into the final. It is noteworthy that in 142 matches played in the national team jersey, Thuram scored only 2 goals. And these are exactly these goals!
European Championships
Achievements
- European champion 1984, 2000.
- Silver medalist of the European Championship 2016.
- Bronze medalist of the 1996 European Championship.
Home tournaments
The first European Championship, as is known, took place in France. But the French were not exempt from the qualifying matches and made their way to the tournament along with other teams.
However, the selection, which then took place according to the Olympic two-match system, did not cause any trouble to the star generation of Kop and Fontaine - Greece was beaten 8:2 on aggregate, and Austria 9:4.
It was also fun in the semi-finals, which then began the final tournament. By the 75th minute of the match with Yugoslavia, the French were leading 4:2 and were already looking forward to victory. However, in the remaining time, the Yugoslav players hit the Lamia goal three times within four minutes and sent the French to the consolation final, which they safely lost to the Czechoslovak team 0:2.
To be fair, I note that neither Kopa nor Fontaine took part in the final stage of the Euro, having completed their performances for the national team by that time.
The next time this team was at the European Championships, which took place...Where would you think? In France, in 1984! The fact is that the French team could not qualify for the five European Championships that separated these two tournaments.
Below I present several interesting facts from the history of the French national team, but this one is absolutely amazing - two home Euros in a row! Moreover, taking into account Euro 2016, France took part in 9 final stages of the European Championship, of which every third took place at their home! Such a unique people.
As for the 1984 championship itself, then this was the era of Platini. The French easily and naturally won the home championship, setting several records along the way - victory in all matches of the tournament, 9 goals scored by Platini, who also scored in every match of the final.
Between Platini and Zidane
It just so happened that all the successes of the French national team at the World and European Championships are associated with the presence of great football players in the squad. The first such team was the team of Kop and Fontaine, the second - Platini, the third - Zidane.
France did not qualify for the 1988 European Championship, and in 1992 it failed to qualify from the group, losing the decisive match to the future champions, the Danish national team.
By the way, at that tournament the French team was coached by Michel Platini and in the qualifying round the French won all the group matches, although they were opposed by such teams as Spain and Czechoslovakia.
Breakthrough to the Euro
The following international successes are associated with the emergence of the Zidane generation. At the 1996 European Championships, France did not perform very well. Having taken first place in the group, the French played two goalless draws with Holland and the Czech Republic, only they defeated the Dutch in a penalty shootout, but the Czechs did not.
The French arrived at the next European Championship as world champions and, along with Holland, the main contender for the title. Ironically, the draw placed these two teams in one group, adding the Czech Republic, the current European vice-champion, and Denmark, the winner of the 1992 tournament.
Having beaten the Danes and Czechs, in the last match of the group stage the French lost 2:3 to the Dutch team and advanced from second place to the quarter finals. And again, as at the home World Cup, each match of the playoff stage could be the last for France. In the match with Spain, with the score 2:1 in favor of the French, a penalty was awarded in the 90th minute, but Raul canceled overtime by launching the ball well above the goal.
In the semi-final with Portugal, extra time could not be avoided, and the French team had to fight back, and only three minutes before the end of extra time, Zidane scored the winning goal. He scored it from the penalty spot, and, frankly speaking, the penalty was not indisputable.
Well, that famous final with Italy, when Sylvain Wiltord was able to equalize the score only in stoppage time, and David Trezeguet scored the “golden goal” in extra time.
Latest tournaments
After this, the French team did not go further than the quarterfinals at European tournaments. To justify her, we can only say that in 2004 and 2012 she was inferior to the future champions, Greece and Spain, respectively. And in 2008, under the leadership of the notorious Raymond Domenech, France did not make it out of the group at all, losing to Holland 1:4, Italy 0:2 and failing to beat the Romanians.
The 2016 European Championship, where the French again acted as hosts, began for them with a strong-willed victory over the Romanians. Then the Albanian team was defeated with difficulty - Griezmann opened the scoring only in the 90th minute of the match. And in the 1/8 finals, the Irish forced the French team to win back - 2:1.
Only in the quarterfinals did the French, as they say, break through 5:2 against the Icelandic team, and then win 2:0 over the main favorite of the championship - the German team. The French were clearly the favorites in the final match, but football once again refuted all the pre-start plans - the Portuguese team managed to score the only goal of the match in extra time.
France national football team players
Goalkeeper Hugo Leuris – if he’s okay, then you don’t have to worry about post No. 1. He is the captain of the French national team. Steve Mandanda is always ready to replace him.
The coaching staff has a good choice in defense: Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Pavard, Kurt Zouma, Benjamin Mendy, Laiven Kurzawa.
In the center of the field are Moussa Sissoko, Blaise Matuidi, Corentin Tolisso Lemar Thomas and, of course, N'Golo Kante and Paul Pogba.
The French attack also looks great - Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe are world-class footballers, there is also Anthony Martial, Kingsley Coman, Olivier Giroud and Alexandre Lacazette.
Present tense
The current world champions are one of the main favorites of the European championship. 20 years ago, the French team managed to win the European Championship in this status. Why not repeat it?
