Did you Know?
During the Kirin Cup 94 Barthez made his debut with France National Team on 26 May 1994 against Australia. Though Barthez was understudy to Bernard Lama at UEFA Euro 1996 – at which France reached the semi-finals – he gained the number one goalkeeping position shortly afterwards and would not relinquish it for a decade.
World Cup 98
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men’s national association football teams. It was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the second time that France staged the competition (the first was in 1938), and the ninth time that it was held in Europe. Qualification for the finals began in March 1996 and concluded in November 1997. For the first time in the competition, the group stage was expanded from 24 teams to 32, with eight groups of four. A total of 64 matches were played in 10 stadiums located across 10 different host cities, with the opening match and final staged at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis. The tournament was won by France, who beat defending champions Brazil 3–0 in the final. France won their first title, becoming the seventh nation to win a World Cup, and the sixth (after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina) to win the tournament on home soil. Croatia, Jamaica, Japan and South Africa made their first appearances in the finals. Austria, England, Scotland and Yugoslavia returned after missing the 1994 tournament.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa World Cup “FRANCE 98”
France vs Italy
Match Worn Shirt
Petit Emmanuel
The Barthez–Blanc head-kissing ritual performed at the start of the game against Italy.
Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Emmanuel Petit during the Fifa World Cup “FRANCE 98” game between France and Italy which took place in Saint-Denis, “Stade de France”, on July 3rd 1998. France defeated Italy to the penalties qualifying for the semi-finals. Playing for the France national team, Petit earned 63 caps and scored six international goals in his career and won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He scored twice in the 1998 World Cup, the first from a powerful shot from just outside the box against Denmark, which turned out to be the match winner, and a second in the final against Brazil. The goal he scored in the final was particularly memorable, as he had embarked on an optimistic run across field before calmly slotting in the goal in the final minute of regular time. That same goal happened to be the 1,000th goal in the history of the French Football Federation, and the last World Cup goal of the 20th century. France won the match 3–0. An earlier Petit corner kick had set up Zinedine Zidane’s header for France’s first goal. Petit was also part of the 2002 World Cup squad, though France failed to advance past the group stages and failed to score a single goal in three matches during their defence of the trophy. Petit retired from international football in September 2003.
Did you Know?
The 1998 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that was played on 12 July 1998 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis to determine the winner of the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The final was contested by Brazil, who were the defending champions having won the previous FIFA World Cup four years earlier in 1994, and the host nation France, who had reached the final of the tournament for the first time. France won the match 3–0 to claim the World Cup for the first time, with the timing of the match two days before Bastille Day adding to the significance of the victory. Zinedine Zidane, who was named man of the match, scored twice before half-time and Emmanuel Petit added a third goal in the last minute. The match had an attendance in the region of 75,000. On their way to the final, defending champions Brazil, coached by their former player Mário Zagallo, recorded victories over Scotland (2–1) and Morocco (3–0) to top their group with 6 points from three matches, suffering a surprise 2–1 defeat at the hands of Norway in their final group game. After a 4–1 win over Chile and a 3–2 success against Denmark, they reached the final with a penalty shoot-out victory over the Netherlands. As for France, they won their three group matches and defeated Paraguay in the knockout stages on golden goals. They had a penalty-shootout with Italy in the quarter-finals, and defeated recently formed Croatia to reach the final. The match also saw speculation on the condition of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who suffered a convulsive fit on the eve of the match. After initially being left out of the team sheet, in spite of his physical state, it was announced just 72 minutes before kick-off that he was going to play. In the match, he sustained an injury in a clash with French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez. Although it was believed that the decision to play Ronaldo had backfired, it was understandable as the player had been a crucial member of the side throughout the tournament, having scored four goals and created three more. For Brazil, this marked only the second time that they had lost a World Cup final, following their 2–1 upset loss to Uruguay in the de facto final of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The 3–0 scoreline was also Brazil’s previous largest loss at any World Cup match prior to their 7–1 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa World Cup “FRANCE 98”
France vs Brazil
Match Worn Shirts
Deschamps Didier
Watch France vs Brazil Highlights above
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa World Cup “FRANCE 98”
France vs Brazil
Player’s Warm Up Shirt
Things to Know:
This shirt was made for the team together with some other models of polo shirts before the World Cup Final. It is the regular shirt that the used for all of the World Cup period with an extra embroidery on chest. Another curious thing is that the French Federation had only few player’s shirts left in stock before the World Cup Final with the regular World Cup embroidery so just before the game there were made 2 sets of player’s shirts with “FIFA WORLD CUP FRANCE 98” printed on chest and not embroidered. The shirt that were used for the game were embroidered but player’s extra sets were iron printed. Below there are the two versions. Embroidered and printed. And both of them are considered player’s shirts.
