France's national rugby union team first played Argentina in 1949 when they undertook a two-test tour of the latter country. France won both matches.[1] Argentina did not manage a win over France until their 16th meeting in 1985, under the captaincy of Hugo Porta.
France has been Argentina's most frequent Test match opponent. France played a significant role in the early development of Argentine rugby in which the two countries played each other 13 times between 1949 and 1977. In total, the two countries have met fifty-five times, with France having won in thirty-nine encounters to Argentina's fifteen.
The teams have played each other four times at Rugby World Cup tournaments: In 1999 France won a quarter-final, and in 2007 Argentina beat France 17–12 in the tournament-opening pool game and again 34–10 in the playoff for third and fourth place after Argentina had lost to tournament winners South Africa in the semi-final. Even though Argentina had shown strong form in the year leading up to the tournament (winning 10 of 13 Test matches plus a one-point loss to France), the opening-game win was regarded as an upset by the media.[2] [3] They then played each other during the 2019, with this time France winning 23-21.
Though about two-thirds of the games have been played on Argentina's ground, France has won more than two-thirds of them. France won the only two matches the two have played on neutral ground.
The biggest difference in points was achieved by France during the second game of their 2012 tour to Argentina, winning 49–10.
Since 2000, the series has been especially closely fought, though Argentina has had the upper hand. In the 19 matches played in that time frame, the Pumas are 10–9, but nine of the matches were decided by a converted try (7 points) or less.
When the IRB introduced their world team rankings system in 2003, Argentina was ranked seventh and France fifth.[4] Since then the ranking changed frequently and the two teams' order was reversed many times like in March 2009, when Argentina climbed to fourth place and France fell to seventh.[5] Most recently, following Argentina's win in the first of their two-Test series in June 2012, the two teams switched places in the rankings with the Pumas in sixth and France in seventh but after their second game a week later, which saw France won by 39 points, France climbed back to the 5th place and Argentina drop to eighth.
| Details | Played | Won by Argentina | Won by France | Drawn | Argentina points | France points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Argentina | 34 | 10 | 23 | 1 | 511 | 833 | |
| In France | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 326 | 435 | |
| Neutral venue | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 68 | |
| Overall | 55 | 15 | 39 | 1 | 884 | 1,338 |
Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.
| Record | Argentina | France | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longest winning streak | 4 (15 June 2002 – 25 November 2006) | 12 (28 August 1949 – 2 July 1977) | |
| Largest points for | |||
| Home | 41 (26 June 2010) | 39 (17 November 2012) | |
| Away | 34 (19 October 2007) | 49 (23 June 2012) | |
| Largest winning margin | |||
| Home | 28 (26 June 2010) | 23 (19 October 1975) | |
| Away | 24 (19 October 2007) | 39 (23 June 2012) |
| No. | Date | Venue | Score | Winner | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 August 1949 | Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires | 0–5 | 1949 France tour of Argentina | |
| 2 | 4 September 1949 | Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires | 3–12 | ||
| 3 | 29 August 1954 | Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires | 8–22 | 1954 France tour of Argentina and Chile | |
| 4 | 12 September 1954 | Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires | 3–30 | ||
| 5 | 23 July 1960 | Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires | 3–37 | 1960 France tour of Argentina and Uruguay | |
| 6 | 6 August 1960 | Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires | 3–12 | ||
| 7 | 17 August 1960 | Estadio GEBA, Buenos Aires | 6–29 | ||
| 8 | 20 June 1974 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 15–20 | 1974 France tour of Brazil and Argentina | |
| 9 | 29 June 1974 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 27–31 | ||
| 10 | 19 October 1975 | Stade de Gerland, Lyon | 29–6 | 1975 Argentina tour of France | |
| 11 | 25 October 1975 | Parc des Princes, Paris | 36–21 | ||
| 12 | 25 June 1977 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 3–26 | 1977 France tour of Argentina | |
| 13 | 2 July 1977 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 18–18 | draw | |
| 14 | 14 November 1982 | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse | 25–12 | 1982 Argentina tour of France and Spain | |
| 15 | 20 November 1982 | Parc des Princes, Paris | 13–6 | ||
| 16 | 22 June 1985 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 24–16 | 1985 France tour of South America | |
