Football Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in France, with 1,993,270 licensed players in the leagues. , a renowned French footballer. France is also one of only ten teams to have won the
UEFA European Championship (
1984 and
2000). They also finished as runners-up when they hosted the tournament in
2016. France was also the
1984 Olympic Champion and the
1998 and
2018 FIFA World Cup winner, hosting the 1998 tournament. They finished as World Cup runners-up in
2006 and
2022.
Ligue 1 is the
French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the
French football league system. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of
promotion and relegation with Ligue 2. The most successful club in the French first division history is
Paris Saint-Germain with 13 championships, followed by
AS Saint-Étienne with 10,
Olympique de Marseille with 9 titles and
FC Nantes with 8 titles. As of
2025, the current champions are Paris Saint-Germain. The
Coupe de France is the premier
knock-out cup competition in French football. The
Coupe de la Ligue is the second major cup competition in France. The
Trophée des Champions is played each July as a one-off match between the
Coupe de France winners and the
Ligue 1 champions. footballer, captain of the France national team. Only two French clubs have won the
UEFA Champions League: Marseille in
1993 and Paris Saint-Germain in
2025; furthermore, by winning the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, it became the first French club to be crowned Club World Champion in 2025.
Stade de Reims (
1956,
1959 but winner of the Latin Cup in 1953), Saint-Étienne (
1976), and
AS Monaco (
2004) have also been runners-up.
SC Bastia (
1978),
FC Girondins de Bordeaux (
1996) and Olympique de Marseille (
1999,
2004,
2018) have been runners-up in the
UEFA Europa League. Paris Saint-Germain won the now defunct
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996. The
France women's national football team's main international achievement has been fourth place at the
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. They also hosted the
2019 Women's World Cup. Women's national professional competitions are supervised by the
Fédération française de football. The first division is the
Première Ligue.
Olympique Lyonnais is the most successful team in French first division history with 31 national titles, including a streak of fourteen consecutive league titles from 2007 to 2020. In the
UEFA Women's Champions League, OL have won a record eight titles (
2011,
2012,
2016,
2017,
2018,
2019,
2020 and
2022) and have been runners-up three times (
2010,
2013 and
2024).
Basketball has drawn attention to French basketball|left The
France national basketball team has had good results in international competitions over the years, with the senior team winning their first title ever at the
EuroBasket 2013. The team was runner-up at the
1948 Summer Olympics,
EuroBasket 1949, the
2000 Summer Olympics, the
EuroBasket 2011, the
2020 Summer Olympics and the
2024 Summer Olympics. France has also won medals at the
FIBA World Cup in
2014, and
2019. basketball player, multiple European Championship medals. As of the ,
22 French citizens have played in the
NBA in the
USA and
Canada.
San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker won four NBA titles to his credit; Spurs
forward Boris Diaw once;
Utah Jazz center
Rudy Gobert, who won back-to-back NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2018 and 2019; and
New York Knicks forward-center
Joakim Noah, also notable for his
college career at the
University of Florida in which he starred on a team that won two
NCAA titles with the same starting lineup. The New York Knicks former GM Phil Jackson selected Frank Ntilikina in the 2016-2017 NBA Draft.
Victor Wembanyama won NBA Rookie of the Year in 2024. Men's national professional competitions are supervised by the
Ligue Nationale de Basketball. There are two divisions:
Pro A (first division) and
Pro B (second division).
ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne is the most successful team in French first division history with 17 titles from 1949 to 2009.
Limoges CSP is the only French team to have won the
EuroLeague in
1993. The
France women's national basketball team has twice been European champion (
2001 and
2009), and also claimed a silver medal at the
2012 Summer Olympics. Women's national professional competitions are supervised by the
Fédération Française de Basket-Ball with the first division being the
Ligue féminine de basket.
Clermont Université Club is the most successful team in French first division history with 13 titles from 1968 to 1981.