Didier Deschamps Shirt with embroidered details
Didier Deschamps Shirt with iron printed details
Did You Know?
“The Cup of Life” (Spanish: La Copa de la Vida) is a song recorded by Ricky Martin. It was released on March 9, 1998, as the second single from Vuelve (1998). “The Cup of Life” became the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and topped the charts in many countries around the world. The music video to “The Cup of Life” was shot by Wayne Isham in 1998 in a concert in Puerto Rico and later aired in April 1998. In the video, Martin performs the song energetically before a sold out concert audience. The music video to the Spanish version of the song, known as “La Copa de la Vida”, basically consists of the performance in “The Cup of Life” video, but starts with Martin kicking a soccer ball to the screen while being filmed, presumably for the song’s video. This video is also interspersed by added scenes of the audience singing and dancing to the song, plus shots of different soccer players playing during the FIFA World Cup, which in turn are being projected onto a wall while Martin sometimes poses before it.
Euro 2000
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organised by UEFA, association football’s governing body in Europe. The finals of Euro 2000 were co-hosted (the first time this happened) by Belgium and the Netherlands, between 10 June and 2 July 2000. Spain and Austria also bid to host the event. The final tournament was contested by 16 nations. With the exception of the national teams of the hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands, the finalists had to go through a qualifying round to reach the final stage. France won the tournament, by defeating Italy 2–1 in the final, via a golden goal. The finals saw the first major UEFA competition contested in the King Baudouin Stadium (formerly the Heysel Stadium) since the events of the 1985 European Cup Final and the Heysel Stadium disaster, with the opening game being played in the rebuilt stadium. A high-scoring tournament with many exciting matches and a very high standard of play, Euro 2000 is often named by football writers as one of the greatest-ever international tournaments.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Euro 2000
France vs Portugal
Match Worn Shirt
Candela Vincent
Did you Know?
For France, Candela was capped 40 times between 1996 and 2003, scoring five goals. His playing time was often limited by Bixente Lizarazu, but he did play in one match during France’s 1998 FIFA World Cup triumph on home soil. During France’s triumphant Euro 2000 campaign, Candela played two matches, both as a starter. He also played for France at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, and at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Things to Know:
France-Portugal was the first of the Euro 2000 semi-finals. It ended in a controversy after France beat Portugal in sudden-death extra-time with a penalty from Zinedine Zidane awarded on the say-so of a Slovakian linesman. With the match six minutes away from a penalty shootout Igor Sramka drew the Austrian referee Günter Benko’s attention to what he saw as a handball by Abel Xavier, Portugal’s Everton right-back, who appeared to drop his left hand to intercept a narrow-angle shot from Sylvain Wiltord by the near post.Play was delayed by at least three minutes as Portugal, their players and bench, raged at Benkö and Sramka. Luis Figo appeared to have left the scene in disgust, taking off his shirt, but returned seconds before Zidane drove the ball into the roof of the net and France to Rotterdam for the Final against Italy.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Euro 2000
France vs Portugal
Match Worn Shorts
Candela Vincent
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
EURO 2000
France vs Italy
Match Worn Shirt
Djorkaeff Youri
Did you Know?