The first European Football Championship among national teams took place largely thanks to the initiative of the first secretary of UEFA, Frenchman Henri Delaunay. 17 teams took part in the tournament, which was held according to the Olympic system, while many high-status teams, such as England, Italy, Germany, Sweden, refused to play, citing the workload of football players in the clubs. The semi-finals and the decisive match took place in France. In the final match, the teams of Yugoslavia, which was 1/2 stronger than the hosts, and the USSR, which defeated Czechoslovakia, met. Regular time ended in a 1:1 draw, and in overtime the victory for the Soviet team, and with it the title of the first European Champion, was brought by striker Viktor Ponedelnik.
The second European Championship significantly expanded the number of participants - this time 29 teams entered the fight for the trophy. As four years earlier, four teams reached the final stage. In addition to the hosts, the Spaniards, the teams of the USSR, Hungary and Denmark reached the semi-finals. If the Soviet team had virtually no problems in the confrontation with the Danes, then Spain had to work hard to break the resistance of Hungary. However, an additional 30 minutes of play in the semi-finals did not prevent Furia Roja from winning the final match. The decisive blow against the USSR national team with the score 1:1 at the end of the game was struck by Marcelino.
During the third European Championship, the organizers changed the tournament system. 31 participants were divided into eight groups, the winners of which advanced to the playoffs. The final stage this time was hosted by Italy, accompanied by England, the USSR and Yugoslavia. In the match between the hosts and the Soviet team, the final whistle of the referee recorded the score 0:0. Since at that time the penalty shootout had not yet been invented, the winner had to be determined by lot, which was favorable to the Italian team. In the other pair, Yugoslavia turned out to be stronger, which, however, could not oppose anything to the hosts in the final - goals by Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi made Italy the third European champion.
The final stage of Euro 1972 took place in Belgium, which, like the other teams, passed through the group stage and the first round of the playoffs and reached the semi-finals. One step away from the main match, the Belgians were stopped by the German team, which included Franz Beckenbauer, Günther Netzer and Gerd Müller. It was the latter who predetermined the outcome of the match, scoring two goals. In the second semi-final, the USSR national team defeated Hungary thanks to an accurate shot by Anatoly Konkov. In the final, however, there was no fight - Muller, who was recognized as the best player of the tournament, scored twice against Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper Evgeniy Rudakov, and Herbert Wimmer scored another goal.
The fifth European Championship was the last in which only four teams reached the finals. For the first time, the USSR national team was not in the semi-finals; Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and Germany were to compete for the title at the stadiums in Zagreb and Belgrade. Despite the presence of such stars as Cruyff and Neeskens, the Dutch lost to the Czechs in overtime. Extra time was also needed for the other semi-final - here Yugoslavia led with a score of 2:0, but lost their advantage and eventually lost, conceding three goals from Gerd Müller. The Euro 1976 final went down in history as the first match of the tournament to go to penalties. In regular time, the Germans saved themselves thanks to Helzenbein's goal in the 90th minute, but in the football lottery the players of the Czechoslovak national team had stronger nerves. The decisive blow was struck by Antonin Panenka, after whom the penalty kick was later named, taken with a “soft” kick in the center of the goal.
Euro 1980 was to some extent revolutionary - UEFA decided to expand the composition of participants in the final stage to eight teams, which included the seven winners of the qualifying groups and Italy as the host of the tournament. The teams were divided into two subgroups, the winners of which went directly to the finals, and the teams that took second place played a match for third place. In Quartet A, the German team scored the most points, beating Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands, and also tied with Greece. The best of Quartet B were the Belgians, who only needed a victory over Spain and draws with Italy and England to reach the final. The hero of the decisive game was German national team forward Horst Hrubesch, who scored two goals against one of the best goalkeepers of that time, Jean-Marie Pfaff.
The 1984 European Championship was a triumph for the French team, which hosted the tournament. The system of holding the championship has again undergone changes - now two teams leave the group and get to the semi-finals. In Group A, Denmark, Yugoslavia and Belgium were unable to compete with France, while the Danes came second. Portugal and Spain advanced from Group B to the top four, leaving Romania and Germany out of the competition. In the semi-finals, France only put the finishing touches on Portugal in overtime, and Spain was able to defeat Denmark in a penalty shootout. In the final game, the hosts won the game thanks to accurate shots from Bruno Bellon and Michel Platini. By the way, the future UEFA president set a unique achievement - he scored nine goals in all five matches of his team’s tournament.
After a long break, the USSR national team again made it to the finals of the continental championship. The team, which was based on Dynamo Kyiv players, led by Valery Lobanovsky, defeated the Dutch and English in the group stage, and also tied with the Irish. The second in Quartet B was the Dutch team. On a parallel course, Italy and the hosts of the championship, the German team, reached the semi-finals. In the first game to reach the final, the Dutch achieved a strong-willed victory over the Germans, and the next day the USSR national team beat Squadra Azura. As a result, the Cup went to the Dutch team, which scored twice against the Soviet team in the decisive game. At the same time, Marco van Basten's goal was recognized as one of the best in the history of the European Championships.
