Sport in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

plays an important role in French society, which is reflected in its popularity among the French people and the nation's strong sporting history. Various types of sports are played and followed in France, notably

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

, which has earned France eight victories in world championships and five

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

medals. France is also the three-time European champion of handball.

Main sports

Basketball

The

France national basketball team The France men's national basketball team (french: Équipe de France de basketball) represents France in international basketball and is administered by the French Federation of Basketball. France is currently ranked fifth in the FIBA World Ran ...

has had good results in international competitions over the years, with the senior team winning their first title ever at the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France defeated Lithuania in th ...

. The team was runner-up at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

EuroBasket 1949 The 1949 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1949, was the sixth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Seven national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took par ...

, the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's EuroBasket, European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted t ...

, and the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. France has also won medals at the

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. As of the , 22 French citizens have played in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Ten are currently playing, most notably

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

Parker, with four NBA titles to his credit; Spurs

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Diaw;

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

center

Rudy Gobert Rudy Gobert-Bourgarel ( ; born June 26, 1992) is a French professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the French national team in their international competitions. ...

, who won back-to-back NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019; and

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

forward-center

Joakim Noah Joakim Simon Noah ( ; born February 25, 1985) is an American-born French-Swedish former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida Gators, winning back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007. The Chicago B ...

, also notable for his

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

career at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in which he starred on a team that won two

NCAA titles The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

with the same starting lineup. The New York Knicks former GM Phil Jackson selected Frank Ntilikina in the 2016-2017 NBA Draft. Men's national professional competitions are supervised by the

Ligue Nationale de Basketball The Ligue nationale de basket (LNB; English: National Basketball League) is the governing body of men's professional club basketball in France. The LNB organises the first-tier Pro A and the second-tier Pro B. Additionally, the federation annu ...

. There are two divisions: Pro A (first division) and Pro B (second division).

ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon ...

is the most successful team in French first division history with 17 titles from 1949 to 2009.

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

is the only French team to have won the EuroLeague in 1993. The

France women's national basketball team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area e ...

has twice been European champion (

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

), and also claimed a silver medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Women's national professional competitions are supervised by the

Fédération Française de Basket-Ball The French Basketball Federation (FFBB) (french: Fédération Française de Basketball) is the governing body of basketball in France. It was founded in 1932 (and members of the FIBA since 1933). The Federation operates the France national teams ...

with the first division being the Ligue féminine de basket. Clermont Université Club is the most successful team in French first division history with 13 titles from 1968 to 1981. CJM Bourges (

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, 1998, and

) and

US Valenciennes Valenciennes Football Club (; commonly known as Valenciennes or USVA) is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Valenciennes pla ...

(

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and 2004) have won the EuroLeague Women. Besides regular basketball,

3x3 basketball 3x3 basketball (pronounced ''three-ex-three'') is a variation of basketball played three-a-side, with one backboard and in a half-court setup. According to an ESSEC Business School study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, 3x3 ...

has become increasingly popular in France.

Cycling

France hosts "the world's biggest annual sporting event" called the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, a

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

race, which takes place each July and lasts for three weeks. It is one of the three

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

, which are the most prestigious stage races in road cycling. The Tour has been won 36 times by French cyclists in its 110-year history. Cycling is very popular in France, evident from the fact that the race of

attracts more than 12 million people who travel to witness the race first hand. The

also attracts a television audience of 3.5 billion people worldwide. In addition, the north of France hosts the one-day race

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...

, known as one of the

cobbled classics The cobbled classics are four cycling classics held in March and April. Cobblestones, like mountainous terrain, are important elements in courses of cycling. Many classic cycle races in northwestern Europe contain cobbled sections. The two Monume ...

famous for the use of

cobblestones Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fr ...

setts A sett, also known as a block or Belgian block, is a broadly rectangular quarried stone used in paving roads and walkways. Formerly in widespread use, particularly on steeper streets because setts provided horses' hooves with better grip tha ...

as challenging terrain, and as one of the five "Monuments" which along with the road racing World Championship are the most important one-day

classic cycle races The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most ...

