France National Football Team - A Little History

France made their entry into the international field of Football in 1903. The team, associated with the French Football Federation, goes under the nickname "Les Bleus" (The Blues) in France. Today, France's football team offers a high level of competition in matches - but believe it or not, the team used to be very modest, one that some would consider an "easy game". Their first international match was versus Belgium, and was a tie game. In 1930, France's national team was one of the four initial teams from Europe that participated in the inaugural World Cup. Nonetheless, at that time, France's team was still looked down upon as an easy defeat. In the mid 1950's, France did see some mild success, for once not being at the bottom of the standings.

Their first true experience at being a huge success came at the end of 1984. From December of 1984 to April of 1985, France was ranked number one in the Elo ranking categorization of football teams. This success was held out fairly well, and met another high point from May of 2001 to May of 2002, when the team from France sustained a FIFA ranking of number one; today, this number one FIFA ranking means more worldwide, as FIFA is an internationally recognizable organization.

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Perhaps most memorable for many people is France's win of the FIFA World Cup in 1998. Thirty two different teams, from five different confederations, competed through 64 matches. France won nearly every match that they competed in, and ended up taking the championship upon beating Brazil 0 to 3. Other awards given to the French football team during the 1998 FIFA World Cup include "Most Entertaining Team", and the "FIFA Fair Play" Trophy. The Stadium that the French Football team usually plays at is the "Stade de France", which was built in 1995 and opened during 1998. The construction of the stadium cost over 285 Million Euros. In fact, the stadium was built for the purpose of the 1998 FIFA world cup - it's both ironic and fitting that France would win the world cup at their own stadium the year that it opened. After the World Cup, the Stade de France has continuously been used for various football events, although for the majority of the year, the stadium is empty. The majority of events that France's team participates in at the Stade de France are won by the French team, partially owing to the home team advantage of having more frequent access to that field, as well as higher morale and support from the crowd.

France's team may still not be the most reputable team around, but from their humble beginnings they were able to rise into a team that is recognizable in many places around the world, and were even able to claim the glorious title of World Champions.

France National Football Team - A Little History

South Africa World Cup Prediction of Games - Saturday 26 June Afternoon Game - France V Nigeria

Two weeks in to the world cup we get to the first knock out games of the tournament. This is where tournament football is at its best. Extra time and penalties come into play if the teams are drawing and the excitement cannot be contained as both teams go for it from the start. No more bore draws. No more parking the bus in front of the goal.

The Winner of Group A will take on the Runner up of Group B.

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Group A consists of South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay and France. My prediction is that France will top the group with South Africa coming in second ahead of Mexico.

Group B consists of Argentina Nigeria South Korea and Greece. My prediction is that Argentina will head the group and Nigeria in second place.

The 15:00 game will be between France and Nigeria. What a game this is going to be. I can see this being a classic with attacking football from both the French and the Nigerians. Form says that France will win and I have to agree. It always seem that the big teams get the rub of the green. Maybe its an unconscious decision by the referee. France have great players in Frank Ribery and Thierry Henry. With those two on form I can see them having a great game against the Nigerians. France, winners of the World Cup on home soil in 1998 will have a lot of work to do in order to get past this excellent African team. We will have to wait and see. I predict that France will win in extra time.

South Africa World Cup Prediction of Games - Saturday 26 June Afternoon Game - France V Nigeria

France Has the 2016 Euro Cup, Beating Italy and Turkey

The 2016 Euro Cup will be held in France. They beat out Italy and Turkey after voting among UEFA members. Italy was knocked out of the running after the first round of voting. France then beat Turkey by one vote to host this event.

The French bid sited 12 stadiums and 11 new cities that would participate. Four of the stadiums will be brand new. France will be renovating seven stadiums for the football games. For those that may be confused, in Europe, football is what is known as soccer in the US.

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These games are highly competitive and emotional for fans and players alike. Just going to the Euro Cup is quite an honor. Getting to host one is a top honor. For European sports fans these football games mean as much to them as the Super Bowl means to United States sports fans.

