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IT'S now 20 years since France lifted the World Cup home soil.

After crashing out in the quarter-finals last time out in Brazil, Didier Deschamps talented young side will be hoping to emulate those heroes of '98.

Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann are the key men for France at the World Cup
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Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann are the key men for France at the World CupCredit: AFP or licensors
Captain Hugo Lloris leads the celebrations at France's qualification for Russia
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Captain Hugo Lloris leads the celebrations at France's qualification for RussiaCredit: Getty - Contributor

Here's all you need to know about the Group C side.

Flag: The Tricolour is three vertical stripes of blue, white and red. The clue’s in the name presumably.

Population: 65.7 million

Nickname: The frankly unimaginative Les Bleus (The Blues).

Manager: Former Marseille, Juventus and Chelsea schemer, Diddyman Deschamps or, as he’s also known, Didier Deschamps.

Captain: It’s the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris.

The French cruised through qualifying and have a good blend of experience and youth
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The French cruised through qualifying and have a good blend of experience and youthCredit: Getty - Contributor
Didier Descamps splits opinion between fans
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Didier Deschamps splits opinion between fansCredit: AP:Associated Press

Star Man: Antoine Griezmann

Any other players we might have heard of: Just look at the Newcastle squad or, failing, that the Premier League itself – they’re more full with Frenchmen than a wartime cupboard under the stairs.

Any names we can laugh at like kids? Here’s hoping Marseille’s Rod Fanni gets the nod for the Finals.

Most caps: Lilian Thuram (142)

All-time top scorer: Thierry Henry (51)

Road the Russia

QUALIFYING RESULTS

06/09/16 Belarus A 0-0
07/10/16 Bulgaria H 4-1
10/10/16 Netherlands A 1-0
11/11/16 Sweden H 2-1
25/03/17 Luxembourg A 3-1
09/06/17 Sweden A 1-2
31/08/17 Netherlands H 4-0
03/09/17 Luxembourg H 0-0
07/10/17 Bulgaria A 1-0
10/10/17 Belarus H 2-1

 

TOP SCORERS
4 Olivier Giroud
4 Antoine Griezmann
2 Kevin Gameiro
2 Thomas Lemar
2 Paul Pogba

 

MOST APPEARANCES
10 Djibril Sidibe
10 Antoine Griezmann
9 Hugo Lloris

Kylian Mbappe is one of the most exciting young strikers in Europe
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Kylian Mbappe is one of the most exciting young strikers in EuropeCredit: Regis Duvignau

Former Legend most likely to be picked out in the crowd? The man now charged with ruining, sorry, running European football, it’s UEFA top dog Michel Platini.

Nice kit? Not bad. Dark blue shirt, ice white shorts and red socks, or ‘stockings’ as John Motson would call them.

France usually have a strong kit game and this tournament will be no different
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France usually have a strong kit game and this tournament will be no different

Most offensive haircut? The honour must go to the weird and less than wonderful thing on top of Bacary Sagna’s head.

Rivals? Italy. It’s nothing major though.

Probably just the colour clash of the kits…

Paul Pogba will be hoping to put an indifferent Premier League season behind him
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Paul Pogba will be hoping to put an indifferent Premier League season behind himCredit: Getty Images - Getty

What are the fans like? Passionate but prone to grumbling. Expect roads to be blocked with lorries of livestock when things start to unravel for Les Bleus.

National anthem: The ever-uplifting La Marseillaise. Quite possibly the best anthem there is at the Finals.

Sample lyric:
Do you hear, in the countryside,
The roar of those ferocious soldiers?
They're coming right into your arms
To cut the throats of your sons and women!

Hugo Lloris was in fine form between the sticks for France in qualifying
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Hugo Lloris was in fine form between the sticks for France in qualifyingCredit: Reuters

National dish: Not escargot (snails) or even cuisses de grenouille (frogs' legs) but it's pot-au-feu (pot on fire).

It's a beef stew that's a staple of French family life.

National drink: Wine of course.. red, white, rose or sparkling. The French love their wine.

Appearances in the Finals: 13
World Cup Finals Record: P54 W25 D11 L18 F96 A68

World Cup Win Ratio: 46.29%

World Cup Wins: 1 (1998)

WORLD CUP SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Adil Rami (Marseille), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)

Midfielders: N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Steven N'Zonzi (Sevilla), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich)

Forwards: Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Florian Thauvin (Marseille)

Path to final: History says the French will either win Group C comfortably or inexplicably finish bottom of it below Peru, Denmark and Australia.

But IF things go to plan, Didier Deschamps men will be group winners and play one of Croatia, Iceland or Nigeria in round two, followed by Portugal or Uruguay in the quarter-final and a Brazil side they tend to enjoy facing in the semis.

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