After years of near misses at the World Cup, France finally lifted their first trophy in 1998 in a tournament they hosted. They were crowned champions again in 2018, and were runners-up in 2022.
Among the great players to don their colours over the ages have been Michel Platini, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Zinedine Zidane, Youri Djorkaeff, Claude Makelele and now the superstar Kylian Mbappe.
France played their first official international in a 3-3 draw with Belgium in May 1904 and both were among the founding members of FIFA that same month.
Les Bleus were eliminated in the first round of the 1934 World Cup. In 1938, they made the quarter-finals as hosts, losing 3-1 to Italy.
The 1950s saw the emergence of a new generation of French players, with iconic Moroccan-born striker Just Fontaine leading the line with distinction.
Just Fontaine, France, 1954
They lost to Brazil in the semi-finals, but beat West Germany in the third-place play-off. Fontaine scored four goals in a 6-3 victory, taking his tournament tally to 13 goals - a record which still stands to date.
Although France qualified for the 1966 World Cup, they were eliminated in the group stage, subsequently failing to qualify in 1970 or 1974. Les Bleus failed to qualify for the 1968, 1972, 1976 or 1980 European Championships. In 1978, they once again suffered a group-stage exit at the World Cup.
A golden generation of French players emerged in the 1980s with Michel Platini being the star of the show. Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse and Luis Fernandez helped Platini in creating the 'carre magique' (Magic Square) partnership which proved so fruitful at the 1982 World Cup. Despite the quartet, France lost to West Germany on penalties in the semi-finals.
In 1984, France won the European Championships under the guidance of long-serving manager Michel Hidalgo. Platini and Bruno Bellone scored in a 2-0 final victory over Spain. Top scorer Platini's goal was his ninth of the tournament.
France with the trophy in the Euro 1984 final
Hidalgo was replaced by Henri Michel after the Euros but France remained a competitive force. They won gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics and beat Uruguay 2-0 to win the Artemio Franchi trophy, a precursor to the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Houllier led France to the brink of qualification for the 1994 World Cup, but they missed out due to nightmare defeats to Israel and Bulgaria. Houllier's assistant, Aime Jacquet, was promoted and took over as manager.
In 1998, on home soil, a France team inspired by Zinedine Zidane, Emmanuel Petit and Marcel Desailly stormed into the World Cup final on home soil, where they met world champions Brazil, whose main star at the time was Ronaldo.
On their way to a historic first World Cup victory, Les Bleus disposed of Denmark, South Africa and Saudi Arabia in the group stages, before edging past Paraguay in the round of 16 in extra time. They then held their nerve to defeat Italy 4-3 on penalties after a goalless draw in the quarter-finals.
With the knowledge that Brazil were awaiting them in the final should they win, France beat Croatia 2-1 in the semi-finals to set up a much-anticipated clash.
Brazil were hindered by the fact that star striker Ronaldo was ill before the game but ended up playing regardless. He was unimpressive as France triumphed 3-0 at the Stade de France thanks to a breathtaking display from Zidane.
Finishing runners-up in Group D to co-hosts Netherlands after a 3-2 defeat, Les Bleus edged two close encounters with Spain and Portugal 2-1, winning the latter via the golden goal rule in extra time.
Awaiting France in the final were age-old rivals Italy who had enjoyed a successful tournament having put six past Yugoslavia before eliminating co-hosts Netherlands in the semi-finals, 3-1 on penalties.
After a nervy final, David Trezeguet scored the golden goal to seal a 2-1 extra-time victory and back-to-back major international tournaments for Les Bleus.
France won the 2001 Confederations Cup, but were eliminated in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup, famously losing their first match 1-0 to debutants Senegal.
France were eliminated by eventual champions Greece in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004.
Under Raymond Domenech, France recovered from a slow start to the 2006 World Cup in Germany to make the final. Along the way, they eliminated world champions Brazil 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
However, France lost to Italy on penalties in the final in a match infamous for Zidane's headbutt on Marco Materazzi. The France icon was red-carded in his last ever match as a player.
France were eliminated from a strong Euro 2008 group which included the Netherlands and Italy. They qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa thanks to a controversial play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland - a clear handball from Thierry Henry in the build-up to William Gallas' winning goal was missed by the referee.
