France national football team manager

Didier Deschamps was named manager of the France national team on 8 July 2012.

The France national football team manager was first established on 25 April 1964 following the appointment of the country's first national football team manager Henri Guérin. Before this, the France national football team was selected by a selection committee, a process in which the French Football Federation would select coaches and trainers from within the country or abroad to prepare the side for single games and tournaments, but with all decisions ultimately remaining under the control of the committee.

## History

[edit]

### USFSA

[edit]

In the early 20th century, the figure of manager as known today did not yet exist, so it was the captain who had the duty of making up the line-ups and dictating the tactics to be followed; therefore, some French football historians have argued that the first coach of France was Eugène Fraysse, the captain of the French team at the 1900 Olympic Games, who decided to select mostly players from the same club to ensure the cohesion of the team.[1]

The era of the captains came to an end with the introduction of the Commission Centrale d'Association, a selection committee headed by the USFSA.[1] The first chairman of this committee was Robert Guérin, founder of FIFA, who organized France's inaugural match in May 1904 and then coached the team from the sidelines with the help of Ernest Weber, the correspondent for the French newspaper L'Auto, who remained a very present and influential figure in the locker room of the national team until 1907.[1][2] In 1906, Guérin resigned from his position at the USFSA, which included that of coach of the Blues,[a] and was replaced by André Espir, Parisian, and André Billy, Northerner.[1][4][5] During the years of Guérin, the French team was largely made up of only Parisians, but under Billy, the Northerners made their entrance on a large scale, thus suddenly "de-Parisianized" the selection.

### CFI and FFF

[edit]

In 1908, the USFSA left FIFA and its vacated place was quickly seized by French Interfederal Committee (CFI), whose president Charles Simon thus became the new coach of the national team, alongside Louis Chailloux.[1][4][b] They served as such until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, during which Simon was killed, being replaced by Henri Delaunay.[4]

The CFI was a forerunner for the French Football Federation, and following its creation in 1919, the committee was converted into a five-man board and lasted for 45 years, from 1919 to 1964.[1] Gaston Barreau served as the head of the committee in two different stints; from 1920 to 1945, and again from 1949 until he died in 1958.[1] From 1945–1949, Gabriel Hanot headed the committee and, following Barreau's death, Paul Nicolas (1958–1959) and Georges Verriest (1959–1964) controlled the committee until it was officially disbanded in 1964. During the period of the selection committee, the national team was coached by several British managers, such as Thomas Griffiths (English) in 1924, while Peter Farmer (Scottish) coached the team at the 1928 Summer Olympics,[6] but the first official foreign manager of the team was the Romanian Ștefan Kovács, who took charge on 8 August 1973.

### Sole managers

[edit]

Fifteen men have occupied the post since its inception; three of those were in short-term caretaker manager roles: José Arribas and Jean Snella managed the team in dual roles and presided over four matches and former France international Just Fontaine managed the team for two matches in 1967. The longest tenure by a France national team manager is the current manager Didier Deschamps, who has managed the team since 8 July 2012. Four managers have won major tournaments while managing the national team. The first was Michel Hidalgo, who managed the team from 1976–1984, which is the second-longest tenure behind Domenech.[7] Hidalgo won UEFA Euro 1984. In 1998, Aimé Jacquet won the 1998 FIFA World Cup on home soil and, two years later, Roger Lemerre led the team to glory at UEFA Euro 2000.[8][9] Lemerre also won the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.[10] Finally, current manager Didier Deschamps won the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, twenty years after he lifted the trophy as captain. The current manager of the France national team is former international Didier Deschamps who replaced fellow international Laurent Blanc following the UEFA Euro 2012 on 8 July 2012.[11]

## Statistics

[edit]

The statistics below detail the managers of the France national football team during their tenure as manager. Though a selection committee was used from 1919–1964, the table details the managerial statistics of the coaches who were under the watch of the selection committee, though the statistics are unofficial as determined by the French Football Federation.[12]

### Unofficial managers

[edit]

Manager  | France tenure  | Played  | Won  | Drawn  | Lost  | Win %  | Competitions

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Eugène Fraysse | 1900  | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 050.0 | 1900 Summer Olympics – Bronze medal
Robert Guérin | 1904–1906  | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 033.3
André Billy
André Espir | 1906–1908  | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 025.0 | 1908 Summer Olympics – First round
Louis Chailloux | 1908–1914  | 24 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 029.2
Gaston Barreau1 | 1919–1945  | 124 | 39 | 13 | 72 | 031.5 | 1920 Summer Olympics – 4th Place
1924 Summer Olympics – Quarter-finals
1928 Summer Olympics – First Round
1930 World Cup – Group stage
1934 World Cup – First round
1938 World Cup – Quarter-finals
Raoul Caudron1 | 1930
Sid Kimpton1 | 1934–1936
Gabriel Hanot2 | 1945–1949  | 21 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 047.6 | 1948 Summer Olympics – Quarter-finals
Paul Baron and  Pierre Pibarot | 1949–1953  | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 043.3 | 1952 Summer Olympics – Preliminary round
Pierre Pibarot | 1953–1954  | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 025.0 |
Jules Bigot and  Albert Batteux | 1954–1956  | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 045.5 | 1954 World Cup – Group stage
Albert Batteux3 | 1956–1960  | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 050.0 | 1958 World Cup – 3rd Place
UEFA Euro 1960 – 4th Place
Albert Batteux and  Henri Guérin | 1960–1964  | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 018.2 |

