France–Italy football rivalry

France–Italy match on 20 February 1921
Location	Europe ( UEFA)
Teams	France   Italy
First meeting	Italy 6–2 France Friendly (15 May 1910)
Latest meeting	France 3–1 Italy Friendly (1 June 2018)
Next meeting	France v Italy UEFA Nations League (6 September 2024)
Statistics
Meetings total	39
Most wins	Italy (18)
All-time series	Italy: 18 Draw: 10 France: 11
Largest victory	Italy 7–0 France Friendly (22 March 1925)
Largest goal scoring	Italy 9–4 France Friendly (18 January 1920)
France Italy

The France–Italy football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Italy and France, ^{[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.

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, with the winner earning an additional point. France did, however, lost 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

Number	Date	Location	Competition	Game	Results
1	15 May 1910	Milan	Friendly	Italy – France	6–2 (a)
2	9 April 1911	Saint-Ouen / Paris		France – Italy	2–2
3	17 March 1912	Turin		Italy – France	3–4
4	12 January 1913	Saint-Ouen / Paris		France – Italy	1–0
5	29 March 1914	Turin		Italy – France	2–0
6	18 January 1920	Milan		Italy – France	9–4
7	29 August 1920	Antwerp	1920 Summer Olympics	France – Italy	3–1
8	20 February 1921	Marseille	Friendly	France – Italy	1–2
9	22 March 1925	Turin		Italy – France	7–0
10	24 April 1927	Colombes / Paris		France – Italy	3–3
11	29 May 1928	Amsterdam	1928 Summer Olympics	France – Italy	3–4
12	25 January 1931	Bologna	Friendly	Italy – France	5–0
13	10 April 1932	Colombes / Paris		France – Italy	1–2
14	17 February 1935	Rome		Italy – France	2–1
15	5 December 1937	Paris		France – Italy	0–0
16	12 June 1938	Colombes / Paris	1938 World Cup	France – Italy	1–3 (b)
17	4 December 1938	Naples	Friendly	Italy – France	1–0
18	4 April 1948	Colombes / Paris		France – Italy	1–3
19	3 June 1951	Genoa		Italy – France	4–1
20	11 April 1954	Colombes / Paris		France – Italy	1–3
21	5 May 1956	Bologna		Italy – France	2–0
22	9 November 1958	Colombes / Paris		France – Italy	2–2
23	5 May 1962	Florence		Italy – France	2–1
24	19 March 1966	Paris		France – Italy	0–0
25	8 February 1978	Naples		Italy – France	2–2
26	2 June 1978	Mar del Plata	1978 World Cup	Italy – France	2–1
27	23 February 1982	Paris	Friendly	France – Italy	2–0
28	17 June 1986	Mexico City	1986 World Cup	Italy – France	0–2
29	16 February 1994	Naples	Friendly	Italy – France	0–1
30	11 June 1997	Paris	Tournoi de France	France – Italy	2–2
31	3 July 1998	Saint Denis	1998 World Cup	France – Italy	0–0 (c)
32	2 July 2000	Rotterdam	Euro 2000 final	France – Italy	2–1 (d)
33	9 July 2006	Berlin	2006 World Cup final	Italy – France	1–1 (e)
34	6 September 2006	Paris	Euro 2008 qualifier	France – Italy	3–1
35	8 September 2007	Milan		Italy – France	0–0
36	17 June 2008	Zürich	Euro 2008	France – Italy	0–2
37	14 November 2012	Parma	Friendly	Italy – France	1–2
38	1 September 2016	Bari		Italy – France	1–3
39	1 June 2018	Nice		France – Italy	3–1
40	6 September 2024	Paris	2024–25 Nations League	France – Italy
41	17 November 2024	TBD		Italy – France

• (a) First international match ever for Italy
• (b) Italy won the quarter-final and would go on to win the 1938 World Cup
• (c) France won the quarter-final on penalties (4–3) after extra time, and would go on to win the 1998 World Cup
• (d) France won the 2000 European Championship after a golden goal in extra time by David Trezeguet
• (e) Italy won the 2006 World Cup on penalties (5–3) after extra time

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.

