Sport inFrance plays an important role in French society, which is reflected in its popularity among the French people and the nation's strong sporting history.[1] Various types of sports are played and followed in France, notablycycling,fencing,football,[2] andhandball, which has earned France eight victories in world championships and fiveOlympic medal; France is also the four-time European champion of handball.[3]
France has a long history of sport as a prestige and popular activity, wide participation and appreciative audiences as well as active support from the media and the government.[4][5]
The origins of French sport reach back to ancient Gaul, where Celtic tribes engaged in activities like chariot racing, wrestling, and equestrian sports, often influenced by Roman traditions. The medieval era saw the rise of chivalric tournaments—jousting and martial arts that blended athleticism with social spectacle, reflecting the values and hierarchy of feudal society.[6]
During the Renaissance, sports such as tennis andjeu de paume (the precursor to modern tennis) flourished among the aristocracy. These activities were closely linked to the royal court and symbolized status and refinement, reinforcing social stratification and the association of certain sports with the elite.[7]
The French Revolution of the 1790s brought a new vision for sport, emphasizing physical education as a means to foster healthy, disciplined citizens aligned with republican ideals. This period saw the reinterpretation of traditional sports and the emergence of new forms of physical training, reflecting broader societal changes and the drive for egalitarianism.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries marked the formal organization of sport in France.Pierre de Coubertin was co-founder of theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, becoming the father of the modern Olympics.[8] National sports federations were formed to regulate and promote various disciplines, such asGymnastic and Sports Federation of French Patronages. This period also saw the spread of sports through theFrench colonial empire, where physical education and organized sport were used as tools of cultural assimilation and imperial influence.[9]
From the mid-20th century, sport became a matter of national concern andsoft power in international affairs. The government invested in sports infrastructure, youth academies, and athlete development as a means to foster national unity, assimilate immigrants, and project international prestige. Football, in particular, became a symbol of multicultural integration, especially after the national team’s 1998 World Cup victory, which celebrated a multiethnic roster as a model of French identity and social cohesion.[10]
The 20th century saw the democratization of sport, with football, rugby, cycling (notably theTour de France), and tennis becoming central to French popular culture. These sports not only provided entertainment and national pride but also served as arenas for debates about class, gender, and regional identity.
Sport in France has often intersected with politics and social movements. For example, the May 1968 protests influenced the state’s approach to youth and sport, while issues of racism, immigration, and national identity have played out in the public sphere through high-profile sporting events and controversies involving national teams.
France has frequently hosted major international sporting events, including multiple Olympic Games, theFIFA World Cup, and theRugby World Cup. These occasions have reinforced France’s role as a global sporting nation and showcased its capacity for international leadership and cultural diplomacy.
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in France, with 1,993,270 licensed players in the leagues.[11] The sport was imported fromEngland at the end of the 19th century, under the name of association football. In its early days, the sport gained followers mainly in theParis area and the Northern part of the country -Nord-Pas-de-Calais andNormandy were the first teams that were created outsideParis. However, insouthern France, football's competitor,rugby football, was more popular for a period of time. Established in 1919 from competing organizations, theFédération française de football consists of 18,000 teams.[11]
France is also one of only ten teams to have won theUEFA European Championship (1984 and2000). They also finished as runners-up when they hosted the tournament in2016. France was also the1984 Olympic Champion and the1998 and2018 FIFA World Cup winner, hosting the 1998 tournament. They finished as World Cup runners-up in2006 and2022.
Ligue 1 is theFrench professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of theFrench football league system. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system ofpromotion and relegation with Ligue 2. The most successful club in the French first division history isParis Saint-Germain with 13 championships, followed byAS Saint-Étienne with 10,Olympique de Marseille with 9 titles andFC Nantes with 8 titles. As of2025, the current champions are Paris Saint-Germain.
TheCoupe de France is the premierknock-out cup competition in French football. TheCoupe de la Ligue is the second major cup competition in France. TheTrophée des Champions is played each July as a one-off match between theCoupe de France winners and theLigue 1 champions.
.jpg)
Only two French clubs have won theUEFA Champions League: Marseille in1993 and Paris Saint-Germain in2025.Stade de Reims (1956,1959 but winner of the Latin Cup in 1953), Saint-Étienne (1976), andAS Monaco (2004) have also been runners-up.
SC Bastia (1978),FC Girondins de Bordeaux (1996) and Olympique de Marseille (1999,2004,2018) have been runners-up in theUEFA Europa League. Paris Saint-Germain won the now defunctUEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996.
TheFrance women's national football team's main international achievement has been fourth place at the2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. They also hosted the2019 Women's World Cup.
