France 2018 World Cup win

How many World Cups have France won? Documenting Les Blues' performances over the years!

France will be making its 16th World Cup appearance in Qatar's upcoming FIFA World Cup, which is set to kick off on November 21, 2022. After coming out on top in Group D of the UEFA FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Didier Deschamps' men directly qualified for the marquee event. They remained unbeaten during their qualifying campaign and won five out of the eight matches to finish with 18 points.

How many FIFA World Cups have France won?

France have won the World Cup on two occasions. Their first win came in 1998 and they bagged the trophy for the second time in 2018 in Russia.

When did France make their World Cup debut?

The Les Blues were one of the four European teams that travelled to Uruguay to take part in the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 1930. There was no qualification round for this edition of the World Cup. Every country affiliated with FIFA was invited to compete and given a deadline of 28 February 1930 to confirm their participation. However, they were ousted from the group stage after losing two of their three matches.

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France's 1998 World Cup triumph

France were the hosts of the 1998 World Cup and were one of the favourites to lift the trophy. In their very first match, they made their intentions clear as Zinedine Zidane and co. thrashed South Africa 3-0. In the second match, they bettered their performance and riding on a brace by Thierry Henry they beat Saudi Arabia 4-0. They progressed to the knockout stage winning all their matches and faced Paraguay in the Round of 16.

The South American nation put up a brave fight and held the hosts to a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes. It seemed that the contest would slip into tiebreakers but French centre back Laurent Blanc had other ideas. In the 114th minute, he broke the deadlock which fired France into the quarterfinals. In the last eight, they locked horns against Italy and after a goalless 120 minutes, the match went into tiebreakers. Luigi Di Biagio failed to convert the fifth strike while Blanc became the hero once again as he pierced the net to propel his team to the semifinals.

It was Croatia who were up next for France. Davor Suker put his team in front in the 46th minute but their lead was short-lived as Lillian Thuram equalised in the next minute. The right-back scored once again in the 70th minute to put France ahead for the first time in the match. However, with 14 minutes remaining they were down to 10-men after Blanc was shown a straight red for a challenge on Slaven Bilic inside the penalty box. The Croatians gave their all to equalise but failed to erase the deficit which saw them crashing out of the World Cup.

In the final, France went up against one of the tournament favourites in Brazil. However, it was a one-man show as Zidane put up one of the finest performances by a player in a World Cup final to fire France to a 3-0 win. He scored the first two goals while Emmanuel Petit added a late third in injury time. The current manager of France, Didier Deschamps, was the skipper of the team. With that France became the seventh different nation to win the tournament.

France's 2018 World Cup triumph

In 2018, France were the overwhelming favourites to lift the World Cup. They had a star-studded squad and Didier Deschamps was spoilt for choices in every position on the pitch. However, they had a nervy start to their World Cup campaign against Australia. The Les Blues had to rely on a penalty by Antoine Griezmann and an own goal from Aziz Behich to edge past the Socceroos in the first game. In the second game against Peru, they looked more in rhythm but far from a cohesive unit that could challenge for the trophy. However, a Kylian Mbappe strike in the 34th minute spared Deschamps the blushes. But in the third match, they were held to a 0-0 draw by Denmark. Yet they progressed to the knockout stage as group toppers with seven points from three matches.

In the Round of 16, they faced a stiff challenge against Argentina. Although Griezmann put his team in front in the 13th minute, they fell behind 2-1 in the 48th minute after conceding twice in a span of seven minutes. But it was once again Mbappe who rose to the occasion and scored a brace to bail out France. In the next round, they brushed aside Uruguay 2-0 quite comfortably with Raphael Varane and Griezmann registering their names on the scoresheet.

In the semifinals, France went up against Belgium. After a drab first half, Samuel Umtiti scored for France within six minutes of resumption. Thereafter, both sides churned out plenty of opportunities but failed to convert, which meant that Umiti's strike, early in the second half, remained the difference between the two sides.

France was in a World Cup final after 12 years and this time they had familiar foes in Croatia in front of them. Luka Modric and co. started with a lot of enthusiasm but a miscued clearance from Mario Mandzukic saw them trailing as early as the 18th minute. Although Perisic equalised before the half-hour mark, he handled the ball inside the box which helped France to get their nose in front once again after Griezmann converted from the spot.

Paul Pogba increased the lead in the 59th minute and six minutes later, Mbappe sealed the tie with another goal. This made the PSG frontman the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pelé in 1958. Although Mandzukic pulled one back, it was too little to stop France in their march to become World Champions for the second time.

France's record in FIFA World Cups

Year

Finish

Played

Won

Draw

Lost

GF

GA

1930

Group Stage

3

1

0

2

4

3

1934

Round of 16

1

0

0

1

2

3

1938

Quarter-Finals

2

1

0

1

4

4

1954

Group Stage

2

1

0

1

3

3

1958

Third place

6

4

0

2

23

15

1966

Group Stage

3

0

1

2

2

5

1978

Group Stage

3

1

0

2

5

5

1982

Fourth Place

7

3

2

2

16

12

1986

Third Place

7

4

2

1

12

6

1998

Champions

7

6

1

0

15

2

2002

Group Stage

3

0

1

2

0

3

2006

Runners-Up

7

4

3

0

9

3

2010

Group Stage

3

0

1

2

1

4

2014

Quarterfinals

5

3

1

1

10

3

2018

Champions

7

6

1

0

14

6

Total

Two Titles

66

34

13

19

120

77

Notable Records of France in FIFA World Cup

Record

Statistic

Debut Match

France 4-1 Mexico (July 15, 1930)

Biggest Win

Brazil 7-3 Paraguay (June 8, 1958)

Biggest Defeat

Brazil 5-2 France (June 24, 1958)

All France's World Cup Winning Managers

YearManagerCaptainGoalscorer(s) in Final
1998

Aime Jacquet

Didier Deschamps

Zidane (2), Petit.

2018

Didier Deschamps

Hugo Lloris

Mandzukic (og), Griezmann, Pogba, Mbappe

Top Goalscorers of France in FIFA World Cups

Player

Goals

Just Fontaine

13

Thierry Henry

6

Michel Platini
Zinedine Zidane

5

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