France at The World Cup - Animated Histories

France, the country that gave the world new wave cinema, haute-couture and the suburban dead end. Their first foray into world football came in 1904, a rather cosy affair with their nextdoor neighbours. And with just one game behind them, they duly formed an entire world governing body for the sport and gave it a French president. They first played England two years later, losing 15-0 to the amateur team in a record home defeat that's likely to go unchallenged. Not that they performed much better in their next outings. But it's not like the French to just lie down at the first signs of defeat and the 1920s duly saw their first victory over England. In 1931, France's first black player, Raoul Diagne, joined the team, marking the beginning of black and Arab players contribution to French international football. Overall France have managed to produce three great teams, a menage-a-trois. The first of these came in the 1950s, making it to the World Cup semis, where they were knocked out by Brazil. The mighty Just Fontaine was the tournaments top scorer with just 13 goals. And they had similar success on French soil in the first ever European Championships in 1960, where they were narrowly defeated by a country who know longer exist. But as France's success in songwriting increased, their footballing suffered. They didn't qualify for the 1962 World Cup or the Euros in 1964 and they began desperately appointing new managers, such as former legend Just Fontaine, who lasted just two games. And their losing streak continued all the way to the 1980s when the second great French team turned up on the scene. Insprired by Michel Platini and the sound and light displays on Jean Michel Jarre, they made it to the World Cup semis in 1982 and the Euro finals in 1984, which they won, beating Spain 2-0. Onto the 1990s, France just couldn't qualify for a World Cup, so in 1998 they hosted one of their own. And in their own back garden they won with the help of Zinedine Zidane's majestic tonture, scoring two goals. And this third great French side went on to win Euro 2000 straight after. The next two tournaments didn't go very well. But then, in 2006, despite showing no form beforehand, they made it to the World Cup final against Italy. This time Zidane's head caused more harm than good. Zizou was sent off for butting Materazzi in the chest and France lost on penalties. They spent the next two tournaments dawdling and dissenting under Domenech. But after mutiny in South Africa, Laurent Blanc turned up to knock some sense into the revolting lot. Their record since is almost as good as England's but can they earn their stripes again and become the fourth great French team?