17 August 1994 - That's The Way To Make A Debut

On 17 August 1994, Zinedine Zidane debuted for France, scoring two late goals to earn a draw with the Czech Republic.

The 22-year old midfielder had already made a name for himself with eight seasons in Ligue 1—split equally between Cannes and Bordeaux—and had just completed his first year with Juventus by winning the 1997 Serie A title. But despite six years playing for France's youth teams, he had failed to make the leap into the senior squad.

That changed in August 1994, when he came on as a substitute in a friendly against the Czech Republic. Playing in Bordeaux, Les Bleus were down 0-2 at the break after conceding goals to Tomáš Skuhravý (42') and Daniel Šmejkal (45'). That prompted manager Aimé Jacquet to make a couple of changes at the start of the second half, one of which was bringing Zidane on for Corentin Martins.

France were still down 0-2 deep into the second half when, in the 85th minute, Zidane received a pass just inside the Czech half, beat two defenders, and unleashed a sonic boom of a shot from 25 yards out into the far top corner. That alone would have made it a memorable debut, but he added a second goal two minutes later with a towering header from about 10 yards out to earn the 2-2 draw.

He went on to score a total of 31 goals in 108 appearances for France while reaching the World Cup final twice and winning it in 1998.

1 May 1904 - Game Of Threes

On 1 May 1904, France played their first official international, drawing 3-3 with Belgium in Brussels.

The French had formed an unofficial team in 1900 under the control of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques and competed in the Olympics that year, winning the silver medal. They played five other matches, including a 6-2 win over Belgium and four losses to England. Then, in 1904, they joined FIFA.

For their first official game, they traveled to Brussels for a friendly against Belgium. The hosts took the lead with a 7th-minute goal from Georges Quéritet, but France surged ahead within five minutes after goals from Louis Mesnier (12') and Marius Royet (13').

Quéritet brought Belgium level in the 50th minute, then they reclaimed the lead with a 65th-minute goal from Pierre Destrebecq. But with three minutes left, Gaston Cyprès scored for France to end the day as a 3-3 draw.

17 December 1953 - A Sign Of Things To Come For France

On 17 December 1953, striker Just Fontaine scored a hat-trick on his debut for France, but still didn't get another cap for three years.

Twenty years old at the time, Fontaine was mid-way through his first season with Nice after spending the first three years of his career with Casablanca, where he scored 62 goals in 48 appearances. He got off to an equally strong start at Nice, leading to his call-up for a World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.

The match was inconsequential, as Les Bleus had already qualified for the tournament ahead of Luxembourg and the group's other member, Ireland, leading the French selection committee to field a team composed entirely of players making their first national team appearance. But playing before a crowd of 20,146 at the Parc des Princes in Paris, they were motivated to make a strong showing and close out their campaign with a perfect record.

Jean Desgranges got the scoring started in the second minute, followed by a quick brace from Jean Vincent (6', 10'). Fontaine scored in the 21st minute and France took the 4-0 lead into the break. In the second half, Jacques Foix scored in the 57th minute before Fontaine completed his hat-trick with goals in the 75th and 80th minutes. Desgranges added another in the 88th minute to set the final margin at 8-0 for France.

Despite the strong performance, Fontaine waited until 1956 to get his second cap and 1957 for his third. 1958 turned out to be his breakout year, though, as he led all scorers in that year's World Cup with thirteen goals as France claimed third place.

27 November 1941 - France's Friend In Need

On 27 November 1941, World Cup-winning French manager Aimé Jacquet was born in the commune of Sail-sous-Couzan.

He enjoyed a long a successful playing career as a defensive midfielder, spending thirteen seasons at Saint-Étienne from 1960 to 1973. While there, he won five league titles and lifted the Coupe de France three times (and in 1968, he made his only two appearances for France). He moved to Lyon for his last two seasons before retiring in 1976, then took charge of the club as manager that year.

After four seasons in charge of Lyon, he switched to Bordeaux and guided the Girondins to the league title in 1984 and 1985, the Coupe de France in 1986, and a league and cup double in 1987. Despite that success, he fell out with the club president and left in 1989. Brief spells with Montpellier (1989-90) and Nancy (1990-91) followed before he took the reins of the national team in 1993.