The European Championship, which will forever remain in the history of football as an example of romance and miracle. The crown went to the sensational Danish team, which found out about its participation in the tournament only a few days before it started. The Yugoslavs were excluded from the competition for political reasons, and the Danes took their place.
Also noteworthy is the participation of the CIS team in the Euro, the successor to the team from the USSR. This tournament is the last, in the final part of which only eight teams took part. The sensational Danes were up against the reigning world champions in the final, but the Bundesteam could not do anything about Peter Schmeichel and company.
The tenth anniversary European Championship, which took place in England, was won by the German team. The discovery of this tournament was the Czechs, who made it to the playoffs and then to the finals of the forum from the same group as the Germans (Germany - first, Czech Republic - second).
The last Euro winner, the Danish team, did not even make it out of the group. It was at the 1996 European Championship that the golden goal rule was used for the first time. However, the innovation only worked in the final match, when Oliver Birkoff scored against the Czech national team in the 96th minute. At the previous stages of the playoffs, only two matches ended in regular time (in the quarterfinals, the Germans beat the Croats, and the Czechs beat the Portuguese). The remaining pairs determined the winner through a penalty shootout.
The first tournament in history, the hosts of which were two countries at once - Belgium and Holland. The forum is also notable for the fact that for the first time the rule of canceling yellow and red cards after the group stage was applied. The initial stage of the tournament brought several sensations: the British and Germans did not make it out of the group. The Czechs and the tournament's co-hosts, the Belgians, also failed.
The quarter-finals were remembered for the destruction of the Yugoslavs by the Dutch national team players - 6:1. However, representatives of the country of tulips were forced to withdraw from the race in the semi-finals, allowing the Italians into the main match of the tournament. There, in the finale, a real drama took place. Dino Zoff's team, through the efforts of Delvecchio, opened the scoring on the 55th revolution of the second hand and held the advantage until the third added minute. And when it seemed that the Italians would become champions, Sylvain Wiltord scored a saving goal for the French. And already in extra time, the depressed Italians missed the “golden goal” from David Trezeguet.
Greece, phenomenal Greece. To this day, Otto Rehhagel’s team is cited as an example of endurance, organization, determination and discipline. The hosts, the Portuguese, advanced quite confidently in the playoff bracket, while the Greeks achieved strained, inconspicuous (from the point of view of the winners' performance) victories over France and the Czech Republic.
In the final, naturally, everyone expected the Portuguese to win, especially since the “European Brazilians” owed a debt to the Hellenes for their defeat in the group stage. But, like a few weeks earlier, it was the Greek team that turned out to be more successful. Angelos Charisteas's goal shocked the whole of football Europe.
Tournament in Austria and Switzerland. It was with him that the golden era of the Spanish national team began. Luis Aragones came under serious criticism even before the start of the European Championship due to his decision not to include one of the brightest stars of Spanish football, Raul Gonzalez, in the application. But after the final whistle of Italian Roberto Rosetti, who recorded the Spanish victory 1:0 over the Germans
in the final of the European Championship, the skeptics subsided. The Spaniards had someone to score even without Raul. The best scorer of the tournament was David Villa, Fernando Torres also performed well (for all previous mistakes El Niño was rehabilitated with accurate shots against Jens Lehmann) and Daniel Guiza. The time has come for total domination of the Spanish national team.
For the first time in history, the European Championship has moved so deep into the East of the European continent. Ukraine and Poland received the right to host matches at the forum and Donetsk, where five matches were played, became the easternmost city to ever host Euro matches. But Donetsk was not happy for the Ukrainian team.
At the Donbass Arena, Oleg Blokhin's team lost to the French and English, and therefore the victory over the Swedes in Kyiv (two phenomenal goals by Andrei Shevchenko) was completely worthless. One of the main sensations of the tournament was, perhaps, the semi-final victory of the Italians over the Germans. These were the moments of glory of the odious Mario Balotelli. But in the final, the Italians were unable to oppose anything to the super-powerful Spaniards - they lost 0:4.
For the third time in history, the European Championship was held on the fields of France. A historic tournament, because for the first time since its inception, 24 teams took part in the EURO finals. Thanks to the reform carried out by football officials, the teams of Albania, Hungary and Northern Ireland, exotic for this level, got a chance to join the holiday.
Wales and Iceland also made a breakthrough. And the respected Netherlands, on the contrary, found themselves left out of the competition. For the first time, Ukraine also passed through the Euro selection sieve (after all, in 2012 we took part in the tournament as co-hosts of the competition). However, directly in France, Mikhail Fomenko’s team failed.
The Ukrainians lost all their matches in the group, and the opening team of the tournament was Iceland and Wales. The latter reached the semi-finals, where he lost to the future winner of the Portuguese national team. Most believe that France deserved to win the tournament, but the Game decided differently.
Once again, 24 teams are in the EURO finals, but now the qualifying grid has changed. Instead of a playoff for third places in qualifying groups, the organizers organized an additional competition for unsuccessful participants in the League of Nations.
