FRANCE - Football Selecciones Socks

France played its first international match in 1904 in Brussels. It was one of the founding members of FIFA and participated in the first World Cup in 1930. In the 1930s, with players like Étienne Mattler and Emile Veinante, Les Bleus began to forge their identity.

In 1958, with Just Fontaine scoring 13 goals in a single tournament, they reached third place in Sweden. But it was in the 1980s that France consolidated its position as a footballing powerhouse. Under the management of Michel Hidalgo, and with Platini as its linchpin, they won the 1984 European Championship on home soil.

In 1982 and 1986, they reached the World Cup semi-finals, losing to Germany in matches that still sting. France closed out the 20th century with a generation that already knew how to compete at the highest level, ready for what was to come in 1998.