France (Group G)

Team founded: 1919 (affiliated 1804)

World Cup Participations: eleven (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002)

World Cup Honors: World champions (1998)

Titles: two-time European champions (1984, 2000)

Coach: Raymond Domenech (nationality: French)








Team Captain: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), playing his last games for Les Bleus before he retires again.








The Squad
Goalkeepers
Fabien Barthez (Olympique Marseille)
Gregory Coupet (Olympique Lyon)
Mickael Landreau (Nantes)

Defenders
Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyon)
Jean-Alain Boumsong (Newcastle United)
Pascal Chimbonda (Wigan Athletic)
William Gallas (Chelsea)
Gael Givet (Monaco)
Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich)
Mikael Silvestre (Manchester United)
Lilian Thuram (Juventus)

Midfielders
Vikash Dhorasoo (Paris St Germain)
Alou Diarra (Racing Lens)
Claude Makelele (Chelsea)
Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyon)
Patrick Vieira (Juventus)
Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)

Strikers
Djibril Cisse (Liverpool, out with injury)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Franck Ribery (Olympique Marseille)
Louis Saha (Manchester United)
David Trezeguet (Juventus)
Sylvain Wiltord (Olympique Lyon)

Ranking: 7

Qualifiers: Beat Cyprus 4-0 but then drew twice with Israel and Switzerland and once against the Republic of Ireland – not so impressive!

Schedule:
June 13 v Switzerland (Stuttgart) D 0-0
June 18 v South Korea (Leipzig)
June 23 v Togo (Cologne)

The Odds: Les Bleus (“The Blues”) disappointed in 2002 after winning it all in 1998 at home. In recent months, they couldn’t beat Switzerland in two qualifiers. But while not promising too much, France is capable of much more, and its draw is as kind as it could be. Thierry Henry will have to strike venomously, and the backs will have to be rock hard.

Updates:

In a major blow to the squad, Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse is out of the Cup after breaking a leg in a 3-1 win over China in a pre-tournament warm-up game.

Distinctly unimpressive in Game 1 v CH. Little attacking punch, although great play on the wings. Some big lapses at the back, from which CH were unlucky not to score.