Djorkaeff accumulated 82 caps and scored 28 goals for France at senior level between 1993 and 2002. Other than the two major tournaments he won with the national side – the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 – Djorkaeff also played for his country in UEFA Euro 1996 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Did you Know?
The UEFA Euro 2000 Final was a football match played on 2 July 2000 at Feijenoord Stadion in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to determine the winner of UEFA Euro 2000. France won the match, defeating Italy 2–1. Marco Delvecchio gave Italy the lead in the 55th minute and they held on until the final minute of injury time, when Sylvain Wiltord crashed a low drive past Italian keeper Francesco Toldo to take the game into extra time. France won the game just before half-time in extra-time when Robert Pirès cut the ball back for David Trezeguet to fire the golden goal and win the tournament for France.
Did you Know?
The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Final was a football match to determine the winners of the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. The match was held at Yokohama International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan, on 10 June 2001 and was contested by Japan and France. France won the match 1–0 with the only goal coming after thirty minutes when Patrick Vieira headed in over the advancing keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi from the edge of the penalty area after a long pass from Frank Leboeuf in midfield.
Things to Know:
Usually all of the France team’s shirts had the match details embroidered on chest. So it was for the Confederation Cup 2001 as well. But only for the Final game the team didn’t have the match details under the FFF logo but it only had a more generic “COUPE DES CONFEDERATIONS COREE JAPON 2001″without any match details.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Scotland vs France
1999/2000
Match Worn & Signed Shirt
Desailly Marcel
Things to Know:
This shirt was worn by Marcel Desailly during the friendly game between Scotland and France which took place in Glasgow, Hampden Park, on March 29th 2000. France defeated Scotland 2-0. The shirt is still unwashed as visible from the recognizable stains on the chest and it was given by the player to a friend of him, who we got it from. The shirt is signed and dedicated.
Did you Know?
Desailly has often said that he feels totally French and while having ties with Ghana, never even considered playing for a country other than France. This stance was restated in his autobiography, published in 2002. He made his international debut in 1993, but was not established as a first choice defender until 1996. He was an important part of the French team which won the 1998 FIFA World Cup, albeit being sent off in the final match. Like other team members, he was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 1998. Two years later success continued, as France won Euro 2000. After the tournament, Desailly was made captain of the national team, following the retirement of Didier Deschamps. In 2001, he led France to victory in the Confederations Cup. In April 2003, Desailly surpassed the record for the number of appearances for the French team, a number which eventually reached 116 when he announced his retirement from international football following 2004 UEFA European Football Championship. However, that record was broken during the 2006 FIFA World Cup by Lilian Thuram.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa World Cup “KOREA & JAPAN 2002”
France vs Denmark
Match Worn Shirt
Zidane Zinedine
Did you Know?
As reigning world and European champions, France entered the 2002 World Cup as favourites but a thigh injury prevented Zidane from playing in France’s first two matches and without their talisman, the French team failed to score in either match. He was rushed back prematurely for the third game despite not being fully fit, but could not prevent France from being ignominiously eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single goal; the worst performance by a defending champion in the history of the competition.