However, the main novelty took place in the plane of geography - 12 teams immediately received the right to be called the hosts of the tournament. Accordingly, almost half of the distribution of teams into groups became known even before the draw for the final part.
For the first time, the Finnish national team qualified for the Euro, and for the first time, football midgets like Kosovo or Georgia had the opportunity to get there. For the first time at the tournament, the VAR system will be used. And for the first time, the Ukrainian team qualified directly for the Euro (without playoffs or automatic qualification). Shevchenko's team had a powerful qualification, leaving behind the current European champions.
Euro 2016: What you need to know about the French national team
Photos from open sources
the site presents the French national team at Euro 2016
The French Football Federation has been a member of FIFA since 1904 and a member of UEFA since 1954. The French were among the founders of both organizations. France is a two-time European champion (1984 and 2000) and a world champion in 1998.
Nicknames– “blue”, “tricolor”.
Head coach– Didier Deschamps.
Photos from open sources
STATISTICS OF THE FRENCH TEAM PERFORMANCE AT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Matches – 134
Wins – 74 (55.2%)
Draws – 34 (25.4%)
Losses – 26 (19.4%)
Scored – 255 goals (1.90 goals per match)
Conceded – 124 goals (0.93 goals per match)
HOW THE FRENCH TEAM PERFORMED AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONS AND CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE XXI CENTURY
World Championship 2002 (achievement – group). The French came to the tournament in Japan and South Korea as the reigning world and European champions, but suffered a severe fiasco and left the World Cup after the group stage, losing three out of three matches and not scoring a single goal.
European Championship 2004 (1/4 finals). At the tournament in Portugal, the French excelled in their group (+2=1-0), where their opponents were the English, Croatians and Swiss, but stumbled at the quarter-final stage, losing to the future champion Greece (0:1).
World Championship 2006 (final). At the tournament in Germany, the “tricolors” reached the final, where they lost the title to the Italian national team only on penalties. On the way to the decisive match in the playoffs, the French beat Spain (3:1), the current world champion Brazil (1:0) and Portugal (1:0).
European Championship 2008 (group). Having found themselves in the “group of death” at the preliminary stage of the final stage - together with the national teams of Holland and Italy - France lost to both competitors and, having scored the only point in the meeting with Romania, which was nominated to be the whipping boy, closed the table.
World Championship 2010 (group). There were no signs of trouble, but France again failed in the group stage, finishing in last place. The “tricolors” initially tied with Uruguay (0:0), but then lost to Mexico (0:2) and sensationally lost to the host team of the competition, South Africa (1:2).
European Championship 2012 (1/4 finals). At the previous Euro, the French team was in the same group with England, one of the hosts of the tournament, Ukraine, and the Swedish team, where they eventually finished second (1:1 with England, 2:0 with Ukraine and 0:2 with Sweden). And in the quarterfinals, the “tricolors” lost to Spain – 0:2.
World Championship 2014 (1/4 finals). At the Brazilian World Cup, France easily won their group, defeating Honduras 3:0, Switzerland 5:2 and ending 0:0 with Ecuador. In the 1/8 finals, the French defeated Nigeria (2:0), but in the quarterfinals they laid down their arms to the future title holder Germany (0:1).
HOW THE FRANCE TEAM PASSED THE EURO 2016 QUALIFICATION CYCLE
As the host country of Euro 2016, the French national team was exempt from qualifying.
FRIENDLY MATCHES OF THE FRANCE TEAM IN 2016
25.03 Holland – France – 2:3
29.03 France – Russia – 4:2
30.05 France - Cameroon - 3:2
04.06 France - Scotland - 3:0
TEAM COMPOSITION FOR EURO 2016
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Benoit Costil (Rennes)
Defenders: Lucas Digne (Roma), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Christophe Jallet (Lyon), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Elyakim Mangala (Manchester City), Samuel Umtiti (Lyon), Bakary Sagna (Manchester City), Adil Rami (Sevilla).
Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Morgan Schneiderlin (Manchester United), N'Golo Kante (Leicester City), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle).
Forwards: Kinglsey Coman (Juventus), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Dimitri Payet (West Ham).
ESTIMATED COMPOSITION
TACTICS
Deschamps sticks to a tried-and-tested 4-3-3 formation, with Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante and Blaise Matuidi forming a balanced and powerful midfield pairing, with Anthony Martial and Dimitri Payet vying to form the attacking trio with Griezmann and Giroud. The Tricolors like to control the ball and attack, but they concede a lot of goals. This was once again confirmed in friendly matches against the Netherlands, Russia and even Cameroon, in which the EURO 2016 hosts scored ten goals and received six from their opponents.
MAIN STAR
Antoine Griezmann(Atlético). In the season he played 4928 minutes, scored 34 goals, gave 6 assists.
