France women's national football team

History

Early history

Main article: Women's football in France

In 1919, a women's football championship was established in France by the Fédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France (FSFSF). On 29 April 1920, a team led by French women's football pioneer Alice Milliat traveled to England and played its first international match against English team Dick, Kerr's Ladies. The match, held in Preston, attracted more than 25,000 spectators. France won the match 2–0 and ended its tour with two wins, one draw, and one defeat. The following year, a return match in France at the Stade Pershing in Vincennes, a suburb of Paris, took place in front of over 12,000 spectators. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. In May 1921, France returned to England for friendlies. The team won its first match 5–1, then suffered three consecutive defeats. In October 1921, the English team returned to France contesting matches in Paris and Le Havre with both matches ending in stalemates. Despite women's football in England being prohibited by The Football Association in December 1921, France continued to go there on tour for matches. A victory for the French in Plymouth was followed by 0–0 draws in Exeter and Falmouth. By 1932, the female game had been called to an end and the women's league formed in 1919 by the FSFSF was discontinued. The last match by the FSFSF international team was another scoreless draw against Belgium on 3 April 1932.

Ban

In 1941, the Vichy regime officially banned women’s football, declaring the sport “unsuitable” and “harmful” for women. This decision was supported by the medical discourse of the time, which claimed that playing football was contrary to “female nature.” For nearly three decades, French players were denied an official national team and the sport survived only thanks to a few local initiatives and the dedication of passionate pioneers.

It was not until the late 1960s that women’s football re-emerged and was once again recognized by the French Football Federation. At that time, French players, notably those from Reims, actively mobilized to have women’s football acknowledged. A year before the official green light from the federation, Les Bleues took part in an unofficial European Cup, organized outside FIFA, with three other nations: England (a 2–0 loss in front of 15,000 spectators), Denmark, and Italy (a 1–0 loss on November 1, 1969, in front of 5,000 spectators). Italy was crowned champion.

The Federal Council of the French Football Federation officially reinstated women's football in 1970 and France played its first official international match on 17 April 1971 against the Netherlands in Hazebrouck with Jocelyne Ratignier and Marie-Claire Caron-Harant scoring. That same year, France took part in the unofficial 1971 Women's World Cup, held in Mexico. The ladies continued the pirate games, which just made it into the margins of FIFA's records, until FIFA began overseeing the competition in 1991. Since 1982, UEFA has governed the European games.

Reinstatement

In 1975, the women's football league was officially reinstated, this time with backing from the French Football Federation, the governing body of football in France. Stade Reims was the best team in the country throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, thus constituted much of the France national team. For the non-official World Cup in 1978 in Taiwan, the team included the entire Reims squad. The team shared the title with Finland, who never actually played the final. Due to receiving minimal support from the French Football Federation, who ultimately looked at women's football as not being highly regarded, France struggled in international competition failing to advance past the first round of qualification in both the 1984 and 1987 UEFA Women's Championship. Francis Coché, who managed the team during these failures, was later replaced by Aimé Mignot. Mignot helped the team finally get past the first round, however, in the quarterfinals, they lost to Italy, which meant they wouldn't appear at the 1989 UEFA Women's Championship. Despite the initial positives, Mignot failed to continue his success with France failing to qualify for both the 1991 and 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup and losing in the first round of qualification in three straight UEFA Women's Championships. After almost a decade in charge, Mignot was replaced by former women's international Élisabeth Loisel.