. Other high-profile races which are included as part of the top-level

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...

circuit include the stage races

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

and the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

(often used as a warm-up race for riders competing in the Tour de France), and the one-day race

GP Ouest-France The Bretagne Classic, also called Bretagne Classic Ouest–France, is an elite cycling classic held annually in late summer around the Breton village of Plouay in western France. The race was originally named Grand–Prix de Plouay and, from 19 ...

. Some of the most notable French riders are multiple Grand Tour winners

Lucien Petit-Breton Lucien Georges Mazan (18 October 1882 – 20 December 1917) was a French racing cyclist (pseudonym: Lucien Petit-Breton, ), known as the first two-time winner of the Tour de France. He was born in Plessé, Loire-Atlantique, a part of Brittany ...

André Leducq André Leducq (; 27 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a French cyclist who won the 1930 and 1932 Tours de France. He also won a gold medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics in the team road race event and the 1928 Paris–Roubaix. Career Le ...

, Antonin Magne,

Louison Bobet Louis "Louison" Bobet (; 12 March 1925 - 13 March 1983) was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 t ...

Jacques Anquetil Jacques Anquetil (; 8 January 1934 – 18 November 1987) was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964. He stated before the 1961 Tour that he would gain the y ...

(along with historic contender

Raymond Poulidor Raymond Poulidor (; 15 April 1936 – 13 November 2019), nicknamed "Pou-Pou" (), was a French professional racing cyclist, who rode for his entire career. His distinguished career coincided with two other outstanding riders – Jacques Anquet ...

, who was a favorite of the crowd),

Roger Pingeon Roger Pingeon (; 28 August 1940 – 19 March 2017) was a professional road bicycle racer from France. Biography Growing up near the Jura Mountains, he was a cross-country skier as a teenager before taking up bicycle racing. He spent two y ...

Bernard Thévenet Bernard Thévenet (; born 10 January 1948) is a retired professional cyclist. His sporting career began with ACBB Paris. He is twice a winner of the Tour de France and known for ending the reign of five-times Tour champion Eddy Merckx, though bo ...

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

and

Laurent Fignon Laurent Patrick Fignon (; 12 August 1960 – 31 August 2010) was a French professional road bicycle racer who won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and the Giro d'Italia in 1989. He is former FICP World No. 1 in 1989. He nearly captured ...

, and multiple Monument winners

Maurice Garin Maurice-François Garin (; 3 March 1871 – 19 February 1957) was an Italian then French road bicycle racer best known for winning the inaugural Tour de France in 1903, and for being stripped of his title in the second Tour in 1904 along with ...

Lucien Lesna Lucien Lesna (11 October 1863 – 11 July 1932) was a French racing cyclist. He won the 1901 and 1902 Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing i ...

Hippolyte Aucouturier Hippolyte Aucouturier (17 October 1876 – 22 April 1944) was a French professional road bicycle racer. Aucouturier, a professional between 1900 and 1908, won two stages at the first Tour de France in 1903 and won three stages and finished ...

Octave Lapize Octave Lapize (; 24 October 1887 – 14 July 1917) was a French professional road racing cyclist and track cyclist. Most famous for winning the 1910 Tour de France and a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the men's 100 kilometres ...

Gustave Garrigou Cyprien Gustave Garrigou (; 24 September 1884 – 23 January 1963) was one of the best professional racing cyclists of his era. He rode the Tour de France eight times and won once. Of 117 stages, he won eight, came in the top ten 96 times and ...

Henri Pélissier Henri Pélissier (; 22 January 1889 – 1 May 1935) was a French racing cyclist from Paris and champion of the 1923 Tour de France. In addition to his 29 career victories, he was known for his long-standing feud with Tour founder Henri Desgrange a ...

Charles Crupelandt Charles Crupelandt (23 October 1886, Wattrelos, Nord - 18 February 1955, Roubaix) was a French professional road bicycle racer. He won stages in the Tour de France, but his biggest successes were the 1912 and 1914 Paris–Roubaix. The last cobb ...

Jean Forestier Jean Forestier (born 7 October 1930) is a French former cyclist. He was a professional from 1953 to 1965. Forestier won the points classification in the 1957 Tour de France, and wore the yellow jersey for two days. He also won the 1955 Paris–Ro ...

Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (born 25 August 1954) is a former French professional road racing cyclist who was a specialist at one-day classic cycling races. He raced from 1977 to 1995, one of the best French riders of a generation that included Ber ...

and

Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...

. In women's cycling

Jeannie Longo Jeannie Longo (born 31 October 1958 in Annecy, Haute-Savoie) is a French racing cyclist, 25-time French champion and 13-time world champion. Longo began racing in 1975 and was active in cycling through 2012. She was once widely considered the b ...

is one of the most successful competitors of all time, having won the Tour de France Feminin three times, nine gold medals in road racing and time trialling at the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

, and the gold in the road race at the 1996 Olympics.

Football

Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

is the most popular sport in France, with 1,993,270 licensed players in the leagues. The sport was imported from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the end of the 19th century, under the name of association football. In its early days, the sport gained followers mainly in the Paris area and the Northern part of the country -

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Cala ...

and

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

were the first teams that were created outside

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. However, in

southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

, football's competitor,

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

, was more popular for a period of time. Established in 1919 from competing organizations, the

Fédération française de football The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of association football, football in France. It also includes the Overseas departments and territories of France, overseas departments (Guad ...

consists of 18,000 teams. :fr:Sport en France Zinedine zidane wcf 2006-edit

France is also one of only ten teams to have won the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

(

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

). They also finished as runners-up when they hosted the tournament in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. France was also the 1984 Olympic Champion and the 1998 and

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

winner, hosting the 1998 tournament. They finished as World Cup runners-up in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the

French football league system The French football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France and Monaco, and includes one Spanish side. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Football Professionnel, which consists of two pr ...

. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

with Ligue 2. The most successful clubs in the French first division history are

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

and

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

with 10 championships each (the latter's last one in 1981), followed by

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

with 9 titles and

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...

with 8 titles. As of

, the current champions are Paris Saint-Germain. The

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

is the premier

knock-out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking ...

cup competition in French football. The

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

is the second major cup competition in France. The

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

is played each July as a one-off match between the

winners and the

champions. Only one French club, Olympique de Marseille, has won the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, in 1993.

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional association football, football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2017–18 Ligue 2, 2018. ...

( 1956,

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

), Saint-Étienne (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

( 2004) and Paris Saint-Germain (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

) have been runners-up.

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of French f ...

(

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (de ...

( 1996) and Olympique de Marseille ( 1999, 2004,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) have also been runners-up in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. The

France women's national football team The France women's national football team (french: Équipe de France féminine de football, sometimes shortened as Féminin A) represents France in international women's football. The team is directed by the French Football Federation (FFF). F ...

's main international achievement has been fourth place at the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

. They also hosted the 2019 Women's World Cup. Women's national professional competitions are supervised by the

. The first division is the Championnat de France de football féminin. Olympique Lyonnais is the most successful team in French first division history with 26 national titles, including a streak of fourteen consecutive league titles from 2007 to 2020. In the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

, OL have won a record eight titles (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

) and have been runners-up twice (

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Handball

There were 492,101 licensed handball players in France as of 2019. The

France men's national handball team The France national handball team is supervised by the French Handball Federation, and represents France in international matches. It is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice (the Danish women' ...

is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice (the Danish women's team also held all three in 1997), and the only national team in its sport to hold six world titles and a total of eleven medals at the

World Men's Handball Championship The IHF Men's Handball World Championship has been organized indoor by the International Handball Federation since 1938. In the twenty-seven tournaments held, eleven nations have won the title. France is the most successful team with six titl ...

. With a total of five medals, including three gold in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, France is also the most successful handball team at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. France was also recognized as the European champion of handball in

and

. The

France women's national handball team The France women's national handball team is the national team of France. It is governed by the Fédération Française de Handball and takes part in international handball competitions. Results Olympic Games * 2000 – 6th. ...

