View source for France Football

{{Short description|French weekly association football magazine}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{About|a football magazine in France|French football in general|France national football team|and|French Football Federation|and|football in France}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title         = France Football
| image_file    = France Football magazine (cover 2005).jpg
| image_size    = 200
| image_caption = An issue featuring [[Ronaldinho]] and the [[2005 Ballon d'Or]]
| editor        = 
| frequency     = Monthly
| category      = [[Association football|Football]]
| publisher     = [[Groupe Amaury]]
| founded       = {{launch date and age|1946}}
| country       = France
| based         = Paris
| language      = French
| website       = {{URL|http://www.francefootball.fr/|francefootball.fr}}
| ISSN          = 0015-9557
}}

'''''France Football''''' is a French monthly magazine containing [[Association football|football]] news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its [[Photojournalism|photographic reports]], in-depth and exclusive interviews and accurate statistics of the [[UEFA Champions League]] matches, and extensive coverage of the European leagues. The magazine was first published in 1946 and is headquartered in [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Pierre L. Horn |title=Handbook of French Popular Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QZ3gEzNUn4QC&pg=PA286|access-date=31 October 2016 |year=1991 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-26121-3 |page=286}}</ref> For more than six decades it has presented the [[Ballon d'Or]] award to the best football player of the year.<ref name="TheAthletic">{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Nick |title=Ballon d'Or 2023 explained: Messi favourite, Ronaldo's dashed 'dream' and how it works |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4995233/2023/10/30/messi-ballon-dor-explained/ |date=30 October 2023 |access-date=24 April 2024 |website=[[The Athletic]] |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030090518/https://theathletic.com/4995233/2023/10/30/messi-ballon-dor-explained/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Awards ==
Since [[1956 Ballon d'Or|1956]], ''France Football'' presents the [[Ballon d'Or]] ({{lit|"Golden Ball"}}), initially referred to as the "European Footballer of the Year" award. Following the award's merger with the [[FIFA World Player of the Year]] award in 2010, the magazine awarded the [[FIFA Ballon d'Or]] to the world's best player in partnership with [[FIFA]], the sport's governing body, until 2016, when it resumed full ownership of the trophy.<ref name="TheAthletic" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/ballondor/news/newsid=1268497/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212212422/http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/news/newsid=1268497/|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 December 2010 |title=The FIFA Ballon d'Or is born |publisher=[[FIFA]] |date=5 July 2010 |access-date=12 December 2010}}</ref> Since 1959, ''France Football'' also elects the [[French Player of the Year]]<ref name="RSSSF">{{cite web |first1=Erik |last1=Garin |first2=José Luis |last2=Pierrend |title=France – Footballer of the Year |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation |date=18 January 2018 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/franpoy.html |access-date=7 December 2018}}</ref> and awarded the [[France Football European Team of the Year|best club team in Europe]] since 1968 to 1990.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Awards presented by ''France Football''
|-
|'''Annual awards:'''
* [[Ballon d'Or]]
* [[Ballon d'Or Féminin]]
* [[Kopa Trophy]]
* [[Yashin Trophy]]
* [[Gerd Müller Trophy]]
* [[Sócrates Award]]
* [[French Player of the Year]]

'''Selected awards:'''

* [[Ballon d'Or Dream Team]] (2020)
* [[Super Ballon d'Or]] (1989)
|}

== History ==
France Football originated from the magazine Football, which was published from 1927 to 1944 and was for a time the semi-official print organ of the FFF.<ref>{{Cite web|title=France football - Babelio|url=https://www.babelio.com/auteur/France-football/355639|access-date=2025-05-05|work=babelio.com}}</ref> Initially, FF was published on plain newsprint and only in black and white; Since February 1977 (introduction of the color front page), the magazine has increasingly become an illustrated magazine with numerous large-format color photographs. Its circulation increased in parallel from 120,000 (1975) to 213,000 copies (2004). 

From 1974 to 1982 and from 1997 to 2013 there were two weekly issues<ref>{{Cite web|title=De quoi sera faite la nouvelle formule de «France Football», qui devient un mensuel|url=https://www.lequipe.fr/Medias/Actualites/De-quoi-sera-faite-la-nouvelle-formule-de-france-football-qui-devient-un-mensuel/1261297|access-date=2025-05-05|work=www.lequipe.fr}}</ref> (Tuesdays and Fridays), with the Friday issue from 1978 to 1982 being called France Foot 2,<ref>{{Cite web|title=France football - Babelio|url=https://www.babelio.com/auteur/France-football/355639|access-date=2025-05-05|work=www.babelio.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=L'ENJEU DE LA RENCONTRE FRANCE-PAYS-BAS Un "banco" sportif et financier|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1981/11/17/l-enjeu-de-la-rencontre-france-pays-bas-un-banco-sportif-et-financier_3043363_1819218.html|access-date=2025-05-05|work=www.lemonde.fr |date=17 November 1981 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=• Afficher le sujet - VABEC Drago|url=http://footnostalgie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3406&start=120|access-date=2025-05-05|work=footnostalgie.com}}</ref> and since April 2013 only the Tuesday issue has been produced. In Issue No. 3587 of January 21, 2015, the publication date was changed to Wednesday.

France's contribution to soccer and its training of top-level players is well known. Exceptional talents like Mbappe, Katoto, Diani, Griezmann and many others hail from this country.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Best French Player in FC 25 Career Mode You Should Know - U7BUY Blog|url=https://www.u7buy.com/blog/best-french-player-in-fc-25-career-mode-you-should-know/|access-date=2025-05-05|work=www.u7buy.com |date=April 2025 }}</ref> This is why the magazine itself and the awards it bestows are so highly regarded and considered authoritative. 
From November 3, 2008, on the website of Francefootball magazine. fr publishes a daily newsletter. 

== "Dream Team 2020" ==
In 2020, instead of the traditional awarding of the Ballon d'Or, the magazine organized a vote among 177 journalists from the world's leading media outlets (140 of them foreign) to determine the "dream team" - a symbolic team made up of the best players in football history.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ballon d'Or Dream Team : Découvrez les révélations de ce onze de légende ! - France Football|url=https://www.francefootball.fr/news/Ballon-d-or-dream-team-decouvrez-les-revelations-de-ce-onze-de-legende/1205748|access-date=2025-05-05|work=www.francefootball.fr}}</ref> In December, France Football published three "dream teams" at once.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cafu, Ronaldo e Pelé representam o Brasil no Dream Team Bola de Ouro da France Football futebol internacional ge|url=https://ge.globo.com/futebol/futebol-internacional/noticia/cafu-e-eleito-para-o-dream-team-bola-de-ouro-da-france-football.ghtml|access-date=2025-05-05|work=ge.globo.com |date=14 December 2020 }}</ref>

== See also ==
*''[[L'Équipe]]''
*''[[Onze Mondial]]''
*''[[World Soccer (magazine)|World Soccer]]''

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.francefootball.fr/ballon-d-or/ Ballon d'Or – France Football] {{in lang|en}}

{{Navboxes
|title=Links to related articles
|list1=
{{Ballon d'Or recipients}}
{{France Football French Player of the Year}}
{{Ballon d'Or Féminin recipients}}
{{Kopa Trophy}}
{{Yashin Trophy}}
{{Gerd Müller Trophy}}
{{Sócrates Award}}
{{Ballon d'Or Additional Awards}}
{{Ballon d'Or Dream Team}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:France Football]]
[[Category:1946 establishments in France]]
[[Category:Monthly magazines published in France]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1946]]