With Loisel in charge, the FFF, along with then France national football team manager Aimé Jacquet, moved the women's national team to Clairefontaine, which had quickly become a high-level training facility for male football players. As a result of the move, younger women were afforded the same benefits from the facilities offered by Clairefontaine as the men. The success of female training led to the formation of the Centre National de Formation et d'Entraînement de Clairefontaine, which is now referred to as the female section of the Clairefontaine academy. Under the tutelage of Loisel, the first results appeared encouraging. They reached their first-ever Women's World Cup qualifying for the 2003 edition after defeating England over two legs in a play-off game in London and again at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. The match in Saint-Étienne attracted more than 23,000 spectators and was broadcast by the popular French broadcasting company Canal Plus. Loisel's squad later qualified for the 2005 European Championship, where they were knocked out in the group stage. She was eventually sacked after failing to qualify for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Team under Bruno Bini

Loisel was replaced by former football player and now coach Bruno Bini. Bini had been in charge of several France female international youth sides before accepting the role and was tasked with the job of qualifying for UEFA Women's Euro 2009. Due to the success of the Clairefontaine project and the surprising emergence of the French women's first division, Division 1 Féminine, Bini inherited a team full of emerging, young, and influential talent, which included the likes of Camille Abily, Sonia Bompastor, Louisa Necib, Élise Bussaglia, Laura Georges, and Corine Franco. Bini was also provided with leadership from captain Sandrine Soubeyrand. Early results under Bini were extremely positive with France finishing first in their Euro qualifying group only conceded two goals. France also performed well in friendly tournaments, such as the Nordic Cup and Cyprus Cup. At UEFA Women's Euro 2009, France were inserted into the group of death, which consisted of themselves, world powerhouse Germany, no. 7 ranked Norway, and an underrated Iceland. France finished the group with 4 points, alongside Norway, with Germany leading the group. As a result of the competition's rules, all three nations qualified for the quarterfinals. In the knockout rounds, France suffered defeat to the Netherlands losing 5–4 on penalties after no goals were scored in regular time and extra time.

Corinne Diacre Era

Corinne Diacre was appointed manager of France's women's national team in August 2017. She has led the France national team to success as champions in the SheBelieves Cup in 2017 and runner-ups in 2018. Her time in charge was marked by considerable controversy with a number of veteran players, ultimately leading the France Football Federation to sack Diacre ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup on 9 March 2023 due to her poor relations with players. "It appears that the dysfunctions observed seem, in this context, irreversible," the federation said in a statement.

Hervé Renard Era

Hervé Renard was appointed on 30 March 2023 to be the new manager of France's women's national team with a contract through the Olympic Games in August 2024.

2011 Women's World Cup

Bini's next task was to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup after the disappointment of four years earlier. In the team's qualifying group, France finished the campaign scoring 50 goals and conceded none over the course of ten matches (all wins). On 16 September 2010, France qualified for the World Cup following the team's 3–2 aggregate victory over Italy.

At the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, France qualified to the knockout stage by finishing in second place in its group after wins over Nigeria and Canada, and a loss to the host team. The team went on to beat England on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, but lost to the United States in the semi-finals. France finished the competition in fourth place and earned qualification to the Olympic football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London; it was the nation's first appearance in the competition. Striker Marie-Laure Delie was the only multiple goal scorer for France in the tournament, while defenders Sonia Bompastor and Laura Georges as well as midfielder Louisa Necib were selected to the All-Star Team.

Golden era

France has entered one of the most successful eras in the country's women's football history. In the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 held in Sweden, France stood top of the group, beating Spain, England and Russia to earn its ticket to the quarter-finals. However, Bergeroo's side lost to Denmark in a penalty shootout, thus failing to advance to the semi-finals.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

In the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup held in Canada, France was listed to Pot 1, and was a favorite to become champions. France was named to Group F, alongside England, Mexico and Colombia. In the opening match against England, a goal from Eugénie Le Sommer gave France a 1–0 victory. However, France was shocked by Colombia in a 2–0 loss, making Colombia only the second Latin American team to win a Women's World Cup match. Therefore, France's third and final group stage match against Mexico was a must-win. France went on to beat Mexico 5–0 to qualify to the knockout round as top of the group.