When he took over, France had just failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup and shortly afterward suffered the loss of captain Eric Cantona to a year-long suspension. But he rebuilt the team around midfielder Zinedine Zidane and led them to the quarterfinals of Euro '96.

He adopted a 4-2-1-3 formation and frequently experimented with his line-up, which drew heavy criticism from French commentators. But his work led France to victory in the 1998 World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Brazil in the Stade de France.

Jacquet stepped down as manager immediately after the tournament, but served as technical director for the national team until his retirement 2006.

17 November 1993 - A Bulgarian Brace Beats Les Bleus

On 17 November 1993, a very late goal helped Bulgaria upset France in a World Cup qualifier in Paris to earn their place in the tournament and eliminate the hosts.

It was the last match of their qualification group. Sweden had already secured the top spot, leaving only one more ticket to the World Cup up for grabs. France started the day in second, one point ahead of third-place Bulgaria, and needed only a draw to advance.

Even though Bulgaria won the first meeting in Sofia, 2-0, Les Bleus looked like the more likely team to get the needed result, especially once they took a 1-0 lead with a 31st-minute goal from Eric Cantona. The visitors quickly answered with a strike from Emil Kostadinov (pictured) six minutes later, but the match remained level at 1-1 until deep in the second half.

Then, in the last few seconds of the 90th minute, Kostadinov struck again, blasting the ball into the roof of the net from close range. The final score of 1-2 switched the two teams in the table, putting Bulgaria in the World Cup and leaving France out.

The Bulgarians went on to make their best-ever World Cup showing, reaching the semifinals before falling to Italy, then finishing fourth after a loss to Sweden in the third-place match.

7 September 1977 - The End Of Callaghan's Capless Gap

On 7 September 1977, Liverpool midfielder Ian Callaghan made his third England appearance--a record 11 years and 49 days after his previous one.

A Liverpool player since the start of his professional career in 1960, Callaghan (pictured at far left) earned his first England cap at he age of 24 in a June 1966 friendly against Finland (England won 3-0). His second came the following month in the World Cup, as England beat France 2-0 in the group stage. It was his only appearances of the tournament, which England went on to win. Although his failure to take part in the final meant that he did not receive a winner's medal at the time, he eventually received one in 2009, along with all of the other squad members.

Despite his perfect record, he then went over a decade without playing for the national team. He continued to star for Liverpool, however, winning a total of five league titles, two FA Cups, two UEFA Cups, and two European Cups between 1964 and 1978.

In 1977, after missing England's previous 108 games, he returned to the national team for a friendly against Switzerland, which ended as a scoreless draw. The gap of 11 years and 49 days between caps remains an England record.

He made a fourth and final appearance the following month in a 2-0 win over Luxembourg.

11 August 1984 - Les Bleus Claim L'Or

On 11 August 1984, France and Brazil reached the first Olympic final for both teams, with France winning 2-0.

France had enjoyed more success in previous tournaments, claiming the silver medal in 1900 (albeit as one of only three participating teams). In 1908, France actually entered two teams, with one reaching the semifinals. An additional semifinal appearance followed in 1920, then they reached the quarterfinals in 1924, 1948, 1968, and 1976.

Brazil, on the other hand, did not participate in the Olympics until 1952. Though they made it to the quarterfinals that year, they suffered first-round exits in the next four tournaments. In 1976, they reached the quarterfinals again, losing to the Soviet Union.

Both teams missed the 1980 tournament in Moscow and showed up in 1984 eager to claim a medal. Brazil breezed through the group stage, winning all three of their games, then advanced to the final with victories over Canada (on penalties) and Italy (after extra time). France, meanwhile, topped their own group despite winning only one of the matches, then advanced over Egypt and Yugoslavia (on penalties).

Playing before a crowd of 101,799 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the teams finished the first half at 0-0, but that scoreline did not last much longer. In the 55th minute, Lens striker François Brisson put France up 1-0, then his fellow striker, Daniel Xuereb (pictured)--who also played for Lens--doubled the lead five minutes later. It was Xuereb's fifth goal of the tournament, tying him with two other players for top-scorer honors.