Things to Know:
The Fifa World Cup 2002 had several upsets and surprise results which included the defending champions France being eliminated in the group stage after earning a single point. France took on Senegal, Uruguay, and Denmark. The World Cup started with a 1–0 defeat of France, playing without the injured Zinedine Zidane, by tournament newcomers Senegal in the tournament’s opening match held in Seoul, South Korea. France were held to a 0–0 draw in Busan by Uruguay after star striker Thierry Henry was sent off. A 2–0 defeat by Denmark in their last group game in Incheon sealed France’s elimination in the World Cup. The world champions went out of the Cup without even managing to score a goal and earned the unwanted record of the worst World Cup performance by a defending champion
Things to Know:
The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivien Foé, who died of heart failure in his side’s semi-final against Colombia. Foé’s death united the France and Cameroon teams in the final match, which was played even though team players from both sides had explicitly stated that the match should not be played out of respect for Foé. France went on to win the trophy with a golden goal from Thierry Henry.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Confederation Cup 2003
France vs Colombia
Match Worn Shirt
Gallas William
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Confederation Cup 2003
France vs New Zealand
Match Worn Shirt
Kapo Olivier
Things to Know:
At the presentation of medals and trophies, two Cameroon players held a gigantic photo of Foé, and a runner-up medal was hung to the edge of the photo too. When French captain Marcel Desailly was presented with the Confederations Cup, he did not lift it up high, but held it in unison with Cameroon captain Rigobert Song. Foé finished third in media voting for player of the tournament and was posthumously awarded the Bronze Ball at its conclusion.
Did you Know?
Fifa’s centenary has been done with all the branding brilliance of Manchester United – everything from coffee table books, cufflinks, gold ingots, medals and coins to Fifa pins, pens, umbrellas and mouse pads – and last night France v Brazil. The World Cup holders came to Paris to play the European champions here in Saint-Denis to remind us all that the likes of Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, pictured left teasing Juninho Pernambucano, command a status to which successive Fifa presidents, from the initiating Robert Guérin to Sepp Blatter, cannot aspire. The game, on the eve of today’s 100th anniversary of the world body’s founding, finished a 0-0 draw, the same score as in the first international between Scotland and England in 1872. But the magical footwork of Zidane and Ronaldo, Thierry Henry and Roberto Carlos, said more about the beautiful game for the stadium-record 79,344 crowd than all the assembled dignitaries. “Of course, it’s a 0-0 draw . . . but it does not feel like it,” the Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said.France’s Marcel Desailly and Claude Makelele were booed by the crowd for their unsporting behaviour in Chelsea’s Champions League match in Monaco.On the field France began in a replica of the kit from their first match in 1904 – blue shirts with collars, a belt and long cream shorts with red socks. Brazil wore white shirts with lace-up collars and long white shorts with blue socks from 1914. In the second half both teams went back to their classic kits with extra badge on sleeve to celebrate the event.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa Centennial Match
France vs Brazil
Match Worn Shirt
Micoud Johan
Did you Know?
Zinedine Zidane alongside with other Adidas testimonials like Ricardo Kaka, David Beckham, Oliver Kahn…was the starring of Adidas Euro 2004 commercial. With his France Team’s kit was shot on a vintage Piaggio Vespa’s in a so called “Road to Portugal” campaign.
Watch above the “Road to Portugal” commercial
Did you Know?
Although ranked first in the world, France failed spectacularly in the 2002 World Cup, crashing out in the group stage without scoring a single goal, despite David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry and Djibril Cissé being the top goalscorers respectively in Serie A, the Premier League and Ligue 1 that season. The failure was then followed up by a quarter-final exit at Euro 2004 at the hands of unheralded Greece with Trezeguet scoring just one goal in the tournament in a 2–2 draw against Croatia.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Euro 2004
Signed Ball
Things to Know:
Adidas Roteiro, commonly known as Roteiro, was the official match ball of the UEFA Euro 2004 championships in Portugal. “Roteiro” means “road map” or “navigation chart” in Portuguese and is a reference to the discoveries made by the Portuguese in the 15th and 16th century. It is made by Adidas and it was presented on 1 December 2003 in Lisbon. For the first time in a major football tournament, every single ball at the Euro 2004 was personalized to each game. The Roteiro balls had inscribed the name of the teams playing, the date, the name of the stadium, and the longitude and latitude of the center spot of the pitch. It was the first ball to feature an innovative thermal-bonding production technique developed by Adidas. Adidas supplied 2,300 balls for games and training sessions for the tournament.
