The France–Italy football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

France 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 ...

, having achieved six

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s and four

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 conte ...

s between the two countries.

has won four FIFA World Cups in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006, while

has won two FIFA World Cups in 1998 and 2018. For many years

dominated (before 1982: 17 wins, three losses and six draws), while from 1982 the French team had not lost a single game against Italy (with five wins and four draws) until the 2006 World Cup Final, which Italy won 5–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. The two countries also met in the final of the 2000 European Championship, won by France with an extra-time

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

David Trezeguet David Sergio Trezeguet (born 15 October 1977) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. Trezeguet began his career in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense at the age of eight, progressing through their youth sys ...

List of matches

* (a) First international match ever for Italy * (b) Italy wins the quarter-final and later wins the

1938 World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, bea ...

* (c) France advances in the quarter-final after

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

(4–3) and later wins the 1998 World Cup * (d) France wins the 2000 European Championship after a

Golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

in extra time by

* (e) Italy wins the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

after penalty shoot-out (5–3)

Comparison of France's and Italy's positions in major international tournaments

; Key Denotes which team finished better in that particular competition.
DNQ: Did not qualify.
DNP: Did not participate.
TBD: To be determined.

Major encounters

1938 FIFA World Cup

On 12 June, France and Italy were matched up in the quarter final of the

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, bea ...

, which ended 3–1 in favour of Italy with goals by

Gino Colaussi Luigi Colausig (4 March 1914 – 27 July 1991), known as Gino Colaussi (), was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He was the first player to score multiple goals in a World Cup final. Club career Colaussi was born in Gradisca d'I ...

in the 9th minute and two goals by

Silvio Piola Silvio Piola (; 29 September 1913 – 4 October 1996) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He is known as a highly prominent figure in the history of Italian football due to several records he set, and he is regarded as one of th ...

in the 51st and 72nd minute, with France's only goal coming from

Oscar Heisserer Oscar Heisserer (18 July 1914 – 7 October 2004) was a French footballer. Born in Schirrhein, Alsace-Lorraine, he played for RC Strasbourg, and appeared for France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country pri ...

in the 10th minute, as France were eliminated. Italy went on to win their second World Cup title in succession.

1978 FIFA World Cup

On 2 June, Italy and France met in the first group stage match of the 1978 FIFA World Cup, which ended 2–1 for Italy after goals by

Paolo Rossi Paolo Rossi (; 23 September 1956 – 9 December 2020) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a forward. He led Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup title, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot as top goalscorer, and the Golden ...

in the 29th minute and Renato Zaccarelli in the 54th minute, although France scored first in the 1st minute of play with a goal by

Bernard Lacombe Bernard Lacombe (born 15 August 1952) is a French former professional footballer. He played as a striker, mainly with Lyon, Bordeaux and Saint-Étienne and the France national team. Career Lacombe began his professional career with hometown ...

. Italy later made it out of the group, but France did not.

1986 FIFA World Cup

On 17 June, Italy and France met in the round of 16 of the 1986 FIFA World Cup, which ended with France eliminating Italy from the tournament 2–0 with goals by

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a ...

in the 15th minute and

Yannick Stopyra Yannick Stopyra (born 9 January 1961) is a French former footballer who played as a striker. He amassed Ligue 1 totals of 455 matches and 130 goals in representation of six teams, mainly Sochaux and Toulouse, in a 17-year professional career. ...

in the 57th minute.

1998 FIFA World Cup

On 3 July, Italy and France were matched up for a quarter-final of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which ended in a goalless draw after 120 minutes. In the shoot-out, France won 4–3 to advance and went on to win the 1998 World Cup 3–0 over

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

UEFA Euro 2000

On 2 July,

Marco Delvecchio Marco Delvecchio (; born 7 April 1973) is a retired Italian footballer, who played as a forward. Although he played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, he spent most of it at A.S. Roma, where he is still remembered by the club's f ...

gave Italy the lead in the 55th minute and they held on until the final minute of injury time, when

Sylvain Wiltord Sylvain Claude Wiltord (born 10 May 1974) is a French former professional footballer. Mainly a right winger, he also played as a centre-forward, second striker and on the left wing. Wiltord had a four-season spell at Arsenal, with whom he won ...

crashed a low drive past Italian keeper

Francesco Toldo Francesco Toldo (; born 2 December 1971) is an Italian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation. In a professional career which spanned two full decades, he m ...

to take the game into extra time. France won the game just before half-time in extra-time when

Robert Pires Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French football coach and former professional player. Pires played for French clubs Metz and Marseille prior to his time with Arsenal, where he won two FA Cups and two Premier League titles inclu ...

cut the ball back for

to blast the

into the top left corner of the net to win the tournament 2–1 for France.