Tournament	France	Italy	Notes
1930 World Cup	7th	DNP
1934 World Cup	9th	1st	Tournament played in Italy.
1938 World Cup	6th	1st	Tournament played in France. In the quarter-finals, Italy defeated France 3–1.
1950 World Cup	DNP	7th
1954 World Cup	11th	10th
1958 World Cup	3rd	DNQ
Euro 1960	4th	DNP	Tournament played in France.
1962 World Cup	DNQ	9th
Euro 1964	DNQ	DNQ
1966 World Cup	13th	9th
Euro 1968	DNQ	1st	Tournament played in Italy.
1970 World Cup	DNQ	2nd
Euro 1972	DNQ	DNQ
1974 World Cup	DNQ	10th
Euro 1976	DNQ	DNQ
1978 World Cup	12th	4th	France 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	DNQ	4th	Tournament played in Italy.
1982 World Cup	4th	1st
Euro 1984	1st	DNQ	Tournament played in France.
1986 World Cup	3rd	12th	In the round of 16, France defeated Italy 2–0.
Euro 1988	DNQ	4th
1990 World Cup	DNQ	3rd	Tournament played in Italy.
Euro 1992	6th	DNQ
1994 World Cup	DNQ	2nd
Euro 1996	4th	10th
1998 World Cup	1st	5th	In the quarter-finals, France defeated Italy 4–3 on penalties after extra time. Tournament played in France.
Euro 2000	1st	2nd	In the final, France defeated Italy 2–1 with a golden goal in extra time.
2002 World Cup	28th	15th
Euro 2004	6th	9th
2006 World Cup	2nd	1st	In the final, Italy defeated France 5–3 on penalties.
Euro 2008	15th	8th	France 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 World Cup	29th	26th	Both defending finalists were eliminated in the group stage, the first time this occurred.
Euro 2012	8th	2nd
2014 World Cup	7th	22nd
Euro 2016	2nd	5th	Tournament played in France.
2018 World Cup	1st	DNQ
Euro 2020	11th	1st	Some games of the tournament played in Italy.
2022 World Cup	2nd	DNQ
Euro 2024	4th	14th

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.

12 June 1938

17:00 WEST

France	1–3	Italy
Heisserer 10'	Report	Colaussi 9' Piola 51', 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.

2 June 1978

13:45 ART

Italy	2–1	France
Rossi 29' Zaccarelli 54'	Report	Lacombe 1'

Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata

Attendance: 38,100

Referee: Nicolae Rainea ( Romania)

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]

17 June 1986

12:00 CST

Italy	0–2	France
	Report	Platini 15' Stopyra 57'

Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Mexico City

Attendance: 70,000

Referee: Carlos Espósito ( Argentina)

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.

3 July 1998

16:30 CEST

Italy	0–0 ( a.e.t.)	France
	Report
Penalties
R. Baggio Albertini Costacurta Vieri Di Biagio	3–4	Zidane Lizarazu Trezeguet Henry Blanc

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 77,000

Referee: Hugh Dallas ( Scotland)

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]}

2 July 2000 (2000-07-02)

20:00 CEST

France	2–1 ( a.e.t.)	Italy
Wiltord 90+3' Trezeguet 103'	Report	Delvecchio 55'

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.

9 July 2006

20:00 CEST

Italy	1–1 ( a.e.t.)	France
Materazzi 19'	Report	Zidane 7' ( pen.)
Penalties
Pirlo Materazzi De Rossi Del Piero Grosso	5–3	Wiltord Trezeguet Abidal Sagnol

Olympiastadion, Berlin ^[17]

Attendance: 69,000 ^[17]

Referee: Horacio Elizondo ( Argentina) ^[17]

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]

6 September 2006

21:00 CEST

France	3–1	Italy
Govou 2', 55' Henry 18'	Report	Gilardino 20'

Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Attendance: 78,831

Referee: Herbert Fandel ( Germany)

8 September 2007

20:50 CEST

Italy	0–0	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]

17 June 2008 (2008-06-17)

20:45 CEST

France	0–2	Italy
	Report	Pirlo 25' ( pen.) De Rossi 62'

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]}

6 September 2024 (2024-09-06)

20:45 CEST

France	v	Italy
	Report

Parc des Princes, Paris

17 November 2024 (2024-11-17)

20:45 CEST

Italy	v	France
	Report

Statistics

Overall

As of 1 June 2018

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

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

See also

• Football derbies in France
• Football derbies in Italy
• France–Italy relations

References

External links