In the knockout round, France eased past South Korea in a 3–0 win in Montreal to remain at the same location awaiting the quarter-final match against Germany. In the quarter-final match against Germany, despite dominating the majority of the match, France were unable to capitalize on their chances, which ultimately cost them the game. France were finally able to score in the 64th minute through Louisa Nécib, but failed to keep the lead as Célia Šašić scored on an 83rd-minute penalty kick. The score was 1–1 after 120 minutes, resulting in the match to be decided in a penalty shootout, where France's 5th penalty taken by Claire Lavogez was denied by Nadine Angerer, in which France were eliminated from the tournament losing 4–5 on penalty kicks.

UEFA Women's Euro 2017

France won all matches at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying Group 3. The home matches had sizable crowds, with 7,761 spectators attending the Romania match at the MMArena in Le Mans, 15,028 spectators at the Ukraine match at the Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, 24,835 spectators at the Greece match at Roazhon Park in Rennes, and 7,521 spectators at the Albania at Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris. The team scored a win and two draws at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 Group C, and was defeated by England in quarter-finals.

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup

In March 2015, France was selected to host the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup of the tournament. Having automatically qualified as hosts, France was considered a favorite to win the tournament, along with the United States. The team opened with three victories against Norway, Nigeria, and South Korea, winning its group with a total of 9 points. In the round of 16, France defeated Brazil by a score of 2–1 in extra time, but lost to the United States in the quarterfinal with the same score of 2–1. This Women's World Cup was particularly notable, as it was used as a platform by many women's teams to campaign for equal pay between men and women.

2020s Era

Corinne Diacre was the team manager until 2023, when Hervé Renard took on the role for one season, from 2023 to 2024. Since August 23, 2024, Laurent Bonadei has managed "les Bleues".

UEFA Women's Euro 2022

The UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 was hosted in England. France qualified and was placed in Group D with Belgium, Iceland, and Italy. France finished top of the group with 7 points to advance to the quarterfinals. They beat the Netherlands in extra time 1-0 on July 23, 2022, in Rotherham, England. In the semi-finals, France played Germany on July 27, 2022 where they lost 2-1.

FIFA Women's World Cup 2023

France qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which was hosted by Australia and New Zealand. France was placed in Group F with Jamaica, Brazil, and Panama, where they finished top of group with 7 points. In the round of 16, France beat Morocco 4-0 on August 8, 2023, to advance to the quarterfinals. France lost to Australia in penalty shootout, 7-6, on August 12, 2023.

UEFA Women's Euro 2025

France qualified for the UEFA Women’s Euro 20256 and were placed in Group D with England, Wales, and the Netherlands. They finished at the top of the group with 9 points and advanced to the quarterfinals. They played Germany and lost in penalty shootout on July 19, 2025.

Team image

Nicknames

The France women's national football team has been known or nicknamed as the "Les Bleues (The Blues)".

Media coverage

FIFA Women's World Cup

UEFA Women's Euro

Friendly and Qualifiers

Overall competitive record

Overall record

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

;Legend

2025

• Diani
• Katoto
• Baltimore
• Vilhjálmsdóttir
• Sigurðardóttir
• Baltimore
• Selma Bacha
• Baltimore
• Mateo
• Mateo
• De Almeida
• Baltimore
• Geyoro
• Geyoro
• Baltimore
• Gago
• Malard
• Karchaoui
• Geyoro
• Katoto
• Luany
• Kerolin
• Katoto
• Baltimore
• Peyraud-Magnin
• Toone
• Walsh
• Diani
• Majri
• Geyoro
• Bacha
• Katoto
• Cascarino
• Karchaoui
• Majri
• Karchaoui
• Malard
• Baltimore
• Jean-François
• N'Dongala
• Sombath
• Minge
• Dallmann
• Knaak
• Däbritz
• Berger
• Bühl
• Nüsken
• Malard
• Mateo
• Anyomi
• Bühl
• Karchaoui
• Mbock Bathy
• Ijeh
• Kafaji
• Mateo
• Gago

2026

Coaching staff

Current personnel

:As of 27 July 2025.

