England vs France 1976 Euro Qualifier

Lore & Background

Founded in 1904, the national team has won two FIFA World Cups, two UEFA European Championships, one CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, two FIFA Confederations Cups and one UEFA Nations League title. France was one of the four European teams that participated in the first World Cup in 1930. Twenty-eight years later, the team led by Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine finished in third place at the 1958 World Cup. France experienced much of its success in three different eras: in the 1980s, the late 1990s to early 2000s, and the late 2010s to early 2020s.

In Their Own Story

The rain slicked the pitch as the teams emerged from the tunnel, the roar of the crowd drowning out the pre-match anthems. Michel Hidalgo paced the sideline, his eyes fixed on the midfield battle that would decide the game's tempo. As the whistle blew, the French players moved with a fluidity that unsettled their English counterparts, weaving through defenses with intricate passes. In a moment of pure tension, a French midfielder turned away from pressure, looking upfield to find an opening, embodying the very essence of the new French style Hidalgo had fought so hard to instill.

Reader's Guide

In the early to mid-1980s, under the leadership of the three-time Ballon d'Or winner Michel Platini, France won Euro 1984 (its first official title), a CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup (1985), and reached two consecutive World Cup semi-finals (1982 and 1986). During the captaincy of Didier Deschamps, with Zinedine Zidane being the star player, Les Bleus won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. They also won the Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003. Three years later, France made it to the final of the 2006 World Cup, losing 5–3 on penalties to Italy. A decade later, the team reached the final of Euro 2016, where they lost 1–0 to Portugal in extra time. Two years after that, France won the 2018 World Cup, its second title in that competition. After winning the 2021 Nations League, they became the first, and so far, the only European national team to have won every senior FIFA and UEFA competition. In 2022, France reached a second consecutive World Cup final, losing to Argentina in a penalty shoot-out.

Did You Know?

• France is one of two countries, the other being Brazil, to have won every FIFA men's 11-player competition at every age level.
• Lucien Laurent scored the first goal in World Cup history in 1930.
• Just Fontaine's 13 goals in the 1958 World Cup remain a single-tournament record.
• France shares historic footballing rivalries with Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Argentina.