Top 10 Moments the History of Les Bleus, French National Soccer Team

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The French national soccer team has a long and storied history. Their nickname is Les Bleus. They are one of the oldest and most successful national soccer federations in the world. With that in mind, check out below for the top 10 moments in the history of the French National soccer team.

#10. France Scored the First Goal in the First FIFA World Cup

The French national soccer team holds the distinction for being the first team to score a goal in the first FIFA World Cup held in 1930 in Uruguay. The famous French football player Lucien Laurent scored the goal in a 4-1 win over Mexico.

According to Laurent, “We were playing Mexico and it was snowing, since it was winter in the southern hemisphere. One of my team mates centred the ball and I followed its path carefully, taking it on the volley with my right foot. Everyone was pleased but we didn’t all roll around on the ground – nobody realised that history was being made. A quick handshake and we got on with the game. And no bonus either; we were all amateurs in those days, right to the end.”^[1]FIFA – A historical link with the Franche-Comté

#9. First Black Player on the Team

The French national soccer team was one of the first European teams to start integrating their team. In fact, in 1931, one year after appearing in the first FIFA World Cup, Raoul Diagne, of Senegalese descent, was the first black player to earn his spot on the team.^[2]AFRIK – Raoul Diagne est parti

Raoul Diagne later went on to play for the French National soccer team in the 1938 World Cup. By that time, the team also had Larbi Benbarek, who was of North African descent.

#8. The Golden Generation and a Historic Number of Goals

The 1950s was the Golden Generation of the French National soccer team. Some of the best French soccer players to ever play were on the team at this time including, Armand Penverne, Jean Vincent, Just Fontaine, Maryan wisnieski, Raymond Kopa, Robert Jonquet, and Thadée Cisowski.

During this decade, France had one of its best showings in the FIFA World cup by reaching the semi-finals where they lost to Brazil. In their 3rd place match up against West Germany, they won 6-3. During the tournament Fontaine scored 4 goals bringing his tournament total to 13. In the process is recorded a FIFA World Cup total score record that still stands to this day.^[3]ESPN – France legend Fontaine blasts forwards

#7. Won First World Cup in 1998

One of the greatest moments for the French National soccer team was their first FIFA World Cup victory in 1998. What made it even better was that French soccer players won the game on home soil at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. In fact, they were only the 6th team in FIFA World Cup hisotry to due so after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany, and Argentina. In addition, they defeated Brazil, a football powerhouse 3-0. At the time, it was the worst defeat in Brazilian World Cup history. Only later in 2014, when Germany defeated them 7-1, was it beat.^[4]FIFA – Brazil vs. Germany

#6. Held both the World Cup and Euro Titles at the Same Time

After their first FIFA World Cup victory, the French National soccer team continued to see success. In fact, lead by the Zinedine Zidane, the FIFA World Player of the Year, they won the Euro 2000 Tournament. They were the first team since the 1974 West Germany team to hold both the World Cup and Euro Cup titles at the same time. Needless to say, they were the best team in the world at the time, and were ranked number one in the FIFA World Rankings.^[5]BBC – The world rankings riddle

#5. Zidane’s Headbutt in the 2006 World Cup Final

By the 2006 World Cup final, Zinedine Zidane was already a French national soccer team veteran, hero, and legend. In fact, he had already announced that he would retire shortly after. However, he nearly tarnished his whole career and reputation in his last match the 2006 World Cup final between France and Italy.

Zidane was thrown off the field for headbutting Marco Materazzi, of the Italian national football team, in the chest. It was a national disaster. Newspapers in France such as Le Figaro were calling his actions “odious” and L’Equipe was asking, “What should we tell our children, for whom you have become an example for ever? … How could that happen to a man like you?”^[6]The Guardian – World Cup stunning moments: Zinedine Zidane’s head-butt

However, through interviews, it was later found out that Marco materazzi had insulted Zidane’s sister. Zidane even said that he could never apologize for what he did nor could he have lived with himself if he hadn’t done it. Fortunetly, for Zidane, he did not ruin his reputation through this one act. In fact, upon returning to France after the 2006 World Cup final, 61% of the French public said they had already forgiven him.

#4. Representing multi-ethnic France

One of the greatest moments and legacies of the French National soccer team is its representation of a mult-ethnic France. In fact, this has been something that has been part of its identity since its beginning. Players from former French colonies were included on the team.

During the 1990s, the French National soccer team was highly regarded as a perfect example of French social integration and a multicultural France. In fact, of the 23 French soccer players on the team, they could place their origins back to at least 13 different countries including: Algeria, Armenia, Algeria, Guadeloupe, New Caledonia, Argentina, Ghana, Senegal, Italy, French Guiana, Portugal, Martinique, and of course France.^[7]Verbatim de l‘émission Some of these famous players that can trace their orgins back from either one or even both of their parents include: Claude Makélélé, David Trezeguet, Eric Cantona, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jean Tigana, Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappé, Manuel Amoros, Michel Platini, Patrick Vieira, Samir Nasri, and Zinedine Zidane.

However, even in France, a country known for its extreme tolerance, the multiracial nature of the French National team has not always gone so well. In fact, in 1998, Jean-Marie Le Pen from the right wing National Front political party, said that the French National soccer team did not look sufficiently French.

#3. November 2015 Paris attacks

One of the worst and scariest moments for the French National soccer team and all of France was the November 2015 Islamic terrorist attacks in Paris. During a friendly match between the French National soccer team and Germany, 3 groups of terrorists attempted to enter the Stade de France. The French President at the time, François Hollande, was also at the stadium at the time watching the match. They ended up detonating two bomb vests 3 of the entrances of the stadium at the 20th and 23rd minutes of the match.

In order to keep the calm, the players completed the game. After the game, the fans went out of the unaffected stadium entrances. Those who couldn’t get out right away, were escorted down to the playing field and had to wait. In addition, the French National soccer team waited with the Germany team until everything was safe.^[8]The Guardian – France players praised for staying with Germany team in Stade de France

#2. First Team to Win the 3 Most Important FIFA Titles

The French National soccer team was the first national soccer team to win the 3 most important FIFA soccer titles. They did this by winning the 1998 World Cup, the Confederations Cup in 2001, and Olympic tournament in 1984. Since then, only two other national teams have managed to do this, Argentina after the 2004 Olympics and Brazil after the 2016 Olympics.^[9]FIFA – 2005/2006 season: final worldwide matchday to be 14 May 2006

#1. France Wins Its Second World Cup Title

One of the greatest moments in the history of the French National soccer team happened just recently. On July 15, 2018, they won the 2018 FIFA World Cup. France beat Croatia in the final 4-2.

The final match saw some history made. First, Didier Deschamps, the coach for the French national soccer team, became the 3rd man to win the World Cup as both player and coach. The only two other men to ever do this were Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer.^[10]The Telegraph – France win World Cup 2018 final in breathless six-goal thriller against Croatia

In addition, the final game was the highest scoring game in the FIFA World Cup. The previous one was the 4-2 match in 1966 when England beat West Germany.