### Official managers

[edit]

Manager  | France tenure  | Played  | Won  | Drawn  | Lost  | Win %  | Competitions

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Henri Guérin | 1964–1966 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 033.3 | 1966 World Cup – Group stage
José Arribas and  Jean Snella | 1966  | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 050.0 |
Just Fontaine | 1967  | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 000.0 |
Louis Dugauguez | 1967–1968  | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 022.2 |
Georges Boulogne | 1969–1973  | 31 | 15 | 5 | 11 | 048.4 |
Ștefan Kovács | 1973–1975  | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 040.0 |
Michel Hidalgo | 1976–1984  | 75 | 41 | 16 | 18 | 054.7 | 1978 World Cup – Group stage
1982 World Cup – 4th Place
UEFA Euro 1984 – Champions
Henri Michel | 1984–1988  | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 044.4 | 1986 World Cup – Third place
Michel Platini | 1988–1992  | 29 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 055.2 | UEFA Euro 1992 – Group stage
Gérard Houllier | 1992–1993  | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 058.3 |
Aimé Jacquet | 1994–1998  | 53 | 34 | 16 | 3 | 064.2 | UEFA Euro 1996 – Semi-finals
1998 World Cup – Champions
Roger Lemerre | 1998–2002  | 53 | 34 | 11 | 8 | 064.2 | UEFA Euro 2000 – Champions
2001 Confederations Cup – Champions
2002 World Cup – Group stage
Jacques Santini | 2002–2004  | 28 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 078.6 | 2003 Confederations Cup – Champions
UEFA Euro 2004 – Quarter-finals
Raymond Domenech | 2004–2010  | 79 | 41 | 24 | 14 | 051.9 | 2006 World Cup – Finalist
UEFA Euro 2008 – Group stage
2010 World Cup – Group stage
Laurent Blanc | 2010–2012  | 27 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 059.3 | UEFA Euro 2012 – Quarter-finals
Didier Deschamps | 2012–  | 167 | 106 | 34 | 27 | 063.5 | 2014 World Cup – Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2016 – Finalist
2018 World Cup – Champions
UEFA Euro 2020 – Round of 16
2021 UEFA Nations League – Champions
2022 World Cup – Finalist
UEFA Euro 2024 – Semi-finals

Managers in italics were hired as caretakers

1Managerial career as head of selection committee. Team was sometimes trained by physical trainers and coached by assistants. Englishman Thomas Griffiths coached the team in 1924, while Scotsman Peter Farmer coached the team at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Englishman Sid Kimpton coached the team for a portion of 1934 and 1935–36.
2Managerial career as head of selection committee. Team was trained by physical trainers Bacquet, Helenio Herrera, and Paul Baron.
3Batteux coached an unofficial France team composed of young players, referred to in France as Espoirs, to an 8–0 victory over Luxembourg in 1953. The match was a qualification match for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. The victory is listed in his 1956–1960 tenure as manager.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Some sources wrongly state that Guérin coached France until 1908.[3]
2. ^ Some sources wrongly state that he was named Henri Chailloux.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g "Sélectionneurs des Bleus, les bonus (11/11): comment et pourquoi le devenir?" [The French national team’s selectors, the bonuses (11/11): how and why become one?]. www.chroniquesbleues.fr (in French). 29 December 2020. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
2. ^ "Sélectionneurs des Bleus, les bonus (1/11): Off-Side" [The Blues’ selectors, the bonuses (1/11): Off-Side]. www.chroniquesbleues.fr (in French). 20 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
3. ^ "Robert Guérin, football manager". eu-football.info. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
4. ^ a b c "Les comités de sélection" [The selection committees]. www.fff.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
5. ^ a b "Combien de sélectionneurs a eu l'équipe de France de football dans son histoire?" [How many coaches has the French football team had in its history?]. www.90min.com (in French). 7 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
6. ^ "Scots in opposition: Peter Farmer and Victor Gibson at the French Cup Final of 1924". www.scottishsporthistory.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016.
7. ^ "Domenech set to equal Hidalgo's record". The Star. 30 May 2010. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
8. ^ "Aime Jacquet – What they said". FIFA. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
9. ^ "The things they say: Lemerre". FIFA Sport. 26 June 2009. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
10. ^ Nixon, Alan (6 July 2002). "Lemerre pays the price for failure". The Independent. London. Retrieved 13 June 2010.[dead link]
11. ^ "Accord Deschamps-FFF". L'Equipe. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
12. ^ "AVANT 1964". French Football Federation. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2010.

## External links

[edit]

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France national football team – managers

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