France are heading to North America. Absent from the 1994 FIFA World Cup™ held on USA soil, Les Bleus did not miss the opportunity to cross the Atlantic this time around.
Thanks to their win over Ukraine at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 13 November, they punched their ticket to FIFA World Cup 26™, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and USA. Winners of Russia 2018 and runners-up at Qatar 2022, France will compete in the world’s most prestigious competition for the eighth time in a row and the 17th time overall.
To secure their ticket to next year’s global showpiece, Les Bleus dominated Group D and qualified with a game to spare. Ahead of their final fixture in November, they had won four of their five matches, scoring 13 goals and conceding only three, with their only dropped points coming in a 2-2 draw away to Iceland.
Didier Deschamps’ men were able to count on a red-hot Kylian Mbappe to secure their qualification. After scoring against Iceland on 9 September, the France captain surpassed Thierry Henry (51 goals) in the ranking of the best scorers in Les Bleus history. With 55 goals to his name, he is now closing in on Olivier Giroud’s record of 57 and could even surpass him prior to the finals.
The qualifying campaign was also marked by Florian Thauvin’s return to the France squad. The 2018 World Cup winner made a successful comeback after a record 77-match absence, scoring a magnificent goal against Azerbaijan on 10 October. In the same match, another player stood out: Hugo Ekitike delivered a very promising performance in his first start for the national team, and went on to find the net against Ukraine.
The 2026 World Cup will see the French team compete in the prestigious tournament for the 17th time in its history. In their last appearance, at Qatar 2022, France came close to retaining their title, but ultimately fell to Argentina in one of the most memorable finals in the history of the competition.
Les Bleus were on top of the world at Russia 2018 after comfortably beating Croatia in the final, 20 years after their first home soil triumph. Then, they registered an unforgettable win in the final against Brazil at the Stade de France.
In addition to experiencing the thrill of triumphant successes, Les Tricolores have also enjoyed some great moments since their first appearance in 1930. At Sweden 1958, Raymond Kopa’s team-mates finished on the podium, carried by a stratospheric Just Fontaine: the Stade de Reims striker scored 13 goals in that edition, a single-tournament record that still stands today.
Michel Platini’s France also made their mark by finishing fourth in Spain in 1982 and third in Brazil in 1986. In 2006, under the influence of a Zinedine Zidane at the top of his game but sent off in the final minutes of the tournament in Germany, Les Bleus narrowly failed to clinch a second crown, defeated by Italy at the end of the night. Four years later, without ‘Zizou’, who had retired, France experienced one of its biggest disappointments at South Africa 2010: Raymond Domenech’s men were eliminated in the first round.
France at the FIFA World Cup
First appearance: 1930
Appearances: 17 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026)
Best result: Winners (1998, 2018)