Photos from open sources
EURO 2016 MATCH CALENDAR
HOW THE FRENCH TEAM PLAYED WITH THE OPPONENTS IN GROUP A
06/10/2016 (Saint-Denis). France – Romania
Matches - 17
Wins - 8
Draws - 5
Defeats - 4
Goals scored - 23
Goals conceded - 16
Biggest win - 4:0
Biggest defeat - 3:6
The most productive match - 3:6
Highest scoring draw - 2:2
Photos from open sources
France has a streak of ten matches without defeat in meetings with Romania (+5=5-0): the last time the Romanians beat the French was in the qualifying tournament for the 1976 Olympics. However, of the five previous matches between the teams, four ended in a draw. Moreover, they were all official, not friendly. Thus, over the past eight years, France drew 0:0 with Romania in the group stage of Euro 2008, beat them twice in the 2010 World Cup qualifying round (2:2 a, 1:1 d), and defeated their opponent in the home qualifier match of Euro 2012 (2:0) and played a draw away (0:0).
06/15/2016 (Marseille). France – Albania
Matches - 6
Wins - 4
Draws - 1
Defeats - 1
Goals scored - 12
Goals conceded - 3
Biggest win – 5:0
Biggest defeat – 0:1
Most scoring match – 5:0
Photos from open sources
France and Albania played four qualifying matches and two friendly matches against each other. In the qualifying tournaments for Euro 1992 and Euro 2012, the French won four out of four matches against the Albanians, but lost points in two friendly matches that took place recently. In 2014, France played Albania at home 1:1, and in 2015 they lost 0:1 away.
06/19/2016 (Lille). France – Switzerland
Matches - 39
Wins - 18
Draws - 9
Defeats - 12
Goals scored - 70
Goals conceded - 61
Biggest win – 4:0
Biggest defeat – 2:6
Highest scoring match – 2:6
Photos from open sources
Two years ago, at the World Cup in Brazil, France defeated Switzerland with a score of 5:2. In all official matches (qualifying or final) of the World, European and Olympic Games, of which there were seven between them in history, the French never lost to the Swiss. True, the “tri-colors” had fewer victories than draws (+3=4-0). By the way, the mentioned defeat at the 2014 World Cup is, of course, impressive, but a little earlier France and Switzerland played 0:0 in the group stage of the 2006 World Cup in Germany and twice separated in qualifying matches for the final stage of the same tournament (0:0 and 1:1).
HOW THE FRENCH TEAM PLAYED WITH RIVALS IN THE PLAYOFFS
06/26/2016 (Lyon). France - Ireland
Matches - 17
Wins - 6
Draws - 6
Defeats - 5
Goals scored - 19
Goals conceded - 18
Biggest victory – 5:3, 2:0
Biggest defeat – 0:3
Highest scoring match – 5:3
Highest scoring draw – 1:1
France had not lost to Ireland in their previous five matches, winning twice and drawing three times. Ireland last beat France in 1981. In the last five matches between these teams, only four goals were scored. The last time the teams met was in a World Cup play-off in South Africa. Then Raymond Domenech's team advanced, winning the first match with a score of 1:0 and drawing (1:1) in the second.
07/03/2016 (Saint-Denis). France - Iceland
Matches - 13
Wins - 9
Draws - 4
Defeats - 0
Goals scored - 31
Goals conceded - 8
Biggest win – 8:0
Biggest defeat - no
Most scoring match – 8:0
Highest scoring draw – 1:1
Photos from open sources
France had never lost to Iceland in 13 previous meetings: nine wins and four draws with a goal difference of 31:8. The teams last met on May 27, 2012 in a friendly match. The French team won a strong-willed victory in Valenciennes - 3:2. Laurent Blanc's team responded to the goals of Birkir Bjarnason and Kolbein Sigthorsson after the break with precise shots from Mathieu Debuchy, Franck Ribery and Adil Rami. France secured a spot in the winning EURO 2000 by beating Iceland 3-2 at the Stade de France in October 1999. David Trezeguet scored the decisive goal shortly after coming on as a substitute. Iceland lost all six away matches to France with a goal difference of 5:22.
07/07/2016 (Marseille). Germany - France
Matches - 12
Wins - 6
Draws - 2
Defeats - 4
Goals scored - 15
Goals conceded - 14
Biggest win – 3:0
Biggest defeat – 0:4
The most productive match – 3:3
Highest scoring draw – 3:3
Photos from open sources
The history of football matches between the national teams of France and Germany includes a lot of meetings. If we take into account only the German national team, then 12 matches were played between them: 6 victories for the French team, 4 victories for the German team and 2 games ended in a draw. 4 of these matches were played between 1931 and 1937. The French met with the German national team 17 times: 7 victories for France, 5 victories for Germany, 5 matches were drawn. Goal difference: 30:30. France played against the GDR team 8 times: the French won 2 times, the East German players won 4 times and 2 games ended in a draw. Goal difference: 11:8 in favor of the GDR.
TEAM FOR EURO
Photos from open sources
DO YOU KNOW THAT...
France is one of only three teams to have won the European Championship more than once. The Tricolors have two titles, while the German and Spanish teams have three each.
FORECAST 112.U.A.
