France at the World Cup

PARIS : Following is a statbox on France at the World Cup:

FIFA Ranking: 4 (Oct 6)

Odds: 6-1   

Previous tournaments:

France have appeared in 15 World Cups, including the last six. They won their first title in 1998, beating Brazil 3-0 in the final on home soil, and repeated the feat in the last edition in Russia with a 4-2 final victory against Croatia.

How they qualified

France qualified top of Group D with five wins and three draws, two of them against second-placed Ukraine.

They finished their qualifying campaign with three consecutive victories, including an 8-0 demolition of Kazakhstan. They scored 18 goals and conceded three.

    Form guide    Since securing qualification for the finals in Qatar, France won two friendly games against Ivory Coast and South Africa but then struggled in the Nations League.

They salvaged their place in the top tier but ended a dismal campaign with a 2-0 defeat away to Denmark - their third in six matches, having won only one.