Women's national professional competitions are supervised by theFédération française de football. The first division is thePremière Ligue.Olympique Lyonnais is the most successful team in French first division history with 31 national titles, including a streak of fourteen consecutive league titles from 2007 to 2020. In theUEFA Women's Champions League, OL have won a record eight titles (2011,2012,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 and2022) and have been runners-up three times (2010,2013 and2024).
TheFrance national basketball team has had good results in international competitions over the years, with the senior team winning their first title ever at theEuroBasket 2013. The team was runner-up at the1948 Summer Olympics,EuroBasket 1949, the2000 Summer Olympics, theEuroBasket 2011, the2020 Summer Olympics and the2024 Summer Olympics. France has also won medals at theFIBA World Cup in2014, and2019.
As of the2015–16 season,22 French citizens have played in theNBA in theUSA andCanada.San Antonio Spurspoint guard Tony Parker won four NBA titles to his credit; Spursforward Boris Diaw once;Utah Jazz centerRudy Gobert, who won back-to-back NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019; andNew York Knicks forward-centerJoakim Noah, also notable for hiscollege career at theUniversity of Florida in which he starred on a team that won twoNCAA titles with the same starting lineup. The New York Knicks former GM Phil Jackson selected Frank Ntilikina in the 2016-2017 NBA Draft.Victor Wembanyama won NBA Rookie of the Year in 2024. Men's national professional competitions are supervised by theLigue Nationale de Basketball. There are two divisions:Pro A (first division) andPro B (second division).ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne is the most successful team in French first division history with 17 titles from 1949 to 2009.Limoges CSP is the only French team to have won theEuroLeague in1993.
TheFrance women's national basketball team has twice been European champion (2001 and2009), and also claimed a silver medal at the2012 Summer Olympics.
Women's national professional competitions are supervised by theFédération Française de Basket-Ball with the first division being theLigue 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 (1997,1998, and2001) andUS Valenciennes (2002 and2004) have won theEuroLeague Women.
Besides regular basketball,3x3 basketball has become increasingly popular in France.[12]
Equestrianism is the third most popular Olympic sport in France, and the leading sport for women.
Rugby union (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 aroundToulouse, the FrenchBasque country andCatalonia. Elite French clubs participate in the domestic club competition - theTop 14. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competitions, theEuropean Rugby Champions Cup andEuropean Rugby Challenge Cup. 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).[13]
Toulouse, Brive, Toulon, La Rochelle and Bordeaux Bègles won the Champions Cup.
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.[14] In 2011, the final of the Top 14 gathered 4.4 million viewers on France 2 and Canal+[15] 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.[16]
Thenational side is one of the tier 1 national teams. World number one in July 2022. It competes annually in theSix Nations Championship, and won it outright 18 times. France has been to everyRugby World Cup since its inception in 1987, and has been a runner-up on three occasions, most recently in2011. France hosted the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cups.
And the France national rugby sevens team became World Series champion in2023–24.
There were 492,101 licensed handball players in France as of 2019.
TheFrance men's national handball team 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 thirteen medals at theWorld Men's Handball Championship. With a total of five medals, including three gold in2008,2012 and2021, France is also the most successful handball team at theSummer Olympics. France was also recognized as the European champion of handball in2006,2010,2014 and2024.
TheFrance women's national handball team, although less successful, won theSummer Olympics once (2020), theWorld Championship thrice (2003,2017,2023) and also theEuropean Championship once (2018).
France hosts "the world's biggest annual sporting event" called theTour de France,[17] aroad cycling race, which takes place each July and lasts for three weeks. It is one of the threeGrand Tours, 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 theTour de France race attracts more than 12 million people who travel to witness the race first hand. TheTour de France also attracts a television audience of 3.5 billion people worldwide. In addition, the north of France hosts the one-day raceParis–Roubaix, known as one of thecobbled classics famous for the use ofcobblestones orsetts as challenging terrain, and as one of the five "Monuments" which along with the road racing World Championship are the most important one-dayclassic cycle races. Other high-profile races which are included as part of the top-levelUCI World Tour circuit include the stage racesParis–Nice and theCritérium du Dauphiné (often used as a warm-up race for riders competing in the Tour de France), and the one-day raceGP Ouest-France.
Some of the most notable French riders are multipleGrand Tour winnersLucien Petit-Breton,André Leducq,Antonin Magne,Louison Bobet,Jacques Anquetil (along with historic contenderRaymond Poulidor, who was a favorite of the crowd),Roger Pingeon,Bernard Thévenet,Bernard Hinault andLaurent Fignon, and multiple Monument winnersMaurice Garin,Lucien Lesna,Hippolyte Aucouturier,Octave Lapize,Gustave Garrigou,Henri Pélissier,Charles Crupelandt,Jean Forestier,Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle andLaurent Jalabert. In women's cyclingJeannie Longo is one of the most successful competitors of all time, having won theTour de France Feminin three times, nine gold medals in road racing and time trialling at theUCI Road World Championships, and the gold in the road race at the1996 Olympics.
