France–Italy football rivalry

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France–Italy football rivalry
France - Italy, football, 20 feb 1921 (2).jpg
France–Italy match on 20 February 1921
Location Europe
TeamsFlag of France.svg  France
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
First meeting15 May 1910
Friendly
Italy 6–2 France
Latest meeting17 November 2024
UEFA Nations League
Italy 1–3 France
Statistics
Meetings total41
Most winsItaly (19)
All-time seriesItaly: 19
Draw: 10
France: 12
Largest victoryItaly 7–0 France
Friendly
(22 March 1925)
Largest goal scoringItaly 9–4 France
Friendly
(18 January 1920)
Europe blank laea location map.svg
Red pog.svg
France
Red pog.svg
Italy

The national football teams of Italy and France are rivals, [1] [2] [3] [4] having achieved six FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Championships between the two countries. Italy has won four FIFA World Cups in 1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006, while France has won two FIFA World Cups in 1998 and 2018.

Contents

For many years Italy dominated (before 1982: 17 wins, three losses, and six draws), while from 1982, the French team had not lost one regulation 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, however, FIFA considers it a draw. France did, however, lose the UEFA Euro 2008 Group C match against Italy 2–0. [5]

The two countries also met in the final of the 2000 European Championship, won by France with an extra-time golden goal by David Trezeguet.

List of matches

NumberDateLocationCompetitionGameResults
115 May 1910 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Milan FriendlyItaly – France6–2
29 April 1911 Flag of France.svg Saint-Ouen France – Italy2–2
317 March 1912 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Turin Italy – France3–4
412 January 1913 Flag of France.svg Saint-Ouen France – Italy1–0
529 March 1914 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Turin Italy – France2–0
618 January 1920 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Milan Italy – France9–4
729 August 1920 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Antwerp 1920 Summer Olympics France – Italy3–1
820 February 1921 Flag of France.svg Marseille FriendlyFrance – Italy1–2
922 March 1925 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Turin Italy – France7–0
1024 April 1927 Flag of France.svg Colombes France – Italy3–3
1129 May 1928 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Amsterdam 1928 Summer Olympics France – Italy3–4
1225 January 1931 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Bologna FriendlyItaly – France5–0
1310 April 1932 Flag of France.svg Colombes France – Italy1–2
1417 February 1935 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Rome Italy – France2–1
155 December 1937 Flag of France.svg Paris France – Italy0–0
1612 June 1938 Flag of France.svg Colombes 1938 World Cup France – Italy1–3
(b)
174 December 1938 Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Naples FriendlyItaly – France1–0
184 April 1948 Flag of France.svg Colombes France – Italy1–3
193 June 1951 Flag of Italy.svg Genoa Italy – France4–1
2011 April 1954 Flag of France.svg Colombes France – Italy1–3
215 May 1956 Flag of Italy.svg Bologna Italy – France2–0
229 November 1958 Flag of France.svg Colombes France – Italy2–2
235 May 1962 Flag of Italy.svg Florence Italy – France2–1
2419 March 1966 Flag of France.svg Paris France – Italy0–0
258 February 1978 Flag of Italy.svg Naples Italy – France2–2
262 June 1978 Flag of Argentina.svg Mar del Plata 1978 World Cup Italy – France2–1
2723 February 1982 Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Paris FriendlyFrance – Italy2–0
2817 June 1986 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico City 1986 World Cup Italy – France0–2
2916 February 1994 Flag of Italy.svg Naples FriendlyItaly – France0–1
3011 June 1997 Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Paris Tournoi de France France – Italy2–2
313 July 1998 Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Saint-Denis 1998 World Cup France – Italy0–0 ( a.e.t. )
(4–3 p)
322 July 2000 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Rotterdam Euro 2000 France – Italy 2–1
( a.e.t. )
339 July 2006 Flag of Germany.svg Berlin 2006 World Cup Italy – France 1–1 ( a.e.t. )
(5–3 p)
346 September 2006 Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Paris 2008 Euro qualifier France – Italy3–1
358 September 2007 Flag of Italy.svg Milan Italy – France0–0
3617 June 2008 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Zürich Euro 2008 France – Italy0–2
3714 November 2012 Flag of Italy.svg Parma FriendlyItaly – France1–2
381 September 2016 Flag of Italy.svg Bari Italy – France1–3
391 June 2018 Flag of France (lighter variant).svg Nice France – Italy3–1
406 September 2024 Flag of France.svg Paris 2024–25 Nations League France – Italy1–3
4117 November 2024 Flag of Italy.svg Milan Italy – France1–3

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.

