France are one of the favourites to win Euro 2024 – but what will their players be singing before the games?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
France head into Euro 2024 as one of the pre-tournament favourites to lift the trophy in Germany this summer.
World Cup winners in 2018, runners-up in 2022 and Nations League champions in 2021, Les Bleus were surprisingly beaten by Switzerland on penalties after a 3-3 draw in the last 16 at Euro 2020.
Didier Deschamps' side beat Luxembourg 3-0 in a Euro 2024 warm-up match last Wednesday and were held to a goalless draw by Canada on Sunday in their final game before the European Championship.
What is France's national anthem?
France players stand for the national anthem ahead of a friendly against Chile in March 2024. (Image credit: Getty Images)
France's national anthem, a patriotic song from the time of the French Revolution, is often praised by football fans in major tournaments for being one of the most upbeat tunes.
Entitled "La Marseillaise", the song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria.
Originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" ("War Song for the Army of the Rhine"), "La Marseillaise" has many verses, but only the first is usually sung.
France forward Kylian Mbappe sings the national anthem ahead of his side's World Cup semi-final against England in December 2022. (Image credit: Getty Images)
France kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Austria in Dusseldorf on June 17, before Groud D games versus the Netherlands in Leipzig and Poland in Dortmund after that.
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Les Bleus, Euros winners in 1984 on home soil and again in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000, will be looking for their third title this summer.
Ben Hayward is the Weekend Editor of FourFourTwo. A European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.