.png)
Motorsports are very popular in France, especiallyauto racing andmotorcycle racing.
Formula One has a strong connection with and long history in France, having roots in EuropeanGrand Prix motor racing, which traces its birth to the1906 French Grand Prix. Many French circuits have been used since the foundation of the Formula One Championships:Reims-Gueux (1950–1966),Rouen-Les-Essarts (1952–1958),Circuit Charade (1965–1972),Bugatti Circuit (1967),Circuit Paul Ricard (1971–1990 and 2018–2022),Dijon-Prenois (1974–1984), andCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1991–2008).France is home of Formula One World's Constructors' ChampionsMatra (1969) andRenault (2005 and2006), and Formula One World Drivers' ChampionAlain Prost (1985,1986,1989, and1993). The most recent French Formula One race winner isEsteban Ocon, having won the2021 Hungarian Grand Prix while racing forAlpine.
France is also home to the most Champions inFormula Two history withJean-Pierre Beltoise (1968),Johnny Servoz-Gavin (1969),Jean-Pierre Jarier (1973),Patrick Depailler (1974),Jacques Laffite (1975),Jean-Pierre Jabouille (1976), andRené Arnoux (1977). French constructors have also been successful withMatra winning the Championships in1967,1968, and1969,Automobiles Martini in1975 and1977, andRenault in1976 and1977. France produced five champions in theInternational Formula 3000 championship, the successor to the European F2 series:Jean Alesi (1989),Érik Comas (1990),Olivier Panis (1993),Jean-Christophe Boullion (1994) andSébastien Bourdais (2002), tying with Italy as the most successful nation in the formula.Romain Grosjean won theGP2 Asia Series in2008 and2011 and the mainGP2 Series in2011, whilstPierre Gasly won the GP2 title in the series' final season in2016.Théo Pourchaire won the revivedFIA Formula 2 Championship in2023.
Touring car racing, although less popular in France thanFormula One, has a strong following, especially with four timeWorld Touring Car Championship Drivers' ChampionYvan Muller (2008,2010,2011 and2013).InSports car racing, France is home to the24 Hours of Le Mans the world's oldestsports car race inendurance racing, held annually since 1923. Also, Frenchauto racing teamHexis Racing is the currentFIA GT1 World Team Champion.
Rallying is very popular in France, with twoWorld Rally Championship rallies being held there:Tour de Corse (1973–2008) andRallye d'Alsace (2010-today).
French drivers and manufacturers have been very successful in the World Rally Championship, especially since 2000, winning 32 championships (in total) in each competition. Champions includeDidier Auriol (1994),Sébastien Loeb (2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011 and2012, an all-time record) andSébastien Ogier (2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2020 and2021) for the drivers, andAlpine (1973),Peugeot (1985,1986,2000,2001, and2002), andCitroën (2003,2004,2005,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012) for the manufacturers.
France holds an annualice racing championship at the end of each year, called theAndros Trophy.
Other types ofauto racing (Stock car racing,Sports car racing,Drag racing, etc.) are more favoured.
France host theFrench motorcycle Grand Prix currently inLe Mans.
Fabio Quartararo is the first Frenchman to win the premier class ofMotoGP in2021. Also, inSuperbike World Championship only two French riders have been champions:Raymond Roche in1990 andSylvain Guintoli in2014.
Pétanque 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 theIOC.[18][19]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 theFédération Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (FFPJP). The FFPJP is the 4th largest sports federation in France.
.jpg)
Professionalsailing in France is centered on singlehanded/shorthanded ocean racing with the pinnacle of this branch of the sport being theVendée Globe singlehanded around the world race which starts every 4 years from the French Atlantic. Since its inception, every winner of the Vendée Globe has been French.[20]
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 Frenchski resorts are located.
