The France women's national team initially struggled on the international stage failing to qualify for three of the firstFIFA Women's World Cups and the six straightUEFA European Championships before reaching the quarter-finals in the1997 edition of the competition. However, since the beginning of the newmillennium, France have become one of the most consistent teams inEurope, having qualified for their first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup in2003 and reaching the quarter-finals in two of the three European Championships held since 2000. In 2011, France recorded a fourth-place finish at the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup; its best finish overall at the competition. In the following year, the team captured the2012 Cyprus Cup and the fourth place atWomen's Olympic Football Tournament.
In 1919, awomen's football championship was established in France by theFédération des Sociétés Féminines Sportives de France (FSFSF). On 29 April 1920, a team led by French women's football pioneerAlice Milliat traveled to England and played its first international match against English teamDick, Kerr's Ladies. The match, held inPreston, attracted more than 25,000 spectators. France won the match 2–0 and ended its tour with two wins, one draw, and one defeat. The following year, a return match in France at theStade Pershing inVincennes, a suburb of Paris, took place in front of over 12,000 spectators. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. In May 1921, France returned to England forfriendlies. The team won its first match 5–1, then suffered three consecutive defeats. In October 1921, the English team returned to France contesting matches in Paris andLe Havre with both matches ending in stalemates. Despite women's football in England being prohibited byThe Football Association in December 1921, France continued to go there on tour for matches. A victory for the French inPlymouth was followed by 0–0 draws inExeter andFalmouth. By 1932, the female game had been called to an end and the women's league formed in 1919 by the FSFSF was discontinued. The last match by the FSFSF international team was another scoreless draw againstBelgium on 3 April 1932.
In 1941, theVichy regime officially banned women’s football, declaring the sport “unsuitable” and “harmful” for women.[5] This decision was supported by the medical discourse of the time, which claimed that playing football was contrary to “female nature.” For nearly three decades, French players were denied an official national team and the sport survived only thanks to a few local initiatives and the dedication of passionate pioneers.
It was not until the late 1960s that women’s football re-emerged and was once again recognized by theFrench Football Federation. At that time, French players, notably those from Reims, actively mobilized to have women’s football acknowledged. A year before the official green light from the federation,Les Bleues took part in an unofficial European Cup, organized outside FIFA, with three other nations: England (a 2–0 loss in front of 15,000 spectators), Denmark, and Italy (a 1–0 loss on November 1, 1969, in front of 5,000 spectators). Italy was crowned champion.
The Federal Council of theFrench Football Federation officially reinstated women's football in 1970 and France played its first official international match on 17 April 1971 against theNetherlands inHazebrouck withJocelyne Ratignier andMarie-Claire Caron-Harant scoring.[6] That same year, France took part in the unofficial1971 Women's World Cup, held inMexico. The ladies continued the pirate games, which just made it into the margins ofFIFA's records, until FIFA began overseeing the competition in 1991. Since 1982,UEFA has governed the European games.
In 1975, the women's football league was officially reinstated, this time with backing from theFrench Football Federation, the governing body of football in France.Stade Reims was the best team in the country throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, thus constituted much of the France national team. For the non-official World Cup in 1978 inTaiwan, the team included the entire Reims squad. The team shared the title withFinland, who never actually played the final. Due to receiving minimal support from the French Football Federation, who ultimately looked at women's football as not being highly regarded, France struggled in international competition failing to advance past the first round ofqualification in both the1984 and1987 UEFA Women's Championship. Francis Coché, who managed the team during these failures, was later replaced byAimé Mignot. Mignot helped the team finally get past the first round, however, in thequarterfinals, they lost toItaly, which meant they wouldn't appear at the1989 UEFA Women's Championship. Despite the initial positives, Mignot failed to continue his success with France failing to qualify for both the 1991 and 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup and losing in the first round of qualification in three straight UEFA Women's Championships. After almost a decade in charge, Mignot was replaced by former women's international Élisabeth Loisel.[7]
With Loisel in charge, the FFF, along with thenFrance national football team managerAimé Jacquet, moved the women's national team toClairefontaine, which had quickly become a high-level training facility for male football players. As a result of the move, younger women were afforded the same benefits from the facilities offered by Clairefontaine as the men. The success of female training led to the formation of theCentre National de Formation et d'Entraînement de Clairefontaine, which is now referred to as the female section of the Clairefontaine academy. Under the tutelage of Loisel, the first results appeared encouraging. They reached their first-ever Women's World Cup qualifying for the2003 edition after defeating England over two legs in a play-off game in London and again at theStade Geoffroy-Guichard. The match inSaint-Étienne attracted more than 23,000 spectators and was broadcast by the popular French broadcasting companyCanal Plus. Loisel's squad later qualified for the2005 European Championship, where they were knocked out in the group stage. She was eventually sacked after failing to qualify for the2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.[8]
Loisel was replaced by former football player and now coachBruno Bini. Bini had been in charge of several France female international youth sides before accepting the role and was tasked with the job of qualifying forUEFA Women's Euro 2009. Due to the success of the Clairefontaine project and the surprising emergence of the French women's first division,Division 1 Féminine, Bini inherited a team full of emerging, young, and influential talent, which included the likes ofCamille Abily,Sonia Bompastor,Louisa Necib,Élise Bussaglia,Laura Georges, andCorine Franco. Bini was also provided with leadership from captainSandrine Soubeyrand. Early results under Bini were extremely positive with France finishing first in their Euro qualifying group only conceded two goals. France also performed well in friendly tournaments, such as the Nordic Cup and Cyprus Cup. At UEFA Women's Euro 2009, France were inserted into thegroup of death, which consisted of themselves, world powerhouseGermany, no. 7 rankedNorway, and an underratedIceland. France finished the group with 4 points, alongside Norway, with Germany leading the group. As a result of the competition's rules, all three nations qualified for the quarterfinals. In the knockout rounds, France suffered defeat to theNetherlands losing 5–4 on penalties after no goals were scored in regular time and extra time.[9]
Corinne Diacre was appointed manager of France's women's national team in August 2017.[10] She has led the France national team to success as champions in theSheBelieves Cup in 2017 and runner-ups in 2018. Her time in charge was marked by considerable controversy with a number of veteran players, ultimately leading the France Football Federation to sack Diacre ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup on 9 March 2023 due to her poor relations with players. "It appears that the dysfunctions observed seem, in this context, irreversible," the federation said in a statement.[11]
Hervé Renard was appointed on 30 March 2023 to be the new manager of France's women's national team with a contract through the Olympic Games in August 2024.[12]
Bini's next task was to qualify for the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup after the disappointment of four years earlier. In the team'squalifying group, France finished the campaign scoring 50 goals and conceded none over the course of ten matches (all wins). On 16 September 2010, France qualified for the World Cup following the team's 3–2 aggregate victory overItaly.