Managerial history

• FRA Pierre Geoffroy (1971–1978)
• FRA Francis-Pierre Coché (1978–1987)
• FRA Aimé Mignot (1987–1997)
• FRA Élisabeth Loisel (1997–2007)
• FRA Bruno Bini (2007–2013)
• FRA Philippe Bergeroo (2013–2016)
• FRA Olivier Echouafni (2016–2017)
• FRA Corinne Diacre (2017–2023)
• FRA Hervé Renard (2023–2024)
• FRA Laurent Bonadei (2024–present)

Players

Current squad

The following 23 players were called up for the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League third place play-off matches against Sweden on 28 November and 2 December 2025.

:Caps and goals correct as of 2 December 2025, after the match against Sweden.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the past 12 months.

INJ INJ RET RET INJ INJ ;Notes

• INJ = Withdrew due to injury
• PRE = Preliminary squad
• RET = Retired from the national team
• SUS = Serving suspension
• WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue

Previous squads

;FIFA Women's World Cup squads

• 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup
• 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
• 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
• 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup ;UEFA European Championships squads
• 2009 UEFA Women's Euro
• 2013 UEFA Women's Euro
• 2017 UEFA Women's Euro
• 2022 UEFA Women's Euro ;Summer Olympics squads
• 2012 Summer Olympics
• 2016 Summer Olympics

Records

Main article: List of France women's international footballers

:, after the match against Sweden. :Players in bold are still active with France.

Most caps

Most goals

Honours

Major competitions

• UEFA Women's Nations League
  • [[File:Med 2.png|15px]] Runners-up (1): 2024

Friendly

• Cyprus Cup
  • Winners: 2012, 2014
• SheBelieves Cup
  • Winner: 2017
• Tournoi de France
  • Winner: 2020, 2022, 2023

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

Main article: France at the FIFA Women's World Cup

:*Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty kicks.

Match history

Olympic Games

UEFA Women's Championship

Main article: France at the UEFA Women's Championship

:*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA Women's Nations League

Notes

References

References

1. "Tous les matchs – FFF".
2. "Fédération Française de Football".
3. (29 May 2025). "Bleues : Mbock est la nouvelle capitaine de l'équipe de France".
4. Dhers, Gilles. "Fémina sport : aux sources du foot des femmes en France".
5. Longman, Jeré. (25 June 2019). "In Women's World Cup Origin Story, Fact and Fiction Blur". [[The New York Times]].
6. "Fédération Française de Football".
7. "Notre histoire".
8. (10 May 2012). "Bini: The truth is on the pitch". FIFA.com.
9. "France".
10. (2023-03-09). "French federation sack women's national coach Diacre". Reuters.
11. "Hervé Renard officiellement nommé sélectionneur des Bleues".
12. "FIFA Women's World Cup Table 2019".
13. Wise, Justin. (7 July 2019). "Crowd in stadium chants 'equal pay' after U.S. women's soccer World Cup victory".
14. "Fédération Française de Football: sélectionneur Bonadei".
15. "UEFA 2021-2022 results".
16. "Calendrier et résultats Euro féminin 2025 : Tous les groupes - Football". L'Équipe.
17. "UEFA 2025 Full Time Game Report".
18. "Tous les matchs Equipe de France féminine – FFF".
19. "Calendrier Equipe de France féminine – FFF".
20. (19 July 2025). "Full Time Report – France v Germany". Union of European Football Associations.
21. "STAFF ÉQUIPE DE FRANCE FÉMININE".
22. (20 November 2025). "Première pour Anaële Le Moguédec, trois ex-joueuses du Stade de Reims… la liste de l’équipe de France pour la double confrontation face à la Suède en Ligue des nations".
23. [https://www.fff.fr/selection/3-equipe-de-france-feminine/derniere-selection.html French Squad]
24. "Toutes les sélectionnées". Footofeminin.
25. "Cyprus Women's Cup".