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Football is the most popular sport in France

Club football is the most popular sport in France, followed by rugby union. The French Football Federation (FFF) is the national governing body responsible for overseeing all aspects of club football in the country, both for professionals and amateurs. The association organizes the Coupe de France and is responsible for leading the football national teams of men, women and youth in France. The association transfers responsibility