Looking at the scattering of players that the coaching staff has at its disposal, it is impossible not to appreciate the potential of the French team. The “tricolors” have a very strong team with a whole constellation of players who are not only stars, but are also in their prime. France has a reliable last line, where Steve Mandanda does not make it into the starting line-up, because the goal is given to Hugo Lloris from Tottenham, who is also the captain of the national team. In defense, the French have a mixture of experience and youth, with almost all of their leading defenders either playing or having played for the top clubs in the English Premier League. But the main line of the team, of course, and rightfully, is the midfield, which should also include the attack flanks. Antoine Griezmann, who in recent years has become the king of the red, white and blue part of Madrid, Dimitri Payet from West Ham with his impeccable free kicks, one of which the Russian national team has already tried in a friendly match, Kingsley Coman, who has blossomed in Bayern , once rejected by Juventus, and Paul Pogba, who is the team leader in the same Juventus. Everything is fine in France and with the support zone, where Moussa Sissoko, Morgan Schneiderlin, the strong Blaise Matuidi and N'Golo Kante from Leicester City are located, whom the players of the sensational champion of England recognized as the best in the team, and about whom fans say that two a third of our planet is covered by water, the rest is Kante. Questions are raised only by the very edge of the attack, where the challenge of Andre-Pierre Gignac, who was growing dust in the Mexican championship, however, in the presence of Arsenal's top scorer Olivier Giroud and a progressive one, seems like an unexpected creation. Manchester United youngster Anthony Martial, Gignac is unlikely to get much playing time at the Euros.
Path to the Euro
The French team got to the European Championship before everyone else - at the moment when the name of the host country of the tournament was announced. Instead of the qualifying round, Didier Deschamps' team played friendly matches. Many believe that such a regime has a bad effect on the team, but another, golden French squad has already refuted this postulate once at the home World Cup in 1998. The balance of games in 2015 for the “tricolors” turned out to be quite average - with six victories, the team suffered four defeats from Brazil, Belgium, England and even Albania. However, it should be noted that, among others, the teams of Portugal and Germany, the current world champion, were beaten. In 2016, France played four test matches and won each of them, showing quite effective football. No one conceded less than three goals from the “tricolors” - they beat the Netherlands with a score of 3:2, defeated Deschamps’ team and Russia (4:2), Cameroon (3:2) and Scotland (3:0).Head coach
Didier Deschamps joined the French national team after the 2012 European Championship, took it to the World Cup, where, having won the subgroup and advanced to the 1/8 finals against Nigeria, the “tricolors” retired at the quarterfinal stage, losing to the future world champions from Germany - 0:1. In relation to the current European Championship, Deschamps managed to become a newsmaker even before the start of the tournament, refusing to call up Mathieu Valbuena and Karim Benzema, who were involved in the video recording scandal, to the national team, as well as Hatem Ben Arfa, who spent a great season in Nice, for which was awarded the title "racist" by Benzema. In addition, Deschamps did not take Liverpool defender Mohamed Sakho to the Euro. The player was accused of doping, but the charges were later dropped, but Deschamps said that he had already chosen a replacement for Sakho and had no moral right to remove another player from the squad (Samuel Umtiti from Lyon, who is claimed by Barcelona) in order to return to the amnestied team.History of performances at the Euro
The French national team is a regular at the final tournaments of the European Championships and a great fighter who knows how to play in their native walls. We have already mentioned the victory at the 1998 World Cup, but there was also a home triumph at the Euro - in 1984, a generation of football players led by Michel Platini brought the country its first international success. The French won the continental forum for the second time in 2000, when David Trezeguet scored against Italy in the final after extra time. In 1996, the French team reached the semi-finals, and this is its third best result in the history of performances at the European Championships.Main star
There are a lot of really cool and stellar football players in France, but the main star of the national team after the ended club season is Atlético winger Antoine Griezmann, who led the “mattress players” throughout the season, reaching third place in the example (in a fierce fight with " Barcelona and Real Madrid) and the Champions League final, where the Athletics lost to the same Real Madrid only in a penalty shootout. By the way, in that match Griezmann did not score a penalty kick in the second half. This season in the Spanish Championship alone, Griezmann scored 22 goals, and in all tournaments he scored more than 30.Forecast
The French team is considered one of the main, if not the main favorites of the Euro. This team has the potential to win the tournament, and the group with Romania, Alabania and Switzerland will definitely not be an obstacle to the playoffs. We can say with almost one hundred percent certainty that we will see the hosts at the later stages of the Euro, and we will try to predict their victory in the continental forum.The first European Football Championship among national teams took place largely thanks to the initiative of the first secretary of UEFA, Frenchman Henri Delaunay. 17 teams took part in the tournament, which was held according to the Olympic system, while many high-status teams, such as England, Italy, Germany, Sweden, refused to play, citing the workload of football players in the clubs. The semi-finals and the decisive match took place in France. In the final match, the teams of Yugoslavia, which was 1/2 stronger than the hosts, and the USSR, which defeated Czechoslovakia, met. Regular time ended in a 1:1 draw, and in overtime the victory for the Soviet team, and with it the title of the first European Champion, was brought by striker Viktor Ponedelnik.