France's World Cup campaign was marred by player protests following Domenech's spat with striker Nicolas Anelka, which resulted in the Chelsea player being sent home. They finished bottom of a group containing Uruguay, Mexico and South Africa.
Domenech was replaced by Laurent Blanc, who led France to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012, where they lost to eventual champions Spain.
Blanc subsequently resigned and was replaced by Didier Deschamps, who steered France to the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup. Again, they were beaten by the eventual champions - Germany on this occasion.
Deschamps' France made the final of Euro 2016 on home soil and would have fancied their chances of victory, but they were beaten 1-0 in the final by Portugal thanks to an Eder goal in extra time.
In 2018, France ended their wait for another World Cup trophy when they triumphed in Russia - their first tournament victory since their 1998 success on home soil.
Deschamps' side topped their group following hard-fought victories over Peru and Australia and a goalless draw with Denmark, to set-up a round-of-16 clash with Lionel Messi and Argentina.
In a seven-goal thriller that saw two goal-of-the-tournament contenders from Benjamin Pavard and Angel Di Maria respectively, Les Bleus held on to a 4-3 victory to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay posed no real match for Deschamps' side in the quarters, with Luis Suarez and co beaten by goals from Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann.
France saw off Belgium in the semi-finals before beating Croatia 4-2 in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
A Mario Mandzukic own goal, Griezmann penalty and further strikes from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe, who at the time was only 19 years old, secured the victory. Griezmann picked up the man-of-the-match prize.
Mbappe became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup final after the great Pele, deservedly winning the Young Player of the Tournament award.
France reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 in Germany, but were dubbed boring by many as they stumbled through the tournament.
They finished second behind Austria in Group D, and edged past Belgium and, after a penalty shoot-out, Portugal to reach a semi-final with Spain.
France struggled for fluency during the tournament with Mbappe hampered by a mask he had worn since breaking his nose during their opening win over Austria.
Before the semi-final Deschamps insisted he does not care if people have been “bored” by his team.
“If you’re getting bored, you know what? Watch another game, that’s fine. You don’t have to watch, it’s fine. It’s a European Championship, it’s very difficult for everyone," Deschamps said.
“Up until now, it has not been the same as in the past, but we do have the capability to share emotions, to make lots of French men and women happy though the results that we’ve been pulling out of the bag, especially in a period that has been quite difficult for our country."
However, it was Spain who reached the final of Euro 2024 as Lamine Yamal became the youngest scorer in European Championship history.
Yamal – at the tender age of 16 years and 362 days – struck a stunning equaliser and Dani Olmo quickly added what turned out to be the winner as Spain recovered from Randal Kolo Muani’s header to win 2-1.
Second on the all-time top scorer is Thierry Henry, having scored 51 times for Les Bleus in 123 appearances between 1997 and 2010. Henry played for the likes of AS Monaco, Juventus and Barcelona, but his best club football was played at Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris currently holds the record for most appearances, and will go down as one of the country's most successful skippers of all time.
Fabian Barthez is another No.1 who has also etched his name into France's history books, having amassed the most World Cup appearances for his country.
Legendary France striker Just Fontaine holds the astonishing record of scoring the most goals in a single World Cup campaign, returning 13 in six at the 1958 tournament.
France have a strong rivalry with Italy, having competed against them in several important matches. This rivalry was only heightened by Zidane's infamous headbutt on Materazzi, allegedly after being provoked with a personal insult related to a family member.
Les Bleus also have a rivalry with Germany, who as West Germany stood between their golden 1980s team and major honours.
France boss Didier Deschamps has become one of the main contenders to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, after announcing he would be leaving his national coach role in the near future.
Thierry Henry has resigned as France Under-21 coach after winning an Olympic silver medal in Paris earlier this month.
Spain prevailed in an eight-goal thriller to beat France 5-3 after extra time and win the Olympic men's football gold medal for the first time since 1992.
West Ham United have reached an agreement with Nice for the acquisition of defender Jean-Clair Todibo.
France and Argentina players and staff clashed on the pitch at full-time as the hosts edged a bad-tempered match 1-0 in Bordeaux to reach the Olympic semi-finals.
Football at the Paris 2024 Olympics gets underway on Wednesday as Argentina, Spain and France kick off their campaigns and we’ve compiled an opening day acca.
Join Planet Sport as we highlight who is playing, which teams are involved, when matches take place and who might win the football gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
