The Anthem
La Marseillaise
▶ Listen on YouTube ↗“Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé!”
Written in a single night in 1792, it is one of the most stirring — and most borrowed — anthems on earth.
The Legends
Names that echo
Zinedine Zidane
Midfielder · 1990s–2000s
Two goals in the 1998 final; a once-in-a-generation artist.
Michel Platini
Midfielder · 1980s
Three-time Ballon d'Or winner and France's first great No. 10.
Kylian Mbappé
Forward · 2010s–20s
A World Cup winner at 19 and final hat-trick hero at 23.
Fun Facts
Worth knowing
- 01
Just Fontaine scored 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup — a single-tournament record that still stands.
- 02
France has reached four World Cup finals since 1998, winning two of them.
- 03
'La Marseillaise' is so iconic that it has been quoted in everything from Casablanca to The Beatles' 'All You Need Is Love'.
At the World Cup
The story so far
A founder nation and modern superpower. Two world titles, a host of legends across generations, and in Mbappé a player threatening to rewrite the record books — France is the team to beat.
Zidane and a nation united
Zidane's two headers beat Brazil in the final as France won its first World Cup on home soil.
The greatest final?
Mbappé's hat-trick couldn't stop Argentina, but the 3-3 thriller is widely called the best final ever.
Group Stage