| 17 | 29 June 1985 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 15–23 | ||
| 18 | 31 May 1986 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 15–13 | 1986 France tour of Argentina and Oceania | |
| 19 | 7 June 1986 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 9–22 | ||
| 20 | 18 June 1988 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 15–18 | 1988 France tour of South America | |
| 21 | 25 June 1988 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 18–6 | ||
| 22 | 5 November 1988 | Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes | 29–9 | 1988 Argentina tour of France | |
| 23 | 11 November 1988 | 28–18 | |||
| 24 | 4 July 1992 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 12–27 | 1992 France tour of Argentina | |
| 25 | 11 July 1992 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 9–33 | ||
| 26 | 14 November 1992 | Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes | 20–24 | 1992 Argentina tour of Europe | |
| 27 | 21 October 1995 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 12–47 | 1995 | |
| 28 | 22 June 1996 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 27–34 | 1996 France tour of Argentina | |
| 29 | 29 June 1996 | Estadio Ferro Carril Oeste, Buenos Aires | 15–34 | ||
| 30 | 26 October 1997 | 32–27 | 1997 | ||
| 31 | 13 June 1998 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 18–35 | 1998 France tour of Argentina and Fiji | |
| 32 | 20 June 1998 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 12–37 | ||
| 33 | 14 November 1998 | Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes | 34–14 | 1998 Argentina tour of Japan and Europe | |
| 34 | 24 October 1999 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin (Ireland) | 26–47 | 1999 Rugby World Cup | |
| 35 | 15 June 2002 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 28–27 | 2002 France tour of Argentina and Australia | |
| 36 | 14 June 2003 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 10–6 | 2003 France tour of Argentina and New Zealand | |
| 37 | 20 June 2003 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 33–32 | ||
| 38 | 20 November 2004 | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille | 14–24 | 2004 Autumn International | |
| 39 | 25 November 2006 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 27–26 | 2006 Autumn International | |
| 40 | 7 September 2007 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 12–17 | 2007 Rugby World Cup(PS) | |
| 41 | 19 October 2007 | Parc des Princes, Paris | 10–34 | 2007 Rugby World Cup(3rd) | |
| 42 | 8 November 2008 | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille | 12–6 | 2008 Autumn International | |
| 43 | 26 June 2010 | José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 41–13 | 2010 Summer International | |
| 44 | 20 November 2010 | 15–9 | 2010 Autumn International | ||
| 45 | 16 June 2012 | 23–20 | 2012 France tour of Argentina | ||
| 46 | 23 June 2012 | 10–49 | |||
| 47 | 17 November 2012 | Grand Stade Lille Métropole, Lille | 39–22 | 2012 Autumn International | |
| 48 | 22 November 2014 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 13–18 | 2014 Autumn International | |
| 49 | 19 June 2016 | Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán | 30–19 | 2016 France tour of Argentina | |
| 50 | 25 June 2016 | Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán | 0–27 | ||
| 51 | 17 November 2018 | Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille | 28–13 | 2018 Autumn International | |
| 52 | 21 September 2019 | Tokyo Stadium, Chōfu (Japan) | 23–21 | 2019 Rugby World Cup | |
| 53 | 5 November 2021 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 29–20 | 2021 Autumn International | |
| 54 | 6 July 2024 | Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza | 13–28 | 2024 France tour of Argentina | |
| 55 | 13 July 2024 | Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires | 33–25 | ||
| 56 | 22 November 2024 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis | 2024 Autumn International |
| Year | Argentina | France | Series winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1954 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1960 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1974 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1975 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1977 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1982 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1985 | 1 | 1 | draw | |
| 1986 | 1 | 1 | draw | |
| 1988 | 1 | 1 | draw | |
| 1988 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1992 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1996 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2002 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2003 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2012 | 1 | 1 | draw | |
| 2016 | 1 | 1 | draw | |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | draw |