Fifa World Cup “GERMANY 2006”
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation, Germany, for the finals tournament. It was the second time that Germany staged the competition (the first was in 1974 as West Germany and also a re-FIFA World Cup), and the tenth time that it was held in Europe. Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title. They defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place. Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Serbia and Montenegro, Trinidad and Tobago, and Togo made their first appearances in the finals.The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament. The final attracted an estimated audience of 715.1 million people. The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the World Cup in 1994, 2002, and 1990. As the winner, Italy represented the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa World Cup “GERMANY 2006”
Match Issued Shirt
Chimbonda Pascal
Things to Know:
This kind of embroidery with match details circled embroidered below the FFF logo on chest was never used during the World Cup. This is the usual embroidery used by the team before and after the World Cup but not for this event. For the World Cup it was used a one-of-a-kind embroidery with F.F.F. circled embroidered below the cock (which is pretty uncommon as F.F.F. never appears on match shirts in the past years) and match details below it. This is something that was probably decided just before the World Cup as first games shirts were prepared with the classic embroidery as it is this Chimbonda’s shirt prepared for the game against Togo National Team.
Did you Know?
The 2006 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 9 July 2006 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany, to determine the winner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Italy beat France on penalties after the match finished 1–1 after extra time. France’s Zinedine Zidane was sent off in his last-ever match, for headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi’s chest in retaliation to Materazzi’s verbal provocation. The final started with each side scoring within the first 20 minutes. Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring by converting a controversial seventh-minute penalty kick, conceded by Marco Materazzi, which glanced off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal. Materazzi then levelled the scores in the 19th minute, a header from six yards following an Andrea Pirlo corner from the right. Both teams had chances to score the winning goal in normal time: Luca Toni hit the crossbar in the 35th minute for Italy, later having a header disallowed for offside, while France were not granted a possible second penalty in the 53rd minute when Florent Malouda went down in the box after a cover tackle from Gianluca Zambrotta. France appeared to be the side with better chances to win because of the higher number of shots on goal. They were unable to capitalize, however, and the score remained at one goal each. At the end of the regulation 90 minutes, the score was still level at 1–1, and the match was forced into extra time. Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon made a potentially game-saving save in extra time when he tipped a Zidane header over the crossbar. As Zidane and Materazzi were jogging up the pitch close to each other, they briefly exchanged words after Materazzi was seen tugging at Zidane’s jersey before Zidane began to walk away from him. Moments later, Zidane suddenly stopped, turned around and head-butted Materazzi’s chest, knocking him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee Horacio Elizondo did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials’ reports, fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo informed Elizondo of the incident through his headset. After consulting his assistants, Elizondo issued Zidane a red card in the 110th minute. It marked the 14th overall expulsion of Zidane’s career, and joined him with Cameroon’s Rigobert Song as the only players ever to be sent off during two separate World Cup tournaments. He also became the fourth player red-carded in a World Cup final, in addition to being the first sent off in extra time. Extra time produced no further goals and a penalty shoot-out followed, which Italy won 5–3. France’s David Trezeguet, the man who scored the golden goal against Italy in the Euro 2000 final, was the only player not to score his penalty; his spot kick hit the crossbar, leaving Fabio Grosso – who scored Italy’s first goal in the semi-final against Germany – to score the winning penalty.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa World Cup “GERMANY 2006”
France vs Italy
Match Worn Shirt
Givet Gael
Watch the World Cup 2006 Final highlights
Did you Know?
This home blue shirt was not used for the Final as the team used the white shirt. But both colors were prepared for the Final since for every World Cup Final, when both teams have the same colors of shirts, there is a drawing the day before the game with the referee’s presence, to decide what team will use home kit, unless both teams agree it themselves. So, since France team’s shirts had embroidery on chest, both shirt’s versions were prepared.
Did you Know?