It was the last appearance in the final for France, but Brazil returned in 1988 and lost to the Soviet Union in extra time. They have again returned in 2012, where they will face Mexico.

31 July 1948 - India's Day Of Firsts

On 31 July 1948, India played their first official international, losing 2-1 to France in the first round of the Olympics.

Football in India dates back to 1889 and the national governing body, the All India Football Federation, formed in 1937. While the AIFF created a national team to tour neighboring countries, India did not join FIFA until 1948, making that summer's Olympics their first official tournament.

They met France in the first round at Cricklefield Stadium in Ilford, East London in front of a crowd of approximately 17,000. The day was wet and cold, which proved to be a problem for the Indian players, most of whom were playing barefoot, the dominant style in India at the time.

Nevertheless, they kept the game close, despite missing two penalties. After France took the lead with a 30th-minute goal from René Courbin, India's Sarangapani Raman (who had missed one of the penalties) equalized in the 70th minute, scoring the national team's first official goal. But France pulled ahead again in the 89th minute with a goal from René Persillon to claim the 2-1 victory.

23 July 2010 - "Allez Les Bleus" Indeed

On 23 July 2010, the French Football Federation suspended all 23 members of their World Cup squad at the request of new manager Laurent Blanc.

The sanction was a result of a player revolt during the tournament. The French campaign already looked doomed after losing their first two matches to Uruguay and Mexico, but the situation grew worse when manager Raymond Domenech sent striker Nicolas Anelka home after the player argued with him during halftime of the game against Mexico. In support of Anelka, other players in the French camp refused to train and Les Blues ended up losing to South Africa and finishing at the bottom of their group.

Following the tournament, FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes resigned his post and Domenech was sacked. Blanc, who had recently led Bordeaux to the 2008-09 Ligue 1 title, stepped in as his replacement. he acknowledged that the federation could not condone the team's actions during the tournament and recommended a one-game ban for the entire squad.

For Frace's next match, a friendly against Norway, they used an entirely different squad and lost, 2-1.

12 June 1927 - Hungary's Lucky Thirteen

On 12 June 1927, Hungary recorded their record victory, beating France 13-1.

The occasion was a friendly in Budapest, where a crowd of 28,000 gathered at the Üllői úti Stadium to watch the contest. As it turned out, however, it wasn't much of a contest. Striker József Takács (pictured) gave Hungary the lead in just the 17th minute, followed by a rapid series of goals from György Orth (25', 27'), György Skvarek (30') and Vilmos Kohut (32'). Another strike from Takács (41') pushed the margin to 6-0 by the break.

In the second half, the situation worsened for the visiting French team, as Takács scored twice more (51', 60') before Vilmos extended the lead to 9-0 in the 62nd minute. The lead moved to 10-0 when French striker Jules Dewaquez put the ball into his own net in the 78th minute, but he redeemed himself by scoring at the correct end two minutes later.

But Takács was not done. He added two more goals (83', 85') to take his personal tally to six and push the final score to 13-1. It remains the highest-scoring match in Hungarian history (though they have two other wins of 12-0 to equal the margin of victory).

14 May 1931 - France Gets The Win And The Shirts

On 14 May 1931, France got their first win over England and started a new football tradition.

Since their initial meeting in 1923, the two teams had played each other six times, all in France. England had won all six, including some by impressive margins--the three previous matches ended 0-6 (in 1927), 1-5 (1928), and 1-4 (1929).

Playing before a crowd of 30,000 at the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in the Paris suburb of Colombes, it appeared that the 1931 friendly was headed for a similar result when England went up 0-1 with a goal from Samuel Crooks after only ten minutes. But France equalized five minutes later with a strike from Lucien Laurent (pictured), then jumped to a 4-1 lead with goals from Robert Furois (18'), Marcel Langiller (29'), and Edmond Delfour (57'). Thomas Waring pulled one back for the visitors in the 71st minute, but Furois restored the margin when he completed his brace five minutes later to set the final score at 5-2.

After the final whistle, the French players asked to keep the shirts of their English counterparts to commemorate the victory. It was the first recorded instance of shirt-swapping, which has since become a tradition for footballers around the world.