The second European Championship significantly expanded the number of participants - this time 29 teams entered the fight for the trophy. As four years earlier, four teams reached the final stage. In addition to the hosts, the Spaniards, the teams of the USSR, Hungary and Denmark reached the semi-finals. If the Soviet team had virtually no problems in the confrontation with the Danes, then Spain had to work hard to break the resistance of Hungary. However, an additional 30 minutes of play in the semi-finals did not prevent Furia Roja from winning the final match. The decisive blow against the USSR national team with the score 1:1 at the end of the game was struck by Marcelino.
During the third European Championship, the organizers changed the tournament system. 31 participants were divided into eight groups, the winners of which advanced to the playoffs. The final stage this time was hosted by Italy, accompanied by England, the USSR and Yugoslavia. In the match between the hosts and the Soviet team, the final whistle of the referee recorded the score 0:0. Since at that time the penalty shootout had not yet been invented, the winner had to be determined by lot, which was favorable to the Italian team. In the other pair, Yugoslavia turned out to be stronger, which, however, could not oppose anything to the hosts in the final - goals by Luigi Riva and Pietro Anastasi made Italy the third European champion.
The final stage of Euro 1972 took place in Belgium, which, like the other teams, passed through the group stage and the first round of the playoffs and reached the semi-finals. One step away from the main match, the Belgians were stopped by the German team, which included Franz Beckenbauer, Günther Netzer and Gerd Müller. It was the latter who predetermined the outcome of the match, scoring two goals. In the second semi-final, the USSR national team defeated Hungary thanks to an accurate shot by Anatoly Konkov. In the final, however, there was no fight - Muller, who was recognized as the best player of the tournament, scored twice against Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper Evgeniy Rudakov, and Herbert Wimmer scored another goal.
The fifth European Championship was the last in which only four teams reached the finals. For the first time, the USSR national team was not in the semi-finals; Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and Germany were to compete for the title at the stadiums in Zagreb and Belgrade. Despite the presence of such stars as Cruyff and Neeskens, the Dutch lost to the Czechs in overtime. Extra time was also needed for the other semi-final - here Yugoslavia led with a score of 2:0, but lost their advantage and eventually lost, conceding three goals from Gerd Müller. The Euro 1976 final went down in history as the first match of the tournament to go to penalties. In regular time, the Germans saved themselves thanks to Helzenbein's goal in the 90th minute, but in the football lottery the players of the Czechoslovak national team had stronger nerves. The decisive blow was struck by Antonin Panenka, after whom the penalty kick was later named, taken with a “soft” kick in the center of the goal.
Euro 1980 was to some extent revolutionary - UEFA decided to expand the composition of participants in the final stage to eight teams, which included the seven winners of the qualifying groups and Italy as the host of the tournament. The teams were divided into two subgroups, the winners of which went directly to the finals, and the teams that took second place played a match for third place. In Quartet A, the German team scored the most points, beating Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands, and also tied with Greece. The best of Quartet B were the Belgians, who only needed a victory over Spain and draws with Italy and England to reach the final. The hero of the decisive game was German national team forward Horst Hrubesch, who scored two goals against one of the best goalkeepers of that time, Jean-Marie Pfaff.
The 1984 European Championship was a triumph for the French team, which hosted the tournament. The system of holding the championship has again undergone changes - now two teams leave the group and get to the semi-finals. In Group A, Denmark, Yugoslavia and Belgium were unable to compete with France, while the Danes came second. Portugal and Spain advanced from Group B to the top four, leaving Romania and Germany out of the competition. In the semi-finals, France only put the finishing touches on Portugal in overtime, and Spain was able to defeat Denmark in a penalty shootout. In the final game, the hosts won the game thanks to accurate shots from Bruno Bellon and Michel Platini. By the way, the future UEFA president set a unique achievement - he scored nine goals in all five matches of his team’s tournament.
After a long break, the USSR national team again made it to the finals of the continental championship. The team, which was based on Dynamo Kyiv players, led by Valery Lobanovsky, defeated the Dutch and English in the group stage, and also tied with the Irish. The second in Quartet B was the Dutch team. On a parallel course, Italy and the hosts of the championship, the German team, reached the semi-finals. In the first game to reach the final, the Dutch achieved a strong-willed victory over the Germans, and the next day the USSR national team beat Squadra Azura. As a result, the Cup went to the Dutch team, which scored twice against the Soviet team in the decisive game. At the same time, Marco van Basten's goal was recognized as one of the best in the history of the European Championships.
The European Championship, which will forever remain in the history of football as an example of romance and miracle. The crown went to the sensational Danish team, which found out about its participation in the tournament only a few days before it started. The Yugoslavs were excluded from the competition for political reasons, and the Danes took their place.
Also noteworthy is the participation of the CIS team in the Euro, the successor to the team from the USSR. This tournament is the last, in the final part of which only eight teams took part. The sensational Danes were up against the reigning world champions in the final, but the Bundesteam could not do anything about Peter Schmeichel and company.
