Group A contenders:
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Route to the finals
The 1998 World Cup winners contrived to produce one of the most controversial qualifying results in recent times.

Having finished runners-up to Serbia in Group 7 of the European Zone, Les Bleus went into the play-off stage and faced an Ireland team that had fought valiantly to get second place behind Italy in Group 8.

France secured a valuable 1-0 victory in Dublin but what followed in Saint Denis made headlines around the world and called into question the very integrity of the game.

Ireland’s Robbie Keane brought the tie all-level in the 33rd minute, forcing the game into extra-time and the prospect of penalties looming. The possibility of that outcome was dismissed, however, when France forward Thierry Henry blatantly handled a ball to keep it in play, before crossing it to William Gallas to score.

Despite Irish protestations and Henry’s admission to the offence after the game, the result stood and France claimed their World Cup place. 

Manager
Raymond Domenech is only the second Manager to lead France to two World Cups. Having picked up the reins in 2004, Domenech successfully guided Les Bleus to the Final of the 2006 edition of the tournament, narrowly missing out on lifting the trophy for a second time after losing to Italy after a penalty shoot-out.

No longer able to call upon the creative genius of Zinedine Zidane or the stalwarts of Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira, it will be down to Domenech to get the best out of a younger group of players, many of whom will be experiencing World Cup football for the first time.

Player watch
In Zinedine Zidane France had one of the world’s most gifted footballers of all-time, and with his retirement he leaves behind an enormous creative gap in the France midfield.

As a result, many eyes will turn to Franck Ribery this summer. The tricky, left-footed winger moved from Marseilles to Bayern Munich in 2007 and has already enjoyed success, including a Bundesliga title and a Champions League Final (although he was not eligible to play).

Having made his international debut just weeks before Germany 2006 and played a significant role in the tournament, Ribery knows what the World Cup is all about and will be keen to stamp his mark on it, just like his predecessor Zidane.

Competition History
First appearance: 1930
No. of appearances (inc 2010): 13
Best result: Winners (1998)
Matches against England: 27

Squad

Goalkeepers
1	Hugo Lloris	Olympique Lyon, FRA
16	Steve Mandanda	Olympique Marseille, FRA
23	Cédric Carrasso	Girondins Bordeaux, FRA
Defenders
2	Bacary Sagna	Arsenal, ENG
3	Eric Abidal	FC Barcelona, ESP
4	Anthony Réveillère	Olympique Lyon, FRA
5	William Gallas	Arsenal, ENG
6	Marc Planus	Girondins Bordeaux, FRA
13	Patrice Evra	Manchester United, ENG
17	Sébastien Squillaci	Sevilla FC, ESP
22	Gaël Clichy	Arsenal, ENG
Midfielders
8	Yoann Gourcuff	Girondins Bordeaux, FRA
14	Jérémy Toulalan	Olympique Lyon, FRA
15	Florent Malouda	Chelsea, ENG
18	Alou Diarra	Girondins Bordeaux, FRA
19	Abou Diaby	Arsenal, ENG
Forwards
7	Franck Ribéry	Bayern München, GER
9	Djibril Cissé	Panathinaikos, GRE
10	Sidney Govou	Olympique Lyon, FRA
11	André-Pierre Gignac	Toulouse FC, FRA
12	Thierry Henry	FC Barcelona, ESP
20	Mathieu Valbuena	Olympique Marseille, FRA
21	Nicolas Anelka	Chelsea, ENG