This shirt was never used as Flamini was not part of France Team to Euro 2008. He was omitted from the French Euro 2008 squad two times in less than a fortnight. After failing to make the original 23-man group, Flamini was called up as a potential emergency replacement after the injury occurred to Patrick Vieira. France’s manager Domenech had to make a final decision before the first Group C match against Romania and since Vieira tried to be available for France’s second match against Holland, Domenech preferred to wait for Vieira’s recovery. So Flamini was cutted off few hours before the game Romania but his jersey for all of the Group’s matches were already prepared.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Euro 2008
France vs Italy
Match Issued Shirt
Flamini Mathieu
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
November 13th 2015
France vs Germany
Match Used Ticket
Did you Know?
This game was played at the Stade de France in Paris on November 13th 2015, the night that series of attacks targeting young concert-goers, soccer fans and Parisians enjoying a Friday night out at popular nightspots killed at least 120 people in the deadliest violence to strike France since World War II. The attack unfolded with two suicide bombings and an explosion outside the Stade de France during a soccer match between the French and German national teams.
FRANCE NATIONAL TEAM
Fifa World Cup “RUSSIA 2018”
France vs Belgium
Match Issued Shirt
Mbappé Kylian
Did you Know?
This shirt was issued for Kylian Mbappè for the Fifa World Cup “Russia 2018” semi final between France and Belgium which took place in Saint Petersburg, “Saint Petersburg Stadium” on July 10th 2018. France defeated Belgium 1-0 and the team went to the Final against Croatia. On 17 May 2018, Mbappé was called up to the France squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 21 June 2018, he scored his first World Cup goal in France’s 1–0 group stage win over Peru. This made him the youngest French goalscorer in World Cup history at age 19. On 30 June 2018, he was named man of the match in a 4–3 win over Argentina, scoring twice and suffering a foul in the box which resulted in Antoine Griezmann opening the score from a penalty kick. Mbappé was the second teenager to score two goals in a World Cup match after Pelé in 1958. In a post-match press conference, Mbappé stated: “It’s flattering to be the second one after Pelé but let’s put things into context – Pelé is in another category. “On 15 July, Mbappé scored with a 25-yard strike against Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Final, with France winning 4–2. He became the second teenager, after Pelé, to score in a World Cup Final, and with four goals in the tournament he received the FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award. Pelé congratulated him on social media, and stated “welcome to the club”. France entered the 2018 World Cup as the bookmakers’ favourites to win the tournament, and qualified for the tournament by finishing first in their qualification group, ahead of Sweden and the Netherlands. In the finals, they were drawn in Group C alongside Australia, Denmark, and Peru. Their opening match was against Australia at Kazan Arena in Kazan on 16 June. France won the game 2–1 with Antoine Griezmann scoring the first goal from a penalty called by the video assistant referee. This was followed by a penalty for Australia which was scored by Mile Jedinak, before France scored the winner through an own goal deflected in by Australian defender Aziz Behich. France’s second match was against Peru at Central Stadium in Yekaterinburg. France won 1–0 through a goal scored by 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé, who became the country’s youngest goalscorer at a major tournament. The victory qualified France for the knockout stage, allowing Didier Deschamps, the French manager, to rest several starting players for the final group stage match against Denmark. That game, which took place at the Luzhniki Stadium, finished in a scoreless draw and was enough for France to win the group. In the round of 16, France faced Group D runners-up Argentina, on 30 June at Kazan Stadium. In a match dubbed by writers for The Week as “the classic of Kazan”, France won 4–3. Griezmann gave France the lead early in the game with a penalty, after Marcos Rojo had fouled Mbappé as he ran with the ball into the penalty area. Argentina then scored on either side of half-time through Ángel Di María and Gabriel Mercado to take the lead, but Benjamin Pavard brought France level again. Mbappé then scored twice in five minutes to put them 4–2 up before Sergio Agüero scored a late third for Argentina. Patrick Jennings of BBC Sport described Mbappé’s contribution as a “brilliant performance that will linger long in the memory”. France’s quarter-final was against Uruguay at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on 6 July. They won 2–0, with goals from Raphaël Varane and Griezmann. The team advanced to a semi-final match against Belgium