CJM Bourges (
1997,
1998, and
2001) and
US Valenciennes (
2002 and
2004) have won the
EuroLeague Women. Besides regular basketball,
3x3 basketball has become increasingly popular in France.
Horse riding Equestrianism is the third most popular Olympic sport in France, and the leading sport for women.
Rugby union .
Rugby union (rugby à 15 or jeu à 15) was first introduced in the early 1870s by British residents. While football is much more popular nationally, rugby union is predominant in the southern half of the country, especially around
Toulouse, the French
Basque country and
Catalonia. Elite French clubs participate in the domestic club competition - the
Top 14. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competitions, the
European Rugby Champions Cup and
European Rugby Challenge Cup. It is the seventh largest French team sport in the terms of licensed players with 360,847 licensed players (2014). There are 1,737 clubs in France and the number of licensed players has significantly increased over the recent years (up from 260,000 in 2000). Toulouse, Brive, Toulon, La Rochelle and Bordeaux Bègles won the Champions Cup. In 2010, the all-French final of the Heineken Cup between Toulouse and Biarritz in the Stade de France received 3.2 million viewers on France 2. In 2011, the final of the Top 14 gathered 4.4 million viewers on France 2 and Canal+ and the World Cup final between New Zealand and France gathered 15.4 million viewers on TF1, the highest audience on French TV since the start of the year. The
national side is one of the tier 1 national teams. World number one in July 2022. It competes annually in the
Six Nations Championship, and won it outright 18 times. France has been to every
Rugby World Cup since its inception in 1987, and has been a runner-up on three occasions, most recently in
2011. France hosted the 2007 and 2023 Rugby World Cups. And the France national rugby sevens team became World Series champion in
2023–24.
Handball is 4-times World champion, 3-times Olympic champion, and 4-times European champion. There were 492,101 licensed handball players in France as of 2019. The
France men's national handball team is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice (the Danish women's team also held all three in 1997), and the only national team in its sport to hold six world titles and a total of thirteen medals at the
World Men's Handball Championship. With a total of five medals, including three gold in
2008,
2012 and
2021, France is also the most successful handball team at the
Summer Olympics. France was also recognized as the European champion of handball in
2006,
2010,
2014 and
2024. The
France women's national handball team, although less successful, won the
Summer Olympics once (
2020), the
World Championship thrice (
2003,
2017,
2023) and also the
European Championship once (
2018).
Cycling mountain biker and BMX racer, Olympic gold medalist. France hosts "the world's biggest annual sporting event" called the
Tour de France, a
road cycling race, which takes place each July and lasts for three weeks. It is one of the three
Grand Tours, which are the most prestigious stage races in road cycling. The Tour has been won 36 times by French cyclists in its 110-year history. Cycling is very popular in France, evident from the fact that the
Tour de France race attracts more than 12 million people who travel to witness the race first hand. The
Tour de France also attracts a television audience of 3.5 billion people worldwide. In addition, the north of France hosts the one-day race
Paris–Roubaix, known as one of the
cobbled classics famous for the use of
cobblestones or
setts as challenging terrain, and as one of the five "Monuments" which along with the road racing World Championship are the most important one-day
classic cycle races. Other high-profile races which are included as part of the top-level
UCI World Tour circuit include the stage races
Paris–Nice and the
Critérium du Dauphiné (often used as a warm-up race for riders competing in the Tour de France), and the one-day race
GP Ouest-France. Some of the most notable French riders are multiple
Grand Tour winners
Lucien Petit-Breton,
André Leducq,
Antonin Magne,
Louison Bobet,
Jacques Anquetil (along with historic contender
Raymond Poulidor, who was a favorite of the crowd),
Roger Pingeon,
Bernard Thévenet,
Bernard Hinault and
Laurent Fignon, and multiple Monument winners
Maurice Garin,
Lucien Lesna,
Hippolyte Aucouturier,
Octave Lapize,
Gustave Garrigou,
Henri Pélissier,
Charles Crupelandt,
Jean Forestier,
Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle and
Laurent Jalabert. In women's cycling
Jeannie Longo is one of the most successful competitors of all time, having won the
Tour de France Feminin three times, nine gold medals in road racing and time trialling at the
UCI Road World Championships, and the gold in the road race at the
1996 Olympics.
Motorsports (in 2009) was world champion (4) of
Formula one.