In order for a team to qualify for the Euro Cup, they have to win a play-off game or qualifying spot. Which precedes them to the finals in the hosting country. The hosting country automatically plays in the Cup competition. This phase begins after the FIFA World Cup games.

The qualifying phase consists of groups. The groups are determined through a draw of teams from pre-seeded bowl games. Pre-seeded teams consist of reigning champions and other teams that performed well in the FIFA World Cup qualifying along with the previous European Football Championship qualifiers.

These groups then play according to the league format of playing each other both at home and away. From this format teams will either proceed to the final tournament games, or other playoff games, depending where they are in the group. In the event of a tie, then the UEFA uses criteria like, number of goals scored per team and fair play to determine which team is on which side.

These teams put all their strength and heart into each game they play. Watching the games can be heartbreaking and exhilarating. They are filled with non-stop action, much like American football. Watching these teams fight for position, a viewer can almost feel what the teams are going through.

In the past, 16 teams proceeded to the finals. In 2016 for the first time ever, there will be 24 teams. If a person loves to watch European football, the 2016 Euro Cup games should be quite exciting.

France Has the 2016 Euro Cup, Beating Italy and Turkey

France, Winning the 2010 World Cup?

June 11, 2010, will mark a very illustrious day in the history of soccer. 32 countries from all over the world will come together in South Africa for the 19th installment of the biggest stage in soccer, The FIFA World Cup. Similar to the Olympics, The World Cup is held every four years, making this event even more prominent. All 32 teams have traveled to "The Rainbow Nation" with hopes and dreams of victory but only one team will arise to grip "The Jules Rimet Trophy" and endure the glory of becoming the soccer champions of the world.

Of these 32 countries competing in South Africa, there are a few countries that have emerged as favorites to become eventual World Cup Champions. The number one favorite to take "The Cup" home are the notorious Brazil, who already have five World Cup titles under their belt and Spain, who had a tremendous showing in the Euro 2008. Other teams in the mix are Argentina, who has an outstanding offensive weapon in Lionel Messi and Italy, who were the champions of the 2006 World Cup.

Looking over The FIFA World Rankings, I was surprised by how low the finalists of the 06' World Cup were. France, led by Thierry Henry and Franck Ribery are the number 10 ranked team, according to FIFA. To me, Les Bleus shouldn't just have a higher ranking; they should also be seen as genuine title contenders. The Blues have a very strong squad going into this year's World Cup, despite suffering disheartening losses to Spain and China in their International Friendly Matches. With all that being said, it is still difficult to overlook this star studded French team. With emerging young talents like Gael Clichy and Mathieu Valbuena, along with a whole flock of experienced veterans like accomplished midfielder, Florent Malouda, rejuvenated striker, Nicolas Anelka, and the quick magician, Franck Ribery, France is a force to be reckoned with.

One thing The Blues can look forward to after their lackluster performance in their International Friendlies is a clean injury list. Many countries have suffered a devastating injury to at least one of their players. Some of the most heartbreaking injuries have come to Ivory Coast's striker Didier Drogba and Germany's Michael Ballack, both captains of their international squads. The injury to Drogba has probably been the most agonizing injury due to his significance to the Ivory Coast team. Drogba is considered one of the best strikers in the world, playing for the British club team, Chelsea, and scoring 29 goals to lead Chelsea to a Premier League title. No offense to the proficient Michael Ballack, but Drogba is much more critical to his team. It has been well-documented that the Germans have a much deeper roster than the Ivory Coast. Germany can still make a run at The World Cup with talented strikers like Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose, and can still control the middle of the pitch with Bastian Shweinsteiger but The Ivory Coast, without their best player, find themselves struggling to find a leader. The Ivory Coast losing Drogba would be like if the Indianapolis Colts American Football team lost their star and leader, Peyton Manning. When an impact player of that caliber suddenly gets injured at the blink of an eye, it could leave a team in shatters. Hopefully, the players can pick up the pieces and come together to play their hearts out, regardless of the massive hit they took.