, although less successful, won the

once (

), the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

twice (

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

) and also the European Championship once (

). Men's national professional competitions are supervised by the

Ligue nationale de handball The Ligue Nationale de Handball ( en, National Handball League) is a governing body established in 2004 to administer French men's professional handball autonomously from the national federation (FFHB). It has jurisdiction over the country's top t ...

with the top division being the

LNH Division 1 LNH Division 1, doing business as Starligue and currently known as Liqui Moly Starligue for sponsorship reasons, is the premier men's professional handball league in France. It is administered by the Ligue Nationale de Handball, under delegation ...

Montpellier Handball Montpellier Handball, formerly named Montpellier Agglomération Handball, is a handball club from Montpellier, France. Montpellier is the only French club to ever have won the EHF Champions League. Crest, colours, supporters Naming history ...

is the most successful team in French first division history, with 14 titles from 1995 to 2012. With 8 titles between 2013 and 2021,

Paris Saint-Germain Handball Paris Saint-Germain Handball (PSG) is a French professional handball club founded in 1941, and based in the city of Paris in France. The club is the handball department of Paris Saint-Germain. PSG play in the highest tier of French handbal ...

is the current top club. Nevertheless,

is still the only French team to have won the

EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the me ...

, in

and in

. Women's main national professional competition is the

LFH Division 1 Féminine LFH Division 1 Féminine, known for sponsorship reasons as Ligue Butagaz Énergie, is the premier women's handball league in France. It is overseen by the Ligue Féminine de Handball (LFH), the governing body of French women's professional handb ...

Metz Handball Metz Handball is a French handball club from Metz, France. Founded in 1965 under the name ASPTT Metz, the club has an exceptional track record with some 40 titles won, which is the all-time record for a French women's team sport. Chaired by Thierr ...

is the most successful team in French first division history with 23 titles from 1989 to 2019. One French team,

Brest Bretagne Handball Brest Bretagne Handball, also knows as BBH, is a French professional handball club from Brest, Brittany. This team currently competes in the French Women's Handball First League from 2016 and the 2021–22 Women's EHF Champions League. In th ...

, has reached the final at the

EHF Women's Champions League The Women's EHF Champions League is the competition for the top women's handball clubs in Europe, organised annually by the European Handball Federation (EHF). It is the most prestigious tournament for clubs, with the champions of Europe's top n ...

, in

Ice hockey

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

is a fairly popular sport in France, especially in the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...

region and in the cities of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

and

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

. The governing body is the FFHG which administers the national championship,

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champion ...

(founded in 1907). The

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

is currently ranked in the top 20 in the

IIHF World Ranking The IIHF World Ranking is a ranking of the performance of the national ice hockey teams of member countries of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It is based on a formula giving points for each team's placings at IIHF-sanctioned tour ...

. In recent years, numerous French ice hockey players have played in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, the premier ice hockey competition on the planet based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

, including

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

winner

Cristobal Huet Cristobal Huet (; born September 3, 1975) is a French- Swiss former professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently a goalie coach for Lausanne HC of the National League (NL). He previously played for HC Lugano and HC Fribourg-Gottéron and ...

and

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

forward

Antoine Roussel Antoine Roussel (born 21 November 1989) is a French professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), left winger who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Born in ...

Judo

Judo is the fourth most popular sport in France.

Teddy Riner Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner (, ; born 7 April 1989) is a French judoka. He has won ten World Championships gold medals, the first and only judoka (male or female) to do so, and three Olympic gold medals (two individual, one team). He has also won ...

, with ten World Championship gold medals and three Olympic gold medals, is one of the most successful French judoka.

Motorsports

Motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

are very popular in France, especially

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

and

motorcycle racing Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Ot ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

has a strong connection with and long history in France, having roots in European

Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car an ...

, which traces its birth to the 1906 French Grand Prix. Many French circuits have been used since the foundation of the Formula One Championships: Reims-Gueux (1950–1966),

Rouen-Les-Essarts Rouen-Les-Essarts was a motor racing circuit in Orival, near Rouen, France. From its opening in 1950, Rouen-Les-Essarts was recognized as one of Europe's finest circuits, with modern pits, a wide track, and spectator grandstands. The street ci ...

(1952–1958), Circuit Charade (1965–1972),

Bugatti Circuit The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport Race track, race course, chiefly known as the venue for ...

(1967),

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...