Motorsports are very popular in France, especially
auto racing and
motorcycle racing.
Formula One has a strong connection with and long history in France, having roots in European
Grand Prix motor racing, which traces its birth to the
1906 French Grand Prix. Many French circuits have been used since the foundation of the Formula One Championships:
Reims-Gueux (1950–1966),
Rouen-Les-Essarts (1952–1958),
Circuit Charade (1965–1972),
Bugatti Circuit (1967),
Circuit Paul Ricard (1971–1990 and 2018–2022),
Dijon-Prenois (1974–1984), and
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1991–2008). France is home of Formula One World's Constructors' Champions
Matra (
1969) and
Renault (
2005 and
2006), and Formula One World Drivers' Champion
Alain Prost (
1985,
1986,
1989, and
1993). The most recent French Formula One race winner is
Esteban Ocon, having won the
2021 Hungarian Grand Prix while racing for
Alpine. (2005) had been world champion (9) of WRC. France is also home to the most Champions in
Formula Two history with
Jean-Pierre Beltoise (),
Johnny Servoz-Gavin (),
Jean-Pierre Jarier (),
Patrick Depailler (),
Jacques Laffite (),
Jean-Pierre Jabouille (), and
René Arnoux (). French constructors have also been successful with
Matra winning the Championships in , , and ,
Automobiles Martini in and , and
Renault in and . France produced five champions in the
International Formula 3000 championship, the successor to the European F2 series:
Jean Alesi (
1989),
Érik Comas (
1990),
Olivier Panis (
1993),
Jean-Christophe Boullion (
1994) and
Sébastien Bourdais (
2002), tying with Italy as the most successful nation in the formula.
Romain Grosjean won the
GP2 Asia Series in
2008 and
2011 and the main
GP2 Series in
2011, whilst
Pierre Gasly won the GP2 title in the series' final season in
2016.
Théo Pourchaire won the revived
FIA Formula 2 Championship in
2023. (in 2022) the first French world champion in
MotogGP Touring car racing, although less popular in France than
Formula One, has a strong following, especially with four time
World Touring Car Championship Drivers' Champion
Yvan Muller (
2008,
2010,
2011 and
2013). In
Sports car racing, France is home to the
24 Hours of Le Mans the world's oldest
sports car race in
endurance racing, held annually since 1923. Also, French
auto racing team
Hexis Racing is the current
FIA GT1 World Team Champion.
Rallying is very popular in France, with two
World Rally Championship rallies being held there:
Tour de Corse (1973–2008) and
Rallye d'Alsace (2010-today). French drivers and manufacturers have been very successful in the World Rally Championship, especially since 2000, winning 32 championships (in total) in each competition. Champions include
Didier Auriol (
1994),
Sébastien Loeb (
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007,
2008,
2009,
2010,
2011 and
2012, an all-time record) and
Sébastien Ogier (
2013,
2014,
2015,
2016,
2017,
2018,
2020 and
2021) for the drivers, and
Alpine (
1973),
Peugeot (
1985,
1986,
2000,
2001, and
2002), and
Citroën (
2003,
2004,
2005,
2008,
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012) for the manufacturers.
France holds an annual
ice racing championship at the end of each year, called the
Andros Trophy. Other types of
auto racing (
Stock car racing,
Sports car racing,
Drag racing, etc.) are more favoured. France host the
French motorcycle Grand Prix currently in
Le Mans.
Fabio Quartararo is the first Frenchman to win the premier class of
MotoGP in
2021. Also, in
Superbike World Championship only two French riders have been champions:
Raymond Roche in
1990 and
Sylvain Guintoli in
2014.