TournamentFlag of France.svg  France Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Notes
1930 FIFA World Cup 7thDNP
1934 FIFA World Cup 9th1stTournament played in Italy.
1938 FIFA World Cup 6th1stTournament played in France. In the quarter-finals, Italy defeated France 3–1.
1950 FIFA World Cup DNP7th
1954 FIFA World Cup 11th10th
1958 FIFA World Cup 3rdDNQ
Euro 1960 4thDNPTournament played in France.
1962 FIFA World Cup DNQ9th
Euro 1964 DNQDNQ
1966 FIFA World Cup 13th9th
Euro 1968 DNQ1stTournament played in Italy.
1970 FIFA World Cup DNQ2nd
Euro 1972 DNQDNQ
1974 FIFA World Cup DNQ10th
Euro 1976 DNQDNQ
1978 FIFA World Cup 12th4thFrance and Italy were placed in the same first round group. Italy defeated France 2–1, in the match between the two teams, as France did not progress out of the group.
Euro 1980 DNQ4thTournament played in Italy.
1982 FIFA World Cup 4th1st
Euro 1984 1stDNQTournament played in France.
1986 FIFA World Cup 3rd12thIn the round of 16, France defeated Italy 2–0.
Euro 1988 DNQ4th
1990 FIFA World Cup DNQ3rdTournament played in Italy.
Euro 1992 6thDNQ
1994 FIFA World Cup DNQ2nd
Euro 1996 3rd*10th
1998 FIFA World Cup 1st5thIn the quarter-finals, France defeated Italy 4–3 on penalties after extra time. Tournament played in France.
Euro 2000 1st2ndIn the final, France defeated Italy 2–1 with a golden goal in extra time.
2002 FIFA World Cup 28th15th
Euro 2004 6th9th
2006 FIFA World Cup 2nd1stIn the final, Italy defeated France 5–3 on penalties.
Euro 2008 15th8thFrance and Italy were placed in the same first round group. Italy defeated France 2–0, in the match between the two teams, as France did not progress out of the group.
2010 FIFA World Cup 29th26thBoth defending finalists were eliminated in the group stage, the first time this occurred.
Euro 2012 8th2nd
2014 FIFA World Cup 7th22nd
Euro 2016 2nd5thTournament played in France.
2018 FIFA World Cup 1stDNQ
Euro 2020 11th1stSome games of the tournament played in Italy.
2022 FIFA World Cup 2ndDNQ
Euro 2024 3rd*14th

*share

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, which ended 3–1 in favour of Italy with goals by Gino Colaussi in the 9th minute and two goals by Silvio Piola in the 51st and 72nd minute, with France's only goal coming from Oscar Heisserer in the 10th minute, as France were eliminated (being the first World Cup's hosts to fail to win the tournament at home). [6] Italy went on to win their second World Cup title in succession.

France  Flag of France.svg1–3Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy
Heisserer Soccerball shade.svg10' Report Colaussi Soccerball shade.svg9'
Piola Soccerball shade.svg51', 72'
Stade Olympique de Colombes, Paris
Attendance: 58,455
Referee: Louis Baert (Belgium)

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

Italy  Flag of Italy.svg2–1Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France
Rossi Soccerball shade.svg29'
Zaccarelli Soccerball shade.svg54'
Report Lacombe Soccerball shade.svg1'

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 in the 15th minute and Yannick Stopyra in the 57th minute. [8]

Italy  Flag of Italy.svg0–2Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France
Report Platini Soccerball shade.svg15'
Stopyra Soccerball shade.svg57'

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 [9] and went on to win the 1998 World Cup 3–0 over Brazil.

UEFA Euro 2000

On 2 July, Marco Delvecchio gave Italy the lead in the 55th minute and they held on until the final minute of injury time, when Sylvain Wiltord crashed a low drive past Italian keeper Francesco Toldo to take the game into extra time. [10] France won the game just before half-time in extra-time when Robert Pires cut the ball back for David Trezeguet to blast the golden goal into the top left corner of the net to win the tournament 2–1 for France. [11] [12]

France  Flag of France (lighter variant).svg2–1 (a.e.t.)Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Report Delvecchio Soccerball shade.svg55'
Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam
Attendance: 48,200
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)

2006 FIFA World Cup

On 9 July, France and Italy faced off in the final. Zinedine Zidane opened the scoring by converting a controversial 7th-minute penalty kick, [13] conceded by Marco Materazzi, 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 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 awarded a possible second penalty in the 53rd minute when Florent Malouda went down in the box after a cover tackle from Gianluca Zambrotta. The reverse angle review anyway clears that there was no penalty and the referee took the right decision. France appeared to be the side with better chances to win because of the higher number of shots on goal. However Italy defended well, making them unable to capitalise, 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 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 did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials' reports, fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo informed Elizondo of the incident through his headset. [14] After consulting his assistants, Elizondo issued Zidane a red card in the 110th minute. [15]

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 penalty shoot-out.

