French Soccer

There are some very worth noticing down falls as well rises which are marking the history of this nation’s soccer. Though French soccer team has won the world cup and European Championship, however, there also were times when they could not even qualify for any one of them. The club soccer of France has never been very strong. Thus the responsibility lied on the shoulders of the national team to make a mark in the world of soccer to get the world’s attention towards their game. The history of soccer in France is however, just a century old. They adopted this game in the earliest part of the 20th century. Since then they have a mix ratio of the winning and losing the fame. They managed to reach the last eight of the 1938 World Cup for the first time, on their home ground. In 1958 the French National team won their first ever medal by obtaining a bronze medal in the World Cup. In the third place match they defeated the German team by a margin of 6-3. However, they also could not qualify for a total of six world cups.

The French soccer team played their first ever game against Belgium in 1904, which was a 3-3 draw. They took part in all the three pre World War II world cups. The first ever World Cup goal was scored by Lucien Laurent in the 1930 World Cup in a match against Mexico, which they won by a huge margin of 4-1. The 1990s proved to be very fruitful for the French soccer. Under the leadership of French soccer star Zinedine Zidane. The French soccer team reached the semi final of the European Championship in 1996. In 1998 World Cup held in France itself, the team became the World Champions for the first time.

France produced some great soccer players over the century. Michel Platini, Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Didier Deschmaps etc. all these French soccer stars proved themselves to be exceptional for their team at their respective times. Michel Platini brought France their first ever international win, by lifting the European Championship for his team in 1984. He won the cup almost single handedly. Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Thierry Henry were the French soccer stars of the 1998 win of France in their first ever World cup win and later that of the European Championship in 2000.

The French soccer league is based on two proper levels, one of which is called Ligue de Football Proessionnel (it has two further divisions Ligue 1, Ligue 2). Below that are a number of leagues which are managed by Federation Francaise de Football. On the third level there is semi professional league called Championnat de France National. Then there is also a forth level of the league which is altogether amateur Championship, this league has four parallel divisions, followed by a fifth one which is also an amateur league with eight further divisions. Clubs finishing the season at or near the top of their division may be eligible for promotion to a higher division. Similarly, clubs finishing at or near the bottom of their division may be relegated to a lower division.

The French soccer team is full of the racial minorities. In the 2006 French national team, out of twenty three players; seventeen are either the immigrants or the children of the immigrants. They even include the famous French soccer players like Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, and Patrick Viera etc. French team has to show outstanding performance in the upcoming European Championship in order to win it or even reach the last four.