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]
The 1998 final was held on 12 July at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. France defeated holders Brazil 3–0, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and a stoppage time strike from Emmanuel Petit. The win gave France their first World Cup title, becoming the sixth national team after
Uruguay,
Italy,
England,
West Germany and
Argentina to win the tournament on their home soil. They also inflicted the heaviest defeat on Brazil since
1930.[11]
The pre-match build up was dominated by the omission of Brazilian striker
Ronaldo from the starting lineup only to be reinstated 45 minutes before kick-off.[12] He managed to create the first open chance for Brazil in the 22nd minute, dribbling past defender Thuram before sending a cross out on the left side that goalkeeper
Fabien Barthez struggled to hold onto. France however took the lead in the 27th minute after Brazilian defender
Roberto Carlos conceded a corner which Zidane scored with a header from the right.[13]
Three minutes before half-time, Zidane scored his second goal of the match, similarly another header from a corner, this time from the left side. The tournament hosts went down to ten men in the 68th minute as
Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second bookable offence. Brazil reacted to this by making an attacking substitution and although they applied pressure France sealed the win with a third goal: substitute
Patrick Vieira set up his club teammate Petit in a counterattack to shoot low past goalkeeper
Cláudio Taffarel.[14]
French president
Jacques Chirac was in attendance to congratulate and commiserate the winners and runners-up respectively after the match.[15] Several days after the victory, winning manager
Aimé Jacquet announced his resignation from the French team with immediate effect.[16][17][18]
Croatia had the majority of possession and chances early in the first half, with the ball staying mostly in France's half.[40][41] An attack by French midfielder
Antoine Griezmann was stopped by a challenge from
Marcelo Brozović, which was called as a foul despite claims that Griezmann
dived.[42][43][44] Griezmann took the ensuing 30-yard (27 m) free kick, which was diverted by the head of
Mario Mandžukić into the left corner of his own net to give France the lead in the 18th minute.[45] It was the first own goal to be scored in a World Cup final and the 12th of the tournament, the most of any World Cup.[46]
Ten minutes later, Croatia equalised with a left-footed strike by
Ivan Perišić to the right corner of the net, assisted by
Domagoj Vida after a free kick by
Luka Modrić on the right. In the 34th minute, a penalty was awarded against Croatia after Perišić's handball in the box from a corner on the right was reviewed by the
video assistant referee.[45] Griezmann scored the penalty in the 38th minute with a low finish to the left, giving France a 2–1 lead at half-time; the first half's three goals were the most of any World Cup final since
1974.[47] France led at half-time despite having only one shot on goal and with only 34% of possession.[46]
A Croatian counter-attack was stopped early in the second half after several
pitch invaders were chased onto the field by security officers; Russian feminist rock band and protest group
Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for the interruption.[48] In the 59th minute, France extended their lead to 3–1 with a left-foot strike to the left of the net from the edge of the penalty area by
Paul Pogba after his initial shot had been blocked. Six minutes later,
Kylian Mbappé scored France's fourth goal, with a low right-foot shot from outside the box to the left of the net; Mbappé became the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since
Pelé in
1958.[41] Croatia scored their second goal in the 69th minute from a back-pass that goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris failed to dribble away from Mandžukić, who poked the loose ball into the unguarded net with his right leg. Despite a late push by Croatia, the match finished as a 4–2 victory for France and the highest-scoring World Cup final since
1966.[40] This was the highest-scoring 90-minute World Cup final since 1958.[47]
Goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris holds the FIFA World Cup record for most matches played by a goalkeeper.
Goalkeeper
Fabien Barthez also shares the FIFA World Cup record for most matches without conceding a goal, which he achieved ten times. The only other player to have reached that number is England's
Peter Shilton.
Just Fontaine scored all his 13 World Cup goals in
1958, where France reached third place. This makes him record holder for most goals scored in a single FIFA World Cup. At the time, it also made him the most successful World Cup scorer of all time until the record was broken by West Germany's
Gerd Müller in the
World Cup final of 1974.
1 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). 2 Have been member of multiple confederations. 3 Team and national federation no longer exist.
1930
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1990
1994
1998
2002
2010
2014
2018
2022
2034
Denmark
Belgium
Australia
Austria
Croatia
Hungary
Northern Ireland
Poland
Yugoslavia
Czechoslovakia
Ecuador
Honduras
Kuwait
Nigeria
Peru
Scotland
Senegal
South Korea
Soviet Union
Togo
Tunisia
France