Pétanque Pétanque is mostly played and highly popular in the South of France. Pétanque is not considered a sport by many northern Frenchmen, though the sport is internationally recognized by the
IOC. Professional players play the competitive form of Pétanque, which is called Pétanque Sport, under precise rules. The competitive form is played by about 480,000 persons licensed with the
Fédération Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (
FFPJP). The FFPJP is the 4th largest sports federation in France.
Sailing won the
Vendée Globe in 2004 Professional
sailing in France is centered on singlehanded/shorthanded ocean racing with the pinnacle of this branch of the sport being the
Vendée Globe singlehanded around the world race which starts every 4 years from the French Atlantic. Since its inception, every winner of the Vendée Globe has been French.
Skiing Skiing is a popular sport in France. The best places for skiing are the mountainous areas in the east (
Alps,
Jura,
Vosges), south (
Pyrenees) and center (
Massif Central) of the country, where most
French ski resorts are located. biathlete, Olympic gold medalist and multiple World Championship medalist.
Émile Allais won four World Championship golds in the 1930s.
Henri Oreiller won Olympic gold at the
1948 Winter Olympics.
Jean-Claude Killy dominated
alpine skiing in the late 1960s, winning all three alpine skiing golds on offer at the
1968 Winter Olympics on French snow in Grenoble. These events also served as the 1968
Alpine Skiing World Championships, and in addition, Killy won the World Championship Combined event in 1968 to add to golds in the Downhill and Combined won at the 1966 World Championships. He also won the first two overall
Alpine Skiing World Cup titles.
Marielle Goitschel won two Olympic golds, an additional five World Championship golds and three discipline World Cup titles in the 1960s.
Guy Périllat was a double World Championship gold medallist in the 1960s.
Fabienne Serrat won two golds at the
1974 World Championships.
Carole Merle won six World Cup discipline titles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was World Champion in giant slalom in
1993. More recently
Luc Alphand won the overall World Cup in
1997 and four discipline titles in Downhill and Super-G.
Jean-Baptiste Grange was Slalom World Cup champion in
2009 and Slalom World Champion in
2011 and 2015.
Tessa Worley was World Cup champion in giant slalom in
2017 and
2022 and won four World Championship golds in the 2010s. In January 2017
Alexis Pinturault set a new record for World Cup wins by a French skier when he took his 19th victory in a giant slalom in
Adelboden, breaking Jean-Claude Killy's record. French success in cross-country skiing has been somewhat more limited. However
Vincent Vittoz did win a gold medal in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit at the
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in
2005. He also finished as runner up in the Distance
World Cup for three consecutive seasons from 2004/05 to
2006/07.
Jason Lamy-Chappuis has been an extremely successful competitor in
Nordic combined. He won a gold medal in the Individual normal hill/10 km competition at the
2010 Winter Olympics as well as five World Championship golds and three consecutive
FIS Nordic Combined World Cups between
2009/10 and
2011/12. France has enjoyed success in
Biathlon in recent years.
Raphaël Poirée won seven
Biathlon World Championship golds and four overall
Biathlon World Cups. He is the joint second most successful male biathlete of all time in terms of winning overall World Cup titles, and scored 44 World Cup victories.
Martin Fourcade has won 13 World Championship golds, 7 overall World Cup titles, 1 gold medal in
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, 2 gold medals in the
Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, and 3 gold medals in the
Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games.
Tennis dominated tennis in the 1920s, winning multiple Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold medals.
Tennis is the second most popular French sport in terms of the number of licensed players with 1,111,316 licensed tennis players in France (2012). France holds the tennis Grand Slam tournament
Roland Garros. Some current French high-level players include
Gaël Monfils,
Richard Gasquet,
Lucas Pouille,
Caroline Garcia,
Alizé Cornet, and
Kristina Mladenovic. Other stars from the past include
Henri Cochet,
René Lacoste,
Yannick Noah,
Guy Forget,
Henri Leconte,
Gilles Simon,
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga,
Amélie Mauresmo,
Mary Pierce and
Marion Bartoli. ==Minor sports==