In September 1879 the French Football Association was founded. The team representing France did not have colors in their kit so they decided to play in a set of white shirts with black shorts and red socks. This color combination has remained ever since. In 1889, the USFSA became an official member of FIFA, and two years later, the cup was recognized as world football’s first national trophy; however, it is now considered unofficial by FIFA as the organization never accepted it. It is kept at the National Institute of Sport & Physical Education (INSEP) on Boulevard de Grenelle in Paris.
The domestic cups of France are the primary cup competitions for football teams in France. The main two that are competed for nationwide are the Coupe de France and the Trophée des Champions (Coupe Gambardella).
The French football player with the most caps is Lilian Thuram with 142. However, there are players who have earned more than him but are no longer active such as (Zinedine Zidane and Marcel Desailly who both have well over 150 appearances)
France has hosted three major international cups or tournaments so far; The FIFA World Cup twice 1958 and 1998, and Euro 2016. France also hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics at Paris’ Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir. They have hosted the August 1998 World Cup which was won by their biggest rivals Brazil 5–0, who received strong support from French fans during their games in Paris and Lens against Norway and Italy respectively (the majority of ticket holders for both matches being French).
While France has never finished outside of World Cup and Euro tournaments final 8, they have only ever reached one semi-final at the World Cup (1930) with three appearances in the quarter-finals without breaking through to reach a final match as hosts or non-hosts. The furthest they’ve gone at Euros is winning it on home soil when hosting Euro 2016.
The first rules were written by Dubois, Amer Labit, and Thomas Lindon during one evening at the Cosy Dormant café in Paris on 20 February 1872. The name “society” (football club) replaced the old word “club”, which until then had been used for any sports association or society. Later that year Dubois renamed his team Société Sportive de la Villa Primrose, which would later become “Sport Club Français” and eventually be known as “USFSA”.
France’s national football team is currently ranked 11th in FIFA’s world ranking and was ranked fourth when they hosted Euro 2016 which was won by France beating Portugal 1–0 after extra time in July at Stade de France. On 15 December 2017, Didier Deschamps signed a new contract that will keep him as coach until 2020.
The following players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Luxembourg on 24 March 2017 and Netherlands on 29 March 2017.
“Caps and goals updated as of 28 March 2017 after the match against Netherlands.”
The following players have been called up for France within the last 12 months.
The official title of the head coach has changed throughout time but it’s more or less remained “le président”. In French, this translates to “the president”. The term gérant translating into English as “manager”, although that is not an exact – or used – term in France.
Their cup history spans 114 years as they have made it to the final on 30 occasions with 18 wins compared to RCF Paris’s run of 31 appearances but only 15 victories like SM Caen who though haven’t won their league title yet despite being around for over 100 years has more silverware than most other teams in France.
French football champions are awarded the Coupe de France trophy to keep for the rest of their lives and have engraved names on it.