(1971–),

Dijon-Prenois Dijon-Prenois is a motor racing circuit located in Prenois, near Dijon, France. The undulating track is noted for its fast, sweeping bends. Opened in 1972, Dijon-Prenois hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix five times, and the Swiss Grand Pr ...

(1974–1984), and

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some from Paris and from Lyon. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 (succeeding Circuit Paul Ricard ...

(1991–2008). France is home of Formula One World's Constructors' Champions

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and w ...

( 1969) and

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

(

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

), and Formula One World Drivers' Champion

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Mich ...

(

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, 1989, and 1993). The most recent French Formula One race winner is Esteban Ocon, having won the

2021 Hungarian Grand Prix The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Rolex Magyar Nagydíj 2021) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 August 2021 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary. It was the eleventh round of the 2021 Formula One World C ...

while racing for

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

France is also home to the most Champions in

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

history with

Jean-Pierre Beltoise Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at th ...

(),

Johnny Servoz-Gavin Georges-Francis "Johnny" Servoz-Gavin (18 January 1942 – 29 May 2006) was a French motor racing driver in both sportscars and single seaters. He participated in 13 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1967 and 1970, failing to qu ...

(),

Jean-Pierre Jarier Jean-Pierre Jacques Jarier (born 10 July 1946) is a French former Grand Prix racing driver. He drove for Formula One teams including Shadow, Team Lotus, Ligier, Osella and Tyrrell Racing. His best finish was third (three times) and he also to ...

(),

Patrick Depailler Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler (; 9 August 1944 – 1 August 1980) was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-champi ...

(),

Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...

(),

Jean-Pierre Jabouille Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille (born 1 October 1942) is a French former racing driver. He raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix, collecting two wins during the first years of Renault's turbocharged programme in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Jabou ...

(), and

René Arnoux René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix (149 starts) winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium fi ...

(). French constructors have also been successful with

winning the Championships in , , and ,

Automobiles Martini Automobiles Martini is a constructor of Formula racing cars from France, founded by Renato "Tico" Martini in 1965, when Martini and partner Bill Knight founded the Winfield Racing School at the Magny-Cours circuit, in France. Martini's first car ...

in and , and

in and . France produced five champions in the

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...

championship, the successor to the European F2 series:

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, ...

( 1989),

Érik Comas Érik Gilbert Comas (born 28 September 1963) is a French former Formula One driver. He was French Formula 3 champion in 1988, and then Formula 3000 champion in 1990, after scoring the same number of points as Jean Alesi in 1989, but losing on a ...

(

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Olivier Panis Olivier Panis (; born 2 September 1966) is a French former racing driver. Panis raced in Formula One for ten seasons, earning his first and only win at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix for the Ligier team. He is the father of racing driver Aurél ...

( 1993),

Jean-Christophe Boullion Jean-Christophe "Jules" Boullion (born 27 December 1969) is a French professional racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Sauber team. Career Born in Saint-Brieuc, near Côtes d'Armor, Boullion started karting in 1982 and moved to c ...

(

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

) and

Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, having won 37 races. He won four successive championships ...

(

), tying with Italy as the most successful nation in the formula.

Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine ...

won the

GP2 Asia Series The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing as a result of a spin-off from the GP2 series. The series was officially announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel commented that "It ...

and

and the main

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccle ...

, whilst

Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver, currently competing in Formula One under the French flag, racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is the 2016 GP2 Series champion, and the runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 ...

won the GP2 title in the series' final season in

Fabio Quartararo at the 2022 San Marino Grand Prix at Misano

Touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

, although less popular in France than

, has a strong following, especially with four time

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

Drivers' Champion

Yvan Muller Yvan Muller (born 16 August 1969 in Altkirch, Haut-Rhin) is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a four-time World Touring Car Champion, winning the title in 2008 with SEAT, in 2010 and 2011 with Chevro ...

(

and

). In

Sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

, France is home to the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923. Also, French

team

Hexis Racing Hexis Racing is an auto racing team based in Lédenon, France. Hexis Racing was founded by Michel Mateu, CEO of Hexis S.A. in 2001, initially for participation in the French Formula Renault Championship. Hexis later moved into grand tourer racing ...

is the current FIA GT1 World Team Champion.

Rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

is very popular in France, with two

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

rallies being held there:

Tour de Corse The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, an ...

(1973–2008) and Rallye d'Alsace (2010-today). French drivers and manufacturers have been very successful in the

, especially since 2000, winning 14 championships in each competition. Champions include

Didier Auriol Didier Auriol (born 18 August 1958) is a French former rally driver. Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, he competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first driv ...

(

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rallying, rally, auto racing, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nin ...

( 2004,

, 2007,

and

, an all-time record) and

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champion ...

(

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

) for the drivers, and

( 1973),

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

(

, and

), and

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

(

, 2004,

) for the manufacturers.

holds an annual

ice racing Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on groomed frozen lots. As cold weather is a requirement for natural ...

championship at the end of each year, called the

Andros Trophy The Andros Trophy (''Trophée Andros'') is the French national ice racing championship. History The idea of an ice racing series first became an idea when professional racer Max Mamers (French Rallycross Champion 1982 and 1983 with Talbot Ma ...

. Other types of

(

Stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

Drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

, etc.) are more favoured. France host the French motorcycle Grand Prix currently in

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

Fabio Quartararo Fabio Quartararo (; born 20 April 1999), nicknamed El Diablo, is a French Grand Prix motorcycle rider racing in MotoGP for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP. Having won the 2021 MotoGP World Championship, he is the first French World Champion in th ...

is the first French to win the premier class of MotogGP in

. Also, in

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

only two French riders have been champions:

Raymond Roche Raymond Roche (born 21 February 1957 in Ollioules) is a French former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Motorcycle racing career In 1981, he teamed up with Jean Lafond to win the FIM Endurance World Championship. His best year in ...

and

Sylvain Guintoli Sylvain Guintoli (born 24 June 1982 in Montélimar) is a French professional motorcycle racer. He was FIM World Superbike Champion in 2014. He is contracted to the Suzuki MotoGP team as a test rider with occasional race entries, as a wild card ...

Orienteering

Orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...

is a reasonably popular sport in France; it is regulated by the Fédération Française de Course d'Orientation (FFCO) .

Pétanque

Pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

is mostly played and highly popular in the South of France. Pétanque is not considered a sport by many northern Frenchmen, though the sport is internationally recognized by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Professional players play the competitive form of Pétanque, which is called Pétanque Sport, under precise rules. The competitive form is played by about 480,000 persons licensed with the ''Federation Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal'' (FFOJP). The FFPJP is the 4th largest sports federation in France.

Sailing

Professional

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

in France is centered on singlehanded/shorthanded ocean racing with the pinnacle of this branch of the sport being the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France, w ...

singlehanded around the world race which starts every 4 years from the French Atlantic.

Skiing

Skiing is a popular sport in France. The best places for skiing are the mountainous areas in the south, center, and east of the country, where most French

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

s are located.

Émile Allais Émile Allais (25 February 1912 – 17 October 2012) was a champion alpine ski racer from France; he won all three events at the 1937 world championships in Chamonix and the gold in the combined in 1938. Born in Megève, he was a dominant r ...

won four World Championship golds in the 1930s.

Henri Oreiller Henri Oreiller (5 December 1925 – 7 October 1962) was an Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from France. He won two gold medals and a bronze at the Alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics, 1948 Winter Olympics, becoming ...

won Olympic gold at the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

Jean-Claude Killy Jean-Claude Killy (born 30 August 1943) is a French former World Cup alpine ski racer. He dominated the sport in the late 1960s, and was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most su ...

dominated

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

in the late 1960s, winning all three alpine skiing golds on offer at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

on French snow in Grenoble. These events also served as the 1968 Alpine Skiing World Championships, and in addition, Killy won the World Championship Combined event in 1968 to add to golds in the Downhill and Combined won at the 1966 World Championships. He also won the first two overall

Alpine Skiing World Cup The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France ( ...

titles.

Marielle Goitschel Marielle Goitschel (born 28 September 1945 in Sainte-Maxime) is a former French alpine skier. Marielle is the younger sister of Christine Goitschel, another champion skier of the time, and the aunt of speed skier Philippe Goitschel. After grea ...

won two Olympic golds, an additional five World Championship golds and three discipline World Cup titles in the 1960s.

