The France national football team, known as Les Bleus, represents one of the sport's most storied international footballing traditions. Governed by the Fédération Française de Football (FFF), the team played its first official international match in 1904, making it one of the founding nations of both FIFA and the modern international game. France was a co-founder of FIFA in 1904 and hosted the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1998, a tournament they won on home soil by defeating Brazil 3–0 in the final, with Zinedine Zidane scoring twice. That golden generation, built around players of extraordinary technical quality, also claimed the UEFA European Championship in 2000, completing a rare back-to-back of the two most prestigious international titles.
A second World Cup triumph followed in 2018 in Russia, where a squad blending youthful talent with experience defeated Croatia 4–2 in the final. That team, guided by coach Didier Deschamps himself a World Cup-winning captain in 1998, announced France as the dominant international force of their era. France also reached the 2022 World Cup final, ultimately losing to Argentina on penalties, underlining their sustained presence at the summit of world football.
Beyond World Cups, France has lifted the European Championship in 1984 under the influence of Michel Platini, and again in 2000. The team's identity is shaped by a rich tradition of producing technically refined, tactically intelligent players, and by a fierce competitive spirit forged through decades of rivalry with Germany, Italy, and Brazil on the international stage.