The precursor to the French Football Federation (FFF) - founded on 7 April 1919 - was the Union of French Athletic Sports Societies (USFSA), a multi-sport federation established on 20 November 1887 in Paris. Open to various disciplines (rugby, field hockey, football, fencing and swimming), this body was also at the origin of FIFA's creation in 1904.

However, it was not until 1907 that the French Interfederal Committee (CFI), the umbrella body for French football clubs and the organiser of national competitions and international matches during that period, finally became affiliated with FIFA.

France boasts an honours list worthy of one of the world's top football nations. Les Bleus can point to one FIFA World Cup victory (1998), one runners-up spot (2006), three semi-final finishes (1958, 1982 and 1986), two FIFA Confederations Cups (2001 and 2003) and two UEFA European Championship trophies (1984 and 2000).

Football reigns unchallenged in the French sporting world, despite the hotbed of rugby in the south of the country, the fine results of the handball team and the individual exploits of certain boxers, swimmers, athletes and tennis players. Only powerful personalities such as the middleweight Marcel Cerdan and tennis ace Yannick Noah have attained a degree of popularity on a par with footballers.

But unlike Germany or Italy, whose teams regularly plant their flags at the summit of the world game, France's football success is of a more cyclical nature. Their finest hours have always been associated with the presence of at least one highly gifted individual. In 1958, for example, Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine - who remains the highest scorer at a single FIFA World Cup with 13 goals - were the chief architects of Les Bleus' first truly memorable campaign. France's bid for glory at Sweden 1958 only ended with a 5-2 semi-final defeat by young Pele's Brazil, before they signed off with a spectacular 6-3 thrashing of West Germany in the third-place play-off.

But it is with a playmaker pulling the strings that the Tricolores truly flourish, and the French public were kept waiting another couple of decades before Michel Platini, current UEFA President, emerged to usher in their next spell at the top. At Spain 1982, France again fell at the semi-final hurdle, this time on penalties to the Germans after having led 3-1 in extra time. This encounter is firmly established as one of the all-time FIFA World Cup classics.

In 1984, Les Bleus finally ended their long wait for that first major honour by beating Spain 2-0 on home soil in the European Championship Final. Two years later, the Platini era was encapsulated by a thrilling FIFA World Cup quarter-final win on penalties over Brazil in Mexico. This epic contest was later described by 'the King' Pele as the "match of the century". The subsequent retirement of several mainstays of this exceptionally gifted side marked the start of a relative decline, as even proven performers like Jean-Pierre Papin and Eric Cantona failed to sustain the momentum.

Before long, the opening of the National Technical Centre at Clairefontaine and the growing strength of "French-style" training methods combined to inject new life into the national side. In the latter part of the 1990s, the French football firmament was suddenly illuminated by a memorable new constellation of stars (Youri Djorkaeff, Laurent Blanc, Lilian Thuram, Didier Deschamps, Marcel Desailly, Fabien Barthez, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet et al) spearheaded by Zinedine Zidane.

Once again on home turf, LesBleus finally got their hands on their holy grail in 1998 with a 3-0 victory in the Final of the FIFA World Cup over their past nemesis Brazil, Zidane's brace of headers assuring him virtual deification in the process.

The arrival of new strikers (Nicolas Anelka and Sylvain Wiltord in particular) then enabled France to win their first title on foreign soil, at EURO 2000.

There then followed another barren spell for Les Bleus between 2002 (elimination in the first round at Korea/Japan) and 2004 (a European Championship quarter-final exit). Their return to form came at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, where despite their defeat on penalties in the final against Italy, the vast majority of their "old stagers" departed the international arena after a fitting curtain call.

Now led by a fresh generation including Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa, Raymond Domenech's French side is now hoping to pen more glorious pages in the country's football history at EURO 2008 and South Africa 2010.

And inspired by the charismatic Eric Cantona, coach of the French Beach Soccer team, France acquired another world crown in 2005, finished third in 2006 and then fourth in 2007. In front of their home crowd at this year's showpiece, nothing less than another victory will do.