Guy Périllat Guy Périllat Merceroz (born 24 February 1940) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the resort of La Clusaz, Haute-Savoie, one of the top ski racers of the 1960s.Fabienne Serrat won two golds at the 1974 World Championships. More recently

Luc Alphand Luc Alphand (born 6 August 1965) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from France. He specialized in the speed events and later became a race car driver. Ski racing Born in Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), Alphand was world junior champion in 198 ...

won the overall World Cup in

and four discipline titles in Downhill and Super Giant Slalom.

Jean-Baptiste Grange Jean-Baptiste Grange (born 10 October 1984) is a French retired World Cup alpine ski racer. He competed primarily in slalom and earlier also in giant slalom and combined. Born in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Savoie, Grange grew up in Valloire ...

was Slalom World Cup champion in

and Slalom World Champion in

and 2015. In January 2017

Alexis Pinturault Alexis Pinturault () (born 20 March 1991) is a French World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic medalist. With 34 World Cup victories, Pinturault is the most successful French skier in World Cup history. He represented France at six World Champion ...

set a new record for World Cup wins by a French skier when he took his 19th victory in a giant slalom in

Adelboden , neighboring_municipalities= Diemtigen, Frutigen, Kandersteg, Lenk im Simmental, Leukerbad (VS), Sankt Stephan , twintowns= } Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental admin ...

, breaking Jean-Claude Killy's record. French success in cross-country skiing has been somewhat more limited. However

Vincent Vittoz Vincent Vittoz (born 17 July 1975 in Annecy, Haute-Savoie) is a French former cross-country skier, non-commissioned officer and coach. He grew up in the town of La Clusaz in the Northern French Alps and has been competing since 1982. He made hi ...

did win a gold medal in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit at the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

. He also finished as runner up in the Distance

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

for three consecutive seasons from 2004/05 to 2006/07.

Jason Lamy-Chappuis Jason Lamy-Chappuis (born September 9, 1986) is a Franco-American former ski jumper and cross-country skier who has represented France in Nordic combined ski events between 2002 and 2015, then in the 2017-18 season. Born in the United States, w ...

has been an extremely successful competitor in

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

. He won a gold medal in the Individual normal hill/10 km competition at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

as well as four World Championship golds and three consecutive

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup The FIS Nordic Combined World Cup is a Nordic combined competition organized yearly by International Ski Federation, representing the highest level in international competition for this sport. It was first arranged for the 1983–84 season. Team e ...

s between 2009/10 and 2011/12. France has enjoyed success in

Biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...

in recent years.

Raphaël Poirée Raphaël Poirée (born 9 August 1974) is a retired French biathlete who was active from 1995 to 2007. With his 44 World Cup victories and several World Championship medals he ranks among the most successful biathletes ever. Sports career Poi ...

won seven

Biathlon World Championship The first Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The number of events has grown significantly over the years. Beginning in 1984, women biathletes had their own World Championships, and fina ...

golds and four overall

Biathlon World Cup The Biathlon World Cup is a top-level biathlon season-long competition series. It has been held since the winter seasons of 1977–78 Biathlon World Cup, 1977–78 for men and 1982–83 Biathlon World Cup, 1982–83 for women. The women's seasons ...

s. He is the joint second most successful male biathlete of all time in terms of winning overall World Cup titles, and scored 44 World Cup victories.

Martin Fourcade Martin Fourcade (; born 14 September 1988) is a French biathlete and sous-lieutenant. He is a five-time Olympic champion, a thirteen-time World Champion and a seven-time winner of the Overall World Cup. As of February 2018, he is the most succes ...

has won 13 World Championship golds, 7 overall World Cup titles 1 silver medal in Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, 2 gold medals in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, and 3 golf medals in the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games.

