France at the FIFA World Cup

For the women's team, see France at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The French team celebrates their 2018 FIFA World Cup win in Russia after defeating Croatia 4–2 in the final.

This is a record of France's results at the FIFA World Cup. France was one of the four European teams that participated at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and have appeared in 16 FIFA World Cups, tied for the sixth most of any country.[1] The national team is one of eight to have won the FIFA World Cup title and one of only six to have done so more than once.[2]

The French team won its first World Cup title in 1998.[3] The tournament was played on home soil and France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the final match at the Stade de France.[4][5][6][7] The tournament was hosted in France once before in 1938, where France was eliminated by defending champions Italy in the quarter-finals. In 2018, France won the World Cup for the second time, defeating Croatia 4–2 in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Russia.[8]

In 2006 and 2022, France finished as runners-up, losing on penalties to Italy (5–3) and Argentina (4–2) after ties after 120 minutes. The team has also finished in third place on two occasions, in 1958 and 1986, and in fourth place once, in 1982.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Team Profile: France". ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  2. ^ "France's Day of Soccer Glory Arrives; Upset of Brazil in World Cup". The New York Times. 13 July 1998. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Zinedine Zidane: Face of multi-cultural France and star of Les Bleus' 1998 World Cup triumph". BBC Sport. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Where are they now? France's 1998 World Cup Winners". Goal.com. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  5. ^ "Host nation routs Brazilians 3-0 in World Cup final". Sports Illustrated. 1 December 1998. Archived from the original on August 19, 2000. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  6. ^ Allez les Bleus! The story of France's 1998 World Cup triumph ("A win for all of France"), ESPN, 8 June 2018
  7. ^ France's 'Rainbow Team' looks back at historic World Cup triumph, CNN, 6 July 2018
  8. ^ "France 4–2 Croatia". BBC Sport. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  9. ^ "1998 World Cup: Vive La Revolution!". CBC.ca. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  10. ^ "France 1998". BBC Sport. 17 April 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2013.