The tenth anniversary European Championship, which took place in England, was won by the German team. The discovery of this tournament was the Czechs, who made it to the playoffs and then to the finals of the forum from the same group as the Germans (Germany - first, Czech Republic - second).
The last Euro winner, the Danish team, did not even make it out of the group. It was at the 1996 European Championship that the golden goal rule was used for the first time. However, the innovation only worked in the final match, when Oliver Birkoff scored against the Czech national team in the 96th minute. At the previous stages of the playoffs, only two matches ended in regular time (in the quarterfinals, the Germans beat the Croats, and the Czechs beat the Portuguese). The remaining pairs determined the winner through a penalty shootout.
The first tournament in history, the hosts of which were two countries at once - Belgium and Holland. The forum is also notable for the fact that for the first time the rule of canceling yellow and red cards after the group stage was applied. The initial stage of the tournament brought several sensations: the British and Germans did not make it out of the group. The Czechs and the tournament's co-hosts, the Belgians, also failed.
The quarter-finals were remembered for the destruction of the Yugoslavs by the Dutch national team players - 6:1. However, representatives of the country of tulips were forced to withdraw from the race in the semi-finals, allowing the Italians into the main match of the tournament. There, in the finale, a real drama took place. Dino Zoff's team, through the efforts of Delvecchio, opened the scoring on the 55th revolution of the second hand and held the advantage until the third added minute. And when it seemed that the Italians would become champions, Sylvain Wiltord scored a saving goal for the French. And already in extra time, the depressed Italians missed the “golden goal” from David Trezeguet.
Greece, phenomenal Greece. To this day, Otto Rehhagel’s team is cited as an example of endurance, organization, determination and discipline. The hosts, the Portuguese, advanced quite confidently in the playoff bracket, while the Greeks achieved strained, inconspicuous (from the point of view of the winners' performance) victories over France and the Czech Republic.
In the final, naturally, everyone expected the Portuguese to win, especially since the “European Brazilians” owed a debt to the Hellenes for their defeat in the group stage. But, like a few weeks earlier, it was the Greek team that turned out to be more successful. Angelos Charisteas's goal shocked the whole of football Europe.
Tournament in Austria and Switzerland. It was with him that the golden era of the Spanish national team began. Luis Aragones came under serious criticism even before the start of the European Championship due to his decision not to include one of the brightest stars of Spanish football, Raul Gonzalez, in the application. But after the final whistle of Italian Roberto Rosetti, who recorded the Spanish victory 1:0 over the Germans
in the final of the European Championship, the skeptics subsided. The Spaniards had someone to score even without Raul. The best scorer of the tournament was David Villa, Fernando Torres also performed well (for all previous mistakes El Niño was rehabilitated with accurate shots against Jens Lehmann) and Daniel Guiza. The time has come for total domination of the Spanish national team.
For the first time in history, the European Championship has moved so deep into the East of the European continent. Ukraine and Poland received the right to host matches at the forum and Donetsk, where five matches were played, became the easternmost city to ever host Euro matches. But Donetsk was not happy for the Ukrainian team.
At the Donbass Arena, Oleg Blokhin's team lost to the French and English, and therefore the victory over the Swedes in Kyiv (two phenomenal goals by Andrei Shevchenko) was completely worthless. One of the main sensations of the tournament was, perhaps, the semi-final victory of the Italians over the Germans. These were the moments of glory of the odious Mario Balotelli. But in the final, the Italians were unable to oppose anything to the super-powerful Spaniards - they lost 0:4.
For the third time in history, the European Championship was held on the fields of France. A historic tournament, because for the first time since its inception, 24 teams took part in the EURO finals. Thanks to the reform carried out by football officials, the teams of Albania, Hungary and Northern Ireland, exotic for this level, got a chance to join the holiday.
Wales and Iceland also made a breakthrough. And the respected Netherlands, on the contrary, found themselves left out of the competition. For the first time, Ukraine also passed through the Euro selection sieve (after all, in 2012 we took part in the tournament as co-hosts of the competition). However, directly in France, Mikhail Fomenko’s team failed.
The Ukrainians lost all their matches in the group, and the opening team of the tournament was Iceland and Wales. The latter reached the semi-finals, where he lost to the future winner of the Portuguese national team. Most believe that France deserved to win the tournament, but the Game decided differently.
Once again, 24 teams are in the EURO finals, but now the qualifying grid has changed. Instead of a playoff for third places in qualifying groups, the organizers organized an additional competition for unsuccessful participants in the League of Nations.
However, the main novelty took place in the plane of geography - 12 teams immediately received the right to be called the hosts of the tournament. Accordingly, almost half of the distribution of teams into groups became known even before the draw for the final part.
For the first time, the Finnish national team qualified for the Euro, and for the first time, football midgets like Kosovo or Georgia had the opportunity to get there. For the first time at the tournament, the VAR system will be used. And for the first time, the Ukrainian team qualified directly for the Euro (without playoffs or automatic qualification). Shevchenko's team had a powerful qualification, leaving behind the current European champions.