Rugby union

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

(rugby à 15 or jeu à 15) was first introduced in the early 1870s by British residents. While football is much more popular nationally, rugby union is predominant in the southern half of the country, especially around

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, the French Basque country and

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. Elite French clubs participate in the domestic club competition - the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competitions, the

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

and

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

. It is the seventh largest French team sport in the terms of licensed players with 360,847 licensed players (2014). There are 1,737 clubs in France and the number of licensed players has significantly increased over the recent years (up from 260,000 in 2000). In 2010, the all-French final of the Heineken Cup between Toulouse and Biarritz in the Stade de France received 3.2 million viewers on France 2. In 2011, the final of the Top 14 gathered 4.4 million viewers on France 2 and Canal+ and the World Cup final between New Zealand and France gathered 15.4 million viewers on TF1, the highest audience on French TV since the start of the year. The national side is one of the tier 1 national teams. It competes annually in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

, and won it outright 16 times. France has been to every

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

since its inception in 1987, and has been a runner-up on three occasions, most recently in

. France hosted the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Rugby league

Rugby league (''rugby à treize'') has been played in France since the 1930s, and is most popular, like rugby union, in the south of the country. The sport arguably achieved its height in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s when the France national team made it to

finals and won test series against Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand. Two French-based teams, the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

and

Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The ...

, participate in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

tournament, which has helped boost the sport's profile and led to growth in player numbers.

Tennis

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

is the second most popular French sport in terms of the number of licensed players with 1,111,316 licensed tennis players in France (2012). France holds the tennis Grand Slam tournament Roland Garros. As of February 20, 2017, the current male and female French no. 1 players are

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...

and

Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion. She is also a two-ti ...

, respectively. Some other French current stars include

Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...

Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...

Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...

Lucas Pouille Lucas Pouille (, born 23 February 1994) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. ...

Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circu ...

, and

Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a nine-time Grand Slam ch ...

. Other stars from the past include

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade c ...

(father of Joakim Noah),

Guy Forget Guy Forget (; born 4 January 1965) is a French tennis administrator and retired professional player. During his career, he helped France win the Davis Cup in both 1991 and 1996. Since retiring as a player, he has served as France's Davis Cup te ...

Henri Leconte Henri Leconte (born 4 July 1963) is a French former professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1988, won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984, and helped France win the Davis Cup in 1991. Leconte's ...

Amélie Mauresmo Amélie Simone Mauresmo (; born 5 July 1979) is a French former List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player and tournament director. Mauresmo won two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major singles titles at the ...

Mary Pierce Mary Caroline Pierce (born 15 January 1975) is a retired tennis professional who represented France internationally in team competitions and the Olympics. She was born in Canada to an American father and a French mother, and holds citizenship of ...

and

Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She als ...

Minor team sports

American Football

The Ligue Élite de Football Américain, founded in 1982, is the top level of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

in France.

Australian rules football

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

is a growing sport in France, with the first clubs forming in the 1990s. There are several clubs around the country forming a "Super League" and some other clubs playing in a developmental league. There is a national men's Australian Football team that has played international matches and competes in the

Australian Football International Cup The Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup or simply the IC) is a triennial international Australian rules football sport competition. It is the biggest worldwide tournament in the sport and is open to ...

, which is essentially a World Cup for all countries apart from Australia.

Baseball

Baseball is a minor sport in France.

Cricket

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

is a developing sport in France. Some reports claim that cricket was invented in France, however, the sport is relatively unknown due to inadequate media coverage. In fact, the 1900 Olympic games, the only one where cricket was played, featured bitter rivals England and France taking on each other. A rematch of the two teams took place just before the 2012 Olympics.

Gaelic football

Though it is little known,

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

is developing in France. There are currently 20 clubs across the country, with 80% of the players being French.

Lacrosse

The

France national lacrosse team France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

has qualified for the

World Lacrosse Championship The World Lacrosse Championship (WLC) is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as a ...

three consecutive times, in 2010 through 2018. At the most recent event (2018), it finished 33rd out of 46.

Beach volleyball

France's men's national team in

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

that competed at the 2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.

Main sports

Basketball

Cycling

Football

Handball

Ice hockey

Judo

Motorsports

Orienteering

Pétanque

Sailing

Skiing

Rugby union

Rugby league

Tennis

Minor team sports

American Football

Australian rules football

Baseball

Cricket

Gaelic football

Lacrosse

Beach volleyball

See also

References

Further reading