2006 FIFA World Cup

On 9 July, France and Italy faced off in the final.

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the mos ...

opened the scoring by converting a controversial 7th-minute penalty kick, conceded by

Marco Materazzi Marco Materazzi (; born 19 August 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. Early in his career, Materazzi played with various Italian teams in Serie B and Serie C, and with Everton in the Premier League. He spent two p ...

, which glanced off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal. Materazzi then levelled the scores in the 19th minute, a header from six yards following an

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...

corner from the right. Both teams had chances to score the winning goal in normal time: Luca Toni hit the crossbar in the 35th minute for Italy, later having a header disallowed for offside, while France were not granted a possible second penalty in the 53rd minute when

Florent Malouda Florent Johan Malouda (born 13 June 1980) is a French football coach and former professional player. A left winger, he spent most of his career at Lyon and Chelsea, winning four consecutive Ligue 1 titles with the former and the UEFA Champion ...

went down in the box after a cover tackle from Gianluca Zambrotta. France appeared to be the side with better chances to win because of the higher number of shots on goal. They were unable to capitalise, however, and the score remained at one goal each. At the end of the regulation time, the score was still level at 1–1, and the match was forced into extra time. Italian keeper

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded pl ...

made a potentially game-saving save in extra time when he tipped a Zidane header over the crossbar. Almost five minutes into the second half of extra time, Zidane and Materazzi were jogging up the pitch close to each other, they briefly exchanged words after Materazzi was seen tugging at Zidane's jersey before Zidane began to walk away from him. Moments later, Zidane suddenly stopped, turned around and head-butted Materazzi's chest, knocking him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee

Horacio Elizondo Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (born November 4, 1963 in Don Bosco, district of Quilmes) is an Argentine former international football referee best known for his officiation throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Having achieved all his goals in refereeing ...

did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials' reports,

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the L ...

Luis Medina Cantalejo Luis Medina Cantalejo (born 1 March 1964) is a Spanish former football referee. He was one of the few officials allowed to officiate the domestic clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona. His first experience as an international referee came ...

informed Elizondo of the incident through his headset. After consulting his assistants, Elizondo issued Zidane a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

in the 110th minute. Despite Italy being one man up for the last ten minutes of extra time, no team managed to score and remained 1–1, as the match went to

. The French

was the only player to miss his penalty kick as it hit the crossbar and the ball did not cross the goal line, while Fabio Grosso scored the winner for Italy as the Italians won the shoot-out 5–3. After the match, Zidane was given the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. Fabio Cannavaro and

, both from Italy, placed second and third respectively.

UEFA Euro 2008

Italy and France met in the final group stage match of

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

on 17 June. Both sides needed a win to progress to the next round, but both would be eliminated no matter what if Romania defeated the Netherlands in the other match. Italian goals by Andrea Pirlo from the penalty spot in the 25th minute and Daniele De Rossi in the 62nd minute gave Italy a 2–0 win over France, which allowed them to progress to the quarter final (as Romania lost to the Netherlands), while France was eliminated.

Statistics

Overall

Note: *France defeated Italy in a 1998 World Cup quarter-final match via penalty shoot-out; Italy defeated France in the

2006 FIFA World Cup Final The 2006 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 9 July 2006 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, to determine the winner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The match was contested between Italy and France. Italy won the Wo ...

via penalty shoot-out.

Official titles comparison

Note: Only the Olympic Games from 1908 to 1956 are officially recognized b
FIFA / IFFHS

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:France-Italy Football Rivalry France national football team rivalries Italy national football team rivalries International association football rivalries France at the 1938 FIFA World Cup France at the 1978 FIFA World Cup France at the 1986 FIFA World Cup France at the 1998 FIFA World Cup France at UEFA Euro 2000 France at the 2006 FIFA World Cup France at UEFA Euro 2008 Italy at the 1938 FIFA World Cup Italy at the 1978 FIFA World Cup Italy at the 1986 FIFA World Cup Italy at the 1998 FIFA World Cup Italy at UEFA Euro 2000 Italy at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Italy at UEFA Euro 2008