World Cup 2010: France

World Cup 2010: FRANCE

FIFA ranking: 8

Overall World Cup record: 25-16-10

Coach: Raymond Domenech

Best performance: Winner 1998

Overview: Having been steered into the World Cup by the hand of Thierry Henry, a foul that went uncalled in a qualifying playoff win over Ireland, and coming off Zinedine Zidane’s infamous head butt in the 2006 Cup final, the French will not be widely popular, especially among referees. Still, they have definite quality in the likes of Karim Benzema, Youann Gourcuff, Franck Ribery and Nicolas Anelka and so must count as contenders.

-- Grahame L. Jones