| France–Germany football rivalry | |
| City Or Region: | Europe (UEFA) |
| Teams Involved: | |
| Most Wins: | France (15) |
| Mostrecent: | 23 March 2024 Friendly France 0–2 Germany |
| Top Scorer: | Antoine Griezmann (5 goals) |
| Total: | 34 |
| Series: | France: 15 Draw: 8 Germany: 11 |
| Map Location: | Europe |
| Map Label1: | France |
| Map Label1 Position: | right |
| Map Label2: | Germany |
| Map Label2 Position: | right |
| Coordinates1: | 47°N 2°W |
| Coordinates2: | 51°N 9°W |
The France–Germany football rivalry (;) is one of the biggest and most heated association football rivalries in Europe, between two European sides, France and Germany, two of the most successful national teams in the world. Previously, it was mostly a one-sided phenomenon since most German fans considered the Netherlands or Italy to be their traditional footballing rivals until the rise of France from the 1990s onward, but the rivalry really began during the UEFA European Championships in the 2010s decade after a series of mere friendlies in the 1990s to 2000s.
See main article: French–German enmity and Christmas truce. The root of France–Germany rivalry could have dated back from the old tensions between France and German Empire after the capture of Paris by Prussian Army in 1870.[1] Since the end of the war, enmity between France and Germany increased, resulted with military arm race and eventually, set up the World War I. During the beginning of war, a peaceful moment, the Christmas truce, where a peaceful football match between French, British and German soldiers occurred.[2] This was considered the first unofficial match between France and Germany.
The countries first played each other in an official international in 1931 when France defeated the Weimar Republic. However, rivalry soon increased with the German invasion of France, and antagonism persisted until the end of World War II.[3] [4] One of the most notable meetings between the two countries came in the 1982 World Cup semi-final, which ended 3–3 after extra time before West Germany won in a penalty shoot-out.[5] Michel Platini himself declared the match as his "most beautiful game".[6]
| Number | Date | Location | Competition | Game | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 March 1931 | France – Weimar Republic | 1–0 | |||
| 2 | 19 March 1933 | Friendly | Weimar Republic – France | 3–3 | ||
| 3 | 17 March 1935 | Friendly | France – Germany | 1–3 | ||
| 4 | 21 March 1937 | Friendly | Germany – France | 4–0 | ||
| 5 | 5 October 1952 | Friendly | France – West Germany | 3–1 | ||
| 6 | 16 October 1954 | Friendly | West Germany – France | 1–3 | ||
| 7 | 28 June 1958 | France – West Germany | 6–3 | |||
| 8 | 26 October 1958 | Friendly | France – West Germany | 2–2 | ||
| 9 | 24 October 1962 | Friendly | West Germany – France | 2–2 | ||
| 10 | 27 September 1967 | Friendly | West Germany – France | 5–1 | ||
| 11 | 25 September 1968 |  Marseille | Friendly | France – West Germany | 1–1 | |
| 12 | 13 October 1973 | Friendly | West Germany – France | 2–1 | ||
| 13 | 23 February 1977 | Friendly | France – West Germany | 1–0 | ||
| 14 | 19 November 1980 | Friendly | West Germany – France | 4–1 | ||
| 15 | 8 July 1982 | West Germany – France | 3–3 | |||
| 16 | 18 April 1984 | Friendly | France – West Germany | 1–0 | ||
| 17 | 25 June 1986 | France – West Germany | 0–2 | |||
| 18 | 12 August 1987 | Berlin Anniversary | West Germany – France | 2–1 | ||
| 19 | 28 February 1990 | Friendly | France – West Germany | 2–1 | ||
| 20 | 1 June 1996 | Friendly | Germany – France | 0–1 | ||
| 21 | 27 February 2001 | Friendly | France – Germany | 1–0 | ||
| 22 | 15 November 2003 | Friendly | Germany – France | 0–3 | ||
| 23 | 12 November 2005 | Friendly | France – Germany | 0–0 | ||
| 24 | 29 February 2012 | Friendly | Germany – France | 1–2 | ||
| 25 | 6 February 2013 | Friendly | France – Germany | 1–2 | ||
| 26 | 4 July 2014 | France – Germany | 0–1 | |||
| 27 | 13 November 2015 | Friendly | France – Germany | 2–0 | ||
| 28 | 7 July 2016 | Germany – France | 0–2 | |||
| 29 | 14 November 2017 | Friendly | Germany – France | 2–2 | ||
| 30 | 6 September 2018 | Germany – France | 0–0 | |||
| 31 | 16 October 2018 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League | France – Germany | 2–1 | ||
| 32 | 15 June 2021 | France – Germany | 1–0 | |||
| 33 | 12 September 2023 | Friendly | Germany – France | 2–1 | ||
| 34 | 23 March 2024 | Friendly | France – Germany | 0–2 |
| Nation | Player | Goals | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antoine Griezmann | 5 | 2014–present | |
| Just Fontaine | 4 | 1958 | |
| Rudi Völler | 3 | 1982–1994 | ||
| Gerd Müller | 3 | 1966–1974 |
| Competition | Matches[7] | Result | Goals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | Draws | Germany | France | Germany | |||||
| scope=row | FIFA World Cup | 4 | 1 | 1 (GER won) | 2 | 9 | 9 | ||
| scope=row | UEFA European Championship | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| scope=row | UEFA Nations League | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||
| scope=row | All competitions | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 10 | ||
| scope=row | Friendly | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 37 | 40 | ||
| scope=row | All matches | scope=row | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 51 | 50 | |