at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg on 10 July. The game ended in a 1–0 win for the French, the winner headed into the goal by defender Samuel Umtiti following a corner kick. The 2018 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 2018 World Cup, the 21st edition of FIFA’s competition for national football teams. The match was played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, on 15 July 2018, and was contested by France and Croatia. The tournament comprised hosts Russia and 31 other teams who emerged from the qualification phase, organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 32 teams competed in a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, France finished first in Group C, with two wins and a draw, after which they defeated Argentina in the round of 16, Uruguay in the quarter-final and Belgium in the semi-final. Croatia finished top of Group D with three wins, before defeating Denmark in the round of 16 and Russia in the quarter-final – both through a penalty shoot-out – and then England in the semi-final. The final took place in front of 78,011 supporters, with more than a billion watching on television, and was refereed by Néstor Pitana from Argentina. France took the lead through an own goal by Mario Mandžukić in the 18th minute – the first ever own goal in a World Cup final – before Ivan Perišić equalised 10 minutes later with a low shot into the corner of the goal. Shortly afterwards, France were awarded a penalty when Pitana ruled that Perišić had deliberately handled the ball. The decision resulted from a consultation with the video assistant referee, which was in use for the first time in a World Cup at the 2018 tournament. The decision was criticised by some English pundits such as Alan Shearer, who labelled it “ridiculous”, while others such as Chris Waddle thought it was correct. Antoine Griezmann scored to give France a 2–1 half-time lead. They extended that lead in the 59th minute, when Paul Pogba scored at the second attempt after Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subašić had saved his initial shot. Kylian Mbappé scored from outside the penalty area to make it 4–1, becoming only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final after Pelé in 1958, before Mandžukić capitalized on a Hugo Lloris error to score a second for Croatia, giving a final score of 4–2 to France. France’s win was their second World Cup title, following their victory in 1998, which they hosted. Griezmann was named the man of the match, while Croatia’s Luka Modrić was awarded the Golden Ball as FIFA’s outstanding player of the tournament. The final was the highest-scoring World Cup final since 1966. France’s manager, Didier Deschamps, reflected on his own experience as captain of the 1998 French team, saying “that adventure is linked to these players’ adventure. I had the immense privilege to live through this 20 years ago, and in France, but what the players have just done is just as beautiful, just as powerful.” His Croatian counterpart, Zlatko Dalić, congratulated France on their win, but was critical of the penalty decision, saying “you don’t give a penalty like that in a World Cup final”. At the subsequent UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, held in 2021, both France and Croatia reached the round of 16, before being eliminated by Switzerland and Spain respectively.
Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Kylian Mbappè during the “Euro 2020” round of 16 game between France and Switzerland which took place in Bucharest, “Arena Națională” on June 28th 2021. The shirt was worn in the first half and it was given by the player to a France Team member whom we got it from. The shirt is still unwashed and it is very recognizable from game footages. Mbappè provided the assist for Karim Benzema’s first goal in the game. After a 3–3 draw, the game went to a penalty shoot-out; Mbappé failed to score the decisive fifth penalty, and France were eliminated from the tournament. Mbappé failed to score in any of the four games France played in the competition. Mbappé capped a fine debut senior season at Monaco by scoring five times for France as they won the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, the striker almost single-handedly securing their spot in the final with a sparkling performance in their 3–1 victory against Portugal in the semi-finals. Mbappé was called up to the senior France squad for the first time to face Luxembourg and Spain in March 2017. He made his debut on 25 March against the former side, coming on for Dimitri Payet in the 78th minute of a 3–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification away win. In doing so, he became the second youngest player ever (only behind Maryan Wisniewski) to feature for France at 18 years, three months and five days old.[135] On 31 August 2017, Mbappé scored his first senior international goal in a 2018 World Cup qualification match against the Netherlands. He scored twice against Russia in a friendly in March 2018.
