France–Italy football rivalry

National teams of France and Italy are longtime rivals, as the two countries are neighbours and both are countries where football is the national sport. In recent times this rivalry has been more diffused, as many top French players made their names while playing for Serie A clubs, notably Lilian Thuram (Parma FC & Juventus), David Trézéguet (Juventus), Marcel Desailly (A.C. Milan) and Zinédine Zidane (Juventus) to name a few.

For many years Italy dominated (before 1982 : 17 wins, 3 losses and 6 draws), while from 1982 the French team had not lost a single game against Italy (with 5 wins and 4 draws) until the 2006 World Cup final, which Italy won on penalties. France would remain unbeaten against Italy within 90 minutes until Euro 2008, when Italy beat them 2-0 to eliminate them at the group stage.

Several other games remain in the memory of football fans and have put their mark on the World Cup and of the European Football Championship. Among them, the 2006 World Cup Final, when the Italians defeated the French beat 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw, and the 2000 European Championship, won by France with an extra-time golden goal by David Trézéguet.

Games

• (a) Italy wins the 2006 FIFA World Cup after penalties (5-3)
• (b) Golden goal by David Trézéguet, France wins the 2000 European Championship
• (c) France wins the quarter-final after penalties (4-3) and later wins the World Cup 1998
• (d) Goals by Michel Platini and Yannick Stopyra, France qualifies for the quarter-finals
• (e) Bernard Lacombe scores one of the fastest goal in history, but Italy wins.
• (f) Italy wins the quarter-final and later wins the World Cup 1938
• (g) First international match ever for Italy

World Cup 1998

Among the many confrontations between the French and Italian teams, the quarter-final played during the World Cup 1998 was of special importance as it meant for both teams a possible qualification to the semi-finals of a World Cup, a performance by itself. But in addition France had a special incentive to win as for the first time in many years (since 1986) it could play a significant role in a World cup, and to do that as the host of the competition in front of all its supporters. This was also a quarterfinal rematch of France 1938 as Italy largely beat (3-1) the host on their way to a second consecutive title.

Italy traditionally performs well during World Cups (winner in 1982, third place in 1990 and runner-up in 1994) and expected to beat the local team in order to reach the semi-finals one more time.

As can be seen in the previous section, for more than 70 years (1910 to 1986) Italy won most of their matches against France, but the situation started to change in the 80’s and this World Cup would indicate which team was dominant in the 90’s. This match was also of particular importance to the players of both teams as many were competing in the same clubs in the Italian Serie A. They had good reasons to prove to their teammates that they were doing better on the international scene.

Many French footballers played in Serie A (the premier Italian championship) at that time: Zinedine Zidane (Juventus F.C.), Didier Deschamps (Juventus F.C.), Marcel Desailly (A.C. Milan), Youri Djorkaeff (Internazionale Milano F.C.), Lilian Thuram (Parma F.C.), Vincent Candela (A.S. Roma), Alain Boghossian (Parma F.C.), others like Laurent Blanc had played before in Italy (SSC Napoli). Obviously there strong connections between the players of both teams and they had something to prove, in addition to having the opportunity to reach another important step in the competition.

The match was of good quality but ended after extra time with a draw 0–0, both teams having opportunities to win in open play. The result of the match had to be decided by a nerve-racking penalty shootout. In that exercise the French team performed better (4-3), the shoot-out was stopped when the last Italian player, Luigi Di Biagio, failed to score (Bixente Lizarazu (France) and Demetrio Albertini (Italy) also failed before, but without effect on the final outcome).

Among the images that one can remember from this, one showed David Trézéguet hiding his head in the shirt of teammate Thierry Henry, waiting for Di Biagio to shoot, and later on some French players trying to console their Italian teammates, but obviously happy with the result.

Penalty Shoot-out

• 1:0 Zinedine Zidane (France) - Scored
• 1:1 Roberto Baggio (Italy) - Scored
• 1:1 Bixente Lizarazu (France) - Missed
• 1:1 Demetrio Albertini (Italy) - Missed
• 2:1 David Trézéguet (France) - Scored
• 2:2 Alessandro Costacurta (Italy) - Scored
• 3:2 Thierry Henry (France) - Scored
• 3:3 Christian Vieri (Italy) - Scored
• 4:3 Laurent Blanc (France) - Scored
• 4:3 Luigi Di Biagio (Italy) - Missed

World Cup 2006

The final match of the World Cup 2006 in Germany were to be contested between Italy and France. After only seven minutes of play, France was awarded a penalty which Zinedine Zidane, in his last match before retiring, converted into a goal. Italy equalized twelve minutes later, however, after a header on a corner by Marco Materazzi, the same player whose foul had yielded the penalty. These two would later in match be involved in a controversial situation which was subject to worldwide discussion.

During the second half Toni scored a goal being in regular position but the referee did not validate it because another player (De Rossi) was offside. After 90 minutes of play, the score was still 1-1, with each team having had one good half. Italy was the better team in the first half, while France played better during the second half. Regardless, the score was tied and extra time would have to be played.

Five minutes into the second half of extra time, a discussion between Zidane and Materazzi occurred after a French attack during which Materazzi had marked Zidane. At first, Zidane walked away from Materazzi, but then something said caused the Frenchman to turn around and head butt the Italian in the chest. The ref, who did not see the situation, stopped play because Materazzi had fallen to the ground. Following a discussion between the ref, the assistant ref, and the fourth ref, Zidane was shown a red card and sent off.

Despite Italy being one man up for the last ten minutes of the match, no team managed to score, and the match went to penalties. This was the second time in the history of the World Cup that the final match would be decided on penalties, the first time being when Brazil beat Italy in 1994.

Perhaps the most surprising part was that Barthez and Buffon, both dubbed as some of the world's best goalkeepers, failed to save any of the penalties. All the Italian players scored while David Trézéguet's hit the crossbar and the ball did not cross the goal line.

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.

Penalty Shoot-out

• 1:0 Andrea Pirlo (Italy) - Scored
• 1:1 Sylvain Wiltord (France) - Scored
• 2:1 Marco Materazzi (Italy) - Scored
• 2:1 David Trézéguet (France) - Missed
• 3:1 Daniele De Rossi (Italy) - Scored
• 3:2 Éric Abidal (France) - Scored
• 4:2 Alessandro Del Piero (Italy) - Scored
• 4:3 Willy Sagnol (France) - Scored
• 5:3 Fabio Grosso (Italy) - Scored

Statistics

Overall

• Total number of games: 36
• Italy wins: 18
• Draws: 10
• France wins: 8