The French David Trezeguet 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. [16]

After the match, Zidane was given the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo, both from Italy, placed second and third respectively.

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Both teams were drawn together in Group B of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying. [18] [19] [20] The French beat the Italians 3–1 in Paris before drawing 0–0 in Milan. [21] [22] Both teams qualified for the tournament after Italy beat the nearest group contenders Scotland 2–1. [23]

France  Flag of France (lighter variant).svg3–1Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Govou Soccerball shade.svg2', 55'
Henry Soccerball shade.svg18'
Report Gilardino Soccerball shade.svg20'
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 78,831
Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)

Italy  Flag of Italy.svg0–0Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France
Report
San Siro, Milan
Attendance: 81,200
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)

UEFA Euro 2008

Italy and France met in the final group stage match of UEFA Euro 2008 on 17 June, having played twice previously in the Euro qualifiers and four times competitively since 2000. [24] [18] Both sides needed a win to have a shot 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. [25]

France  Flag of France (lighter variant).svg 0–2 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Report
Letzigrund, Zürich
Attendance: 30,585 [26]
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)

2024–25 UEFA Nations League

Both teams were drawn together in Group 2 of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A. [27] [28]

France  Flag of France.svg1–3Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Report
Parc des Princes, Paris
Attendance: 44,956 [29]
Referee: Sandro Schärer (Switzerland)

Italy  Flag of Italy.svg1–3Flag of France.svg  France
Report
San Siro, Milan
Attendance: 68,158 [30]
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

Statistics

Overall

As of 17 November 2024
MatchesWinsDrawsGoals
FranceItalyFranceItaly
FIFA World Cup 5122*56
UEFA European Championship 421154
Olympics 211065
UEFA Nations League 211044
All competitions135532019
Friendly 2771463865
Tournoi de France 100122
All matches411219106086

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 via penalty shoot-out.

Official titles comparison

Senior titlesFranceItaly
World Cup
2
4
FIFA Confederations Cup
2
0
Olympics
1
1
Artemio Franchi Trophy
1
0
European Championship
2
2
Nations League
1
0
Total titles
9
7

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

See also

References

  1. "CI RISIAMO: ITALIA-FRANCIA Un'accesa rivalità che parte da lontano" (in Italian). federtennis.it. 30 May 2012.
  2. "Storia recente di Italia-Francia" (in Italian). fantagazzetta.com. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  3. "Italia-Francia Le antiche ossessioni le rivalità profonde e più amore che odio". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 7 July 2006. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015.
  4. "Italia e Francia di nuovo contro dopo 4 anni: storia di una grande rivalità" (in Italian). today.it. 12 November 2012.
  5. France – Italy (Head-To-Head) at FIFA.com
  6. "Match Report France - Italy". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015.
  7. "Match Report Italy - France". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015.
  8. "Match Report Italy - France". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016.
  9. "Match Report Italy - France". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015.
  10. "France 2 Italy 1". BBC Sport. 2 July 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  11. "Trezeguet strikes gold for France". UEFA. 2 July 2000. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  12. "France 2 - 1 Italy". Guardian UK. 2 July 2000. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  13. Stevenson, Jonathan (9 July 2006). "Italy 1–1 France (aet)". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  14. "Fourth Official: I saw Zidane's Headbutt". ESPNsoccernet. 11 July 2006. Archived from the original on 18 July 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2006.
  15. Williams, Richard (10 July 2006). "Zidane exits the stage with a walk of shame". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 29 September 2006. Retrieved 10 July 2006.
  16. Stevenson, Jonathan (9 July 2006). "Italy 1–1 France (aet)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  17. 1 2 3 "Italy – France". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  18. 1 2 "Italy and France resume love hate relationship". Reuters . 9 June 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  19. "Scotland meet French and Italians". 27 January 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  20. Smyth, Rob (27 January 2006). "Euro 2008 draw - live!". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  21. "France 3-1 Italy". 6 September 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  22. "Italy coach not worried about slipping to third". Reuters . 8 September 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  23. "Scotland 1-2 Italy". 17 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  24. Lowe, Felix (2 December 2007). "Italy, Holland and France drawn together". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  25. "France sunk as Italy grab lifeline in EURO 2008 Group C". UEFA. 18 June 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  26. "Full-time report France-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  27. "France, Italy, Belgium drawn in same UNL group". ESPN.com. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  28. "Italy and France drawn together in Nations League group". Reuters . 8 February 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  29. "Full Time Report League phase – France v Italy" (PDF). UEFA . Union of European Football Associations. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  30. "Full Time Report League phase – Italy v France" (PDF). UEFA . Union of European Football Associations. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.