France national football B team

The France national football B team is a national football team representing France that plays matches at a lower level than the France national football team. In France, the team is usually called "France A–". They commonly played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations, from 1922 to 2001.[1]

France B
AssociationFrench Football Federation
(Fédération Française
de Football
)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Home stadiumStade de France
FIFA codeFRA
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Denmark 9–0 France 
(White City, United Kingdom, 19 October 1908)
Biggest win
 France 7–0 Luxembourg Luxembourg
(Strasbourg, France, 22 May 1952)
Biggest defeat
 Denmark 9–0 France 
(White City, United Kingdom, 19 October 1908)
Summer Olympics
Appearances1 (first in 1908)
Best resultFirst round (1908)

The team runs occasionally as a feeder team for France national football team, to give a chance to under-21 or less experienced players to play for the national team without being awarded a full cap. The team may play matches held before World Cups or other tournaments to give second-choice players, injured players or possible choices an opportunity to play a full game to either keep their fitness levels up or to earn their way into the first team.

History

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Pre-history

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The France B team was officially created in 1922, however, at the 1908 Summer Olympics, two teams from France participated in the tournament, the main team and a "B" side,[2] but the matches that this team played in London are not recognised by French Football Federation (FFF) as official B team games. France B was eliminated in the first round by Denmark with a score of 9–0, but the main team did no better as Denmark then defeated France A in the semi-finals by a score of 17–1, conceding 10 goals from one player alone, which was a world record at the time.[3] Remarkably, both French teams conceded pokers from Vilhelm Wolfhagen.

Early history

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France B was officially created in 1922 and the team made its debut on 15 January 1922 at the ground of SC Luxembourg in Luxembourg City, where they lost to the Luxembourg A team 3–2, courtesy of a hat-trick from Robert Elter,[4][5] but France B fought back and achieved some vengeance in their next game when they faced the Luxembourg A team again on 25 February 1923 at Stade Bergeyre in Paris, this time being them the ones to win 3–2.[1]

Mediterranean Cup

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Until 1968 (except for war years), the French B side played at least one match per year, with their most-scheduled year being in 1952 with eight matches against foreign nations A or B, of which France lost only once, a 3–1 defeat at the hands of Saarland.[1] In the following year, France B participated in the 1953–58 Mediterranean Cup, where they faced the A teams of Turkey, Egypt and Greece home and away, as well as the B teams of Italy and Spain, and France started the tournament with three consecutive 0–0 draws before losing 0–2 to Spain B, and their inability to score goals stayed on as they then beat Greece 1–0 only thanks to an own goal, but despite their failure to score a single goal in 5 games, France regained his feet and still managed to finish the tournament in second-place with 12 points, finishing with 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats, with their best victory coming against Egypt (7-1) in Nice on 15 April 1955.[6]

Decline

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After 1968, the use by French coaches of this selection became rarer: between 1971 and 1982, only eight matches took place and then the B side became inactive. It was Michel Platini, the then French coach, who revived this team under the name of France A– on 16 November 1988, which remained unchanged (sept for between 1990 and 1992, when the team was again called the "France B team") until 2001.

Recent history

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The most recent match of France B was on 5 February 2008 against Congo DR in Marbella, the day before the regular A-team friendly in Málaga. The team line-up was Steve Mandanda (Hugo Lloris 46'); Gaël Clichy, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Philippe Mexès, Bacary Sagna; Jérôme Rothen, Alou Diarra, Samir Nasri (Gaël Givet 76'), Mathieu Flamini (Jérémy Menez 17'), Jimmy Briand; Djibril Cissé; team members Sébastien Squillaci and Abou Diaby were not used.

Results

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16 November 1988 Friendly France B   1–0   Yugoslavia B Auxerre, France
Micciche   90' Report Stadium: Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps
15 February 1989 Friendly France B   1–0   Netherlands B Nimes, France
Xuereb   17' Report Stadium: Stade des Costières
12 January 1993 Friendly Senegal   1–3   France B Dakar, Senegal
Sané   88' Report Loko   8', 52'
Prunier   38'
Stadium: Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor
7 June 1993 Friendly France B   2–0   Venezuela Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe
Report Dedebant   59 '
Djorkaeff   67'
10 June 1993 Friendly France B   1–3   Colombia Fort-de-France, France
Djorkaeff   46' Report Valencia   75', 84', 90' Stadium: Stade Pierre-Aliker
27 July 1993 Friendly France B   5–1   Russia U-21 Guingamp, France
Djorkaeff   15', 29'
Dedebant   49'
Guérin   56' (pen.)
Bancarel   73'
Report Kulik   67' Stadium: Stade de Roudourou
19 September 1993 Friendly Monaco FC   1–2   France B Monaco, France
Simba   31' Report Fournier   57'
Leboeuf   64' (pen.)
Stadium: Stade Louis II
2 February 1994 Friendly Tunisia   1–1   France B Tunis, Tunisia
Mahjoubi   71' Report Gnako   4' (pen.) Stadium: Stade El Menzah
25 May 1994 Friendly France B   4–1 Francophonie XI Évry, France
Zitelli   17'
Baticle   33', 89'
Madar   53'
Report Camara   42' Stadium: Ludwigsparkstadion
17 January 1995 Friendly France B   1–0   Belgium Le Havre, France
Gravelaine   7' Report Stadium: Stade Jules Deschaseaux
25 May 1995 Friendly France B   1–0   Slovakia Cherbourg, France
Pouget   37' Report Stadium: Stade Maurice-Postaire
24 January 1996 Friendly Italy U-23   0–0   France B Reggio Calabria, Italy
Report Stadium: Comunale
Note: France is a U-23 Selection of 2nd Division
26 March 1996 Friendly Belgium U-21   1–1   France B Charleroi, Belgium
Walem   10' Report Rodriguez   90' Stadium: Stade du Pays de Charleroi
19 January 1999 Friendly France B   2–0   Croatia B Nîmes, France
Laigle   65'
Née   70'
Report Stadium: Stade des Costières
10 February 1999 Friendly France B   2–1   Belgium U-21 Angers, France
Déhu  
Vairelles   31' (pen.)
Robert   35'
Report Maertens   52' Stadium: Stade Raymond Kopa
2 June 1999 Friendly France B   2–1   Germany B Lens, France
Ziani   45'
Monterrubio   86'
Report Schneider   7' Stadium: Stade Bollaert-Delelis
1 September 1999 Friendly Germany B   1–3   France B Karlsruhe, Germany
Neuendorf   25' (pen.) Report Maurice   41' (pen.), 72'
Monterrubio   59'
Stadium: Wildparkstadion
22 February 2000 Friendly Belgium U-21   1–1   France B Waregem, Belgium
Sonck   8' Report Diomède   58' Stadium: Regenboogstadion
25 April 2000 Friendly Morocco Olympics   0–1   France B Casablanca, Morocco
Report Sibierski   77' Stadium: Stade Mohammed V
22 March 2001 Friendly France B   1–2   Germany B Mulhouse, France
Marlet   70' (pen.) Report Böhme   33' (pen.)
Ricken   45'
Stadium: Stade de l'Ill

References

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  1. ^ a b c "France - B/A'-Team - International Results 1922-2001". RSSSF.com. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  2. ^ Jon Carter. "Great Britain's first home Olympic football adventure". ESPN. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Boxscore of Denmark-France match". Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. ^ "International football match: 15.01.1922 Luxembourg vs France*". EU-football.info. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Luxembourg - List of Unofficial International Matches". RSSSF. 8 March 2005. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Mediterranean Cup 1953-1957 results". football.eu. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
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