History
According to historians, the foundation of the country of France dates back to the year 486, when the lion's share of Gaul was conquered by Clovis I, King of the Franks. The Frankish and then French state has existed without interruption ever since this époque, making it the oldest nation in Europe. Although the name of France was only officially introduced around 1190, the word was already widely used to denote the kingdom as a whole.

Human occupation of the territory that is modern-day France goes back to the Palaeolithic age with, down the centuries, a continuous influx of Celtic, Roman and Germanic population waves. From the start of the second millennium, the Capetian monarchy ensured the territorial unity of the stabilising country.

The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) then marked the transition between the Middle Ages and the modern era characterised by the assertion of royal authority from the end of the 15 ^th century until the "Grand Siècle" under Louis XIV (1661-1715) and the "Siècle des Lumières" with Louis XV (1715-1774) and then Louis XVI from 1715 until the start of the revolutionary period in 1787. Then came France's golden age, shaped by the arts and philosophy.

With the absolute monarchy being incapable of implementing the reforms, mainly fiscal in nature, that were essential for the country's modernisation, a new France emerged from 1789 courtesy of the French Revolution (1789-1799). This époque marked the end of the old regime and the start of a new society with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ratified on 26 August 1789.

France was then influential in the American revolution and provided the whole world with impetus and a democratic model by developing the values of freedom, equality and, since 1905, secularism. Due to the trend for exploration during the Renaissance, in the 18 ^th and 19 ^th centuries, France spread its culture and language to numerous peoples, in Canada and Africa as well as some regions of the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.

Today's France is an "indivisible, secular, democratic and social" constitutional republic with a semi-presidential parliamentary system in which the President of the Republic is elected for five years by direct universal suffrage. The Parliament is made up of the national assembly formed by 557 MPs, and of the senate, consisting of 331 senators.

Economy
France is the world's sixth largest economic power, behind the United States, Japan, Germany, PR China and the United Kingdom. Metropolitan France covers an area of over 551,000 km² and numbers 64 million inhabitants.

France is an important agricultural force and, with 23% of European production in 1999, is well ahead of the other countries of the Union. The agri-foodstuffs sector is the best represented on export markets with a 9.4 billion euro surplus. The leading products are drinks and spirits (champagnes, wines, brandy), followed by cereals, animals and meats. Next come the automobile industry (9.3 billion euros) and capital goods.

Furthermore, France is one of the world's leading industrial powers. Within their own activity sectors, several French groups occupy first place ahead of their foreign competitors.

Finally, France is the world's most popular tourist destination, with over 60 million visitors a year.

Geography
With a surface area of 551,500 km² (675,417 km² including the overseas territories), France extends over 1,000 km from North to South and East to West. It is the third largest country in Europe after Russia and Ukraine (the second-largest if overseas territories are taken into account) and is the largest in the European Union. Metropolitan France is bordered by four seas: the North Sea, the Channel, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. The total length of its coastline is 3,427 km (not counting the coast of Corsica, which measures roughly 1,000 km).

Metropolitan France has 2,970 km of land border with eight neighbouring countries: Spain (650 km), Belgium (620 km), Switzerland (572 km), Italy (515 km), Germany (450 km), Luxembourg (73 km), Andorra (57 km) and Monaco (4.5 km).

Facts and figures
As at 1 January 2008, the French Republic was home to 64,473,140 people, 61,875,822 of whom live in mainland France, equivalent to roughly 1% of the world's population.

Since the year 500, the nation's capital has been Paris. The inner city has a population of 2,101, 816, rising to 11,174,740 for the conurbation as a whole, giving a density of 20,433 inhabitants per km².

France's demographic growth is among the most dynamic in Europe, combining a birth rate above the continental average (830,900 births compared with 531,200 deaths) with a positive migratory balance (roughly 100,000 people).

Moreover, since the start of the 21 ^st century, the age pyramid has evolved courtesy of a gradual rise in the older population. This is due to an increasing life expectancy (France enjoys one of the longest life expectancies in the world) as well as the advancing years of the baby boomer generation.

Finally, while French is the official language of the Republic, there are no less than 77 regional dialects.