At the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, France qualified to the knockout stage by finishing in second place in its group after wins overNigeria andCanada, and a loss tothe host team. The team went on to beatEngland on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, but lost to theUnited States in the semi-finals. France finished the competition in fourth place and earned qualification to theOlympic football tournament at the2012 Summer Olympics in London; it was the nation's first appearance in the competition. StrikerMarie-Laure Delie was the only multiple goal scorer for France in the tournament, while defendersSonia Bompastor andLaura Georges as well as midfielderLouisa Necib were selected to the All-Star Team.
France has entered one of the most successful eras in the country's women's football history. In theUEFA Women's Euro 2013 held in Sweden, France stood top of the group, beatingSpain,England andRussia to earn its ticket to the quarter-finals. However, Bergeroo's side lost toDenmark in a penalty shootout, thus failing to advance to the semi-finals.
In the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup held in Canada, France was listed to Pot 1, and was a favorite to become champions. France was named to Group F, alongsideEngland,Mexico andColombia. In the opening match against England, a goal fromEugénie Le Sommer gave France a 1–0 victory. However, France was shocked by Colombia in a 2–0 loss, making Colombia only the second Latin American team to win a Women's World Cup match. Therefore, France's third and final group stage match against Mexico was a must-win. France went on to beat Mexico 5–0 to qualify to the knockout round as top of the group.
In the knockout round, France eased pastSouth Korea in a 3–0 win inMontreal to remain at the same location awaiting the quarter-final match against Germany. In the quarter-final match against Germany, despite dominating the majority of the match, France were unable to capitalize on their chances, which ultimately cost them the game. France were finally able to score in the 64th minute throughLouisa Nécib, but failed to keep the lead asCélia Šašić scored on an 83rd-minute penalty kick. The score was 1–1 after 120 minutes, resulting in the match to be decided in a penalty shootout, where France's 5th penalty taken byClaire Lavogez was denied byNadine Angerer, in which France were eliminated from the tournament losing 4–5 on penalty kicks.
France won all matches at theUEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying Group 3. The home matches had sizable crowds, with 7,761 spectators attending the Romania match at theMMArena in Le Mans, 15,028 spectators at the Ukraine match at theStade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, 24,835 spectators at the Greece match atRoazhon Park in Rennes, and 7,521 spectators at the Albania atStade Jean-Bouin in Paris. The team scored a win and two draws at theUEFA Women's Euro 2017 Group C, and was defeated by England in quarter-finals.
In March 2015, France was selected to host the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup of the tournament. Having automatically qualified as hosts, France was considered a favorite to win the tournament, along with theUnited States. The team opened with three victories againstNorway,Nigeria, andSouth Korea, winning its group with a total of 9 points.[13] In the round of 16, France defeatedBrazil by a score of 2–1 in extra time, but lost to theUnited States in the quarterfinal with the same score of 2–1. This Women's World Cup was particularly notable, as it was used as a platform by many women's teams to campaign for equal pay between men and women.[14]
Corinne Diacre was the team manager until 2023, when Hervé Renard took on the role for one season, from 2023 to 2024. Since August 23, 2024, Laurent Bonadei has managed "les Bleues"[15].
The UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 was hosted in England. France qualified and was placed in Group D with Belgium, Iceland, and Italy. France finished top of the group with 7 points to advance to the quarterfinals. They beat the Netherlands in extra time 1-0 on July 23, 2022, in Rotherham, England. In the semi-finals, France played Germany on July 27, 2022 where they lost 2-1[16].
France qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which was hosted by Australia and New Zealand. France was placed in Group F with Jamaica, Brazil, and Panama, where they finished top of group with 7 points[17]. In the round of 16, France beat Morocco 4-0 on August 8, 2023[18], to advance to the quarterfinals. France lost to Australia in penalty shootout, 7-6, on August 12, 2023[19].
France qualified for the UEFA Women’s Euro 20256 and were placed in Group D with England, Wales, and the Netherlands. They finished at the top of the group with 9 points and advanced to the quarterfinals[20]. They played Germany and lost in penalty shootout on July 19, 2025[21].
^FromEuro 2025 onwards a new qualifying format was introduced, linked to theWomen's Nations League where teams are divided into leagues with promotion/relegation between the leagues at the end of each cycle.
4 (7 August 2025)[1]
France 4–0Netherlands 
France 14–0Algeria 
Germany 7–0France 
v
Jamaica
v
34'
Nigeria
Spain
Norway
Iceland
Belgium
Brazil
England
Wales
Juventus
Washington Spirit
Al-Ula
Toluca
Runners-up (1):2024
1991
1995
2015
2023
2035
2004
2020
1991
2009
[a]
2025