With France having the luxury of an untarnished injury list, Coach Raymond Domenech and the players can focus on their first match against Uruguay with no distractions. France is in Group A with Mexico, Uruguay, and the host nation, South Africa. While on paper, it looks like France will move on through the group stage effortlessly, but let's not forget about France's early departure from the group stage in the 2002 World Cup. With a talented Uruguay team, motivated Mexican squad, and a galvanized South African team playing on home soil, France cannot play as mediocre as they did in their Friendly matches or else they can expect to be watching the knockout stages of the World Cup back at home.

With the motivation to prove critics wrong, France should move through the group stage suffering at most, one loss to either Uruguay or Mexico. With that being said, France's opening match is against Uruguay and that could set the stage for what will happen throughout Group A. Everyone has learned from the 2006 World Cup that once France gets on a roll, they are almost unbeatable but if France endures an early loss, it could mean disaster, as was seen in the 2002 World Cup when they lost their opening round match to Senegal and didn't even qualify for the knockout rounds.

The Blues are able to match up well with any team and while they faced much frustration in Euro 2008 and the Pre-Cup Friendlies, I believe that they have come to South Africa with something to prove. While France lacks big-name stars like Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi, France is successful because of their discipline and teamwork.

There is no doubt that France has the talent and soccer IQ to bring home their second World Cup, they just have to become more efficient because once the World Cup has started, everyone is striving for the same goal and the teams that get flustered is very unlikely to receive a second chance. Do not overlook The Blues, this is a very solid squad that is filled with vengeance. To come so close to a World Cup and lose to rival Italy in penalty kicks will leave an extremely sour taste in your mouth. France has been pondering their heartbreaking loss for four years and the moment they have been waiting for has finally arrived!

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Will France Win the 2010 World Cup?

France are another country that have a strong chance of winning the World Cup. They have won it previously, in 1998, when they hosted the competition.

Here's why they might win it again.

1. There are a whole host of French players in the Premier League, who also have European club competition experience.

2. Defenders Patrice Evra, of Manchester United, and Arsenal's Bacary Sagna will have a lot to do defensively as they need to ensure that they get out of their group that also contains, Mexico, Uruguay and the hosts, South Africa.

3. The veteran midfielder, Patrick Viera, who is currently at Manchester City, is in with a chance of representing his country in South Africa this year. Another likely player is Chelsea's Florent Malouda who is a competent left winger who can also score goals as well as set them up.

4. Nicolas Anelka, or Le Sulk, as he's known by some people, is a striker with a lot of experience at the highest level. Currently at Chelsea, he's playing well, and will want to score at this tournament.

5. Louis Saha is another forward who is having a resurgence. After leaving Manchester United for Everton, he's in a rich vein of form, and can be relied on to score goals when it matters.

6. Barcelona's Thierry Henry is still held in the highest regard not just by Arsenal fans, but by fans of all teams. His sublime skills, speed and accuracy in front of goal makes him a pleasure to watch, and gives France a real chance of doing well at the 2010 World Cup.

7. Franck Ribery is a player who has been linked with many clubs this season. Whether he stays at Bayern Munich, or moves to a different club, might depend on his performance in South Africa. With his pace, and accuracy on the left wing, it's not surprising he's such a valuable player for France.

8. Other important French players include defenders Rod Fanni and Julien Escude, midfielders Lassana Diara, Moussa Sissoko, and forwards, Sidney Govou and Karim Benzema. If these players are all on form, then France really do have a fantastic chance of adding another World Cup to their collection.

9. Manager Raymond Domenech isn't well liked by all, and has left out some key players in his time, but hopefully, he and the team, will get everything right when it matters.

10. France are a really exciting team to watch, and their pace and precision means that they are capable of scoring goals, and also defending well. With many players of turning a game, they must be one of the favourites to win the World Cup.

Now you know more about their team, and their chances, do you think France will win the 2010 World Cup?

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