Émile Allais won four World Championship golds in the 1930s.Henri Oreiller won Olympic gold at the1948 Winter Olympics.Jean-Claude Killy dominatedalpine skiing in the late 1960s, winning all three alpine skiing golds on offer at the1968 Winter Olympics on French snow in Grenoble. These events also served as the 1968Alpine 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 overallAlpine Skiing World Cup titles.Marielle Goitschel won two Olympic golds, an additional five World Championship golds and three discipline World Cup titles in the 1960s.Guy Périllat was a double World Championship gold medallist in the 1960s.Fabienne Serrat won two golds at the1974 World Championships.Carole Merle won six World Cup discipline titles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was World Champion in giant slalom in1993. More recentlyLuc Alphand won the overall World Cup in1997 and four discipline titles in Downhill and Super-G.Jean-Baptiste Grange was Slalom World Cup champion in2009 and Slalom World Champion in2011 and 2015.Tessa Worley was World Cup champion in giant slalom in2017 and2022 and won four World Championship golds in the 2010s. In January 2017Alexis Pinturault set a new record for World Cup wins by a French skier when he took his 19th victory in a giant slalom inAdelboden, breaking Jean-Claude Killy's record.[21]
French success in cross-country skiing has been somewhat more limited. HoweverVincent Vittoz did win a gold medal in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit at theFIS Nordic World Ski Championships in2005. He also finished as runner up in the DistanceWorld Cup for three consecutive seasons from 2004/05 to2006/07.
Jason Lamy-Chappuis has been an extremely successful competitor inNordic combined. He won a gold medal in the Individual normal hill/10 km competition at the2010 Winter Olympics as well as five World Championship golds and three consecutiveFIS Nordic Combined World Cups between2009/10 and2011/12.
France has enjoyed success inBiathlon in recent years.Raphaël Poirée won sevenBiathlon World Championship golds and four overallBiathlon World Cups. 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 has won 13 World Championship golds, 7 overall World Cup titles, 1 gold medal inVancouver 2010 Olympic Games, 2 gold medals in theSochi 2014 Olympic Games, and 3 gold medals in thePyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games.
.jpg)
Tennis 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 tournamentRoland Garros. Some current French high-level players includeGaël Monfils,Richard Gasquet,Lucas Pouille,Caroline Garcia,Alizé Cornet, andKristina Mladenovic. Other stars from the past includeHenri Cochet,René Lacoste,Yannick Noah,Guy Forget,Henri Leconte,Gilles Simon,Jo-Wilfried Tsonga,Amélie Mauresmo,Mary Pierce andMarion Bartoli.
The Ligue Élite de Football Américain, founded in 1982, is the top level ofAmerican football in France.
Baseball is a minor sport in France.
France has a notable presence in canoeing, with several accomplished athletes achieving success at national and international levels. Some prominent French canoeists includeTony Estanguet,Denis Gargaud Chanut,Émilie Fer,Mathieu Goubel, andSébastien Combot.
Though it is little known,Gaelic football is developing in France. There are currently 20 clubs across the country, with 80% of the players being French.[22]
Ice hockey is a minor sport in France. The governing body is theFFHG which administers the national championship,Ligue Magnus (founded in 1907). Thenational team is currently ranked in the top 20 in theIIHF World Ranking. In recent years, only a few French ice hockey players have played in theNHL, the premier ice hockey competition on the planet based in theUnited States andCanada, includingStanley Cup winnerCristobal Huet andVancouver Canucks forwardAntoine Roussel.
Teddy Riner, has twelve World Championship gold medals and five Olympic gold medals, is one of the most successful French judoka.
TheFrance national lacrosse team has qualified for theWorld Lacrosse Championship three consecutive times, in 2010 through 2018. At the most recent event (2018), it finished 33rd out of 46.
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 toWorld Cup finals and won test series against Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand. Two French-based teams,Catalans Dragons andToulouse Olympique, participate in theBritish rugby league system,[23] which has helped boost the sport's profile and led to growth in player numbers.
Savate, also known asFrench boxing, is a French martial art, similar to kickboxing, that uses punches and kicks.Savate was developed in the 1800s on the sailing ships and back streets of France[24]Savate, which translates toold shoe, differs from most other striking arts that use kicks, as Savate practitioners wear shoes and can only kick with their feet, wearing hard-tipped kicking shoes—kicking with one's shins is disallowed. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was one of the most popular martial arts in mainland Europe.[25]
Savate was an Olympic sport, but only at the1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.[26]
Famous modern practitioners include former Savate world championGerard Gordeau, who competed at the first-ever UFC show, and made it to the tournament final at UFC 1.
Some notable French swimmers in competition areCamille Muffat,Laure Manaudou,Yannick Agnel,Alain Bernard,Virginie Dedieu,Florent Manaudou andLéon Marchand.
Some prominent French track and field athletes includeAlain Mimoun,Michel Jazy,Guy Drut,Sophie Duarte,Renaud Lavillenie,Marie-José Pérec,Pierre-Ambroise Bosse,Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad,Christophe Lemaitre, andMarie Collonvillé.
And theFrance men's national volleyball team consecutively became double Olympic champion in 2021 and 2024, like the Soviets in the 1960s and the Americans in the 1980s.
Men's national team inbeach volleyball that competed at the2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.[27]
| Summer Olympic Sports |
|
|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Sports | |
| Other IOC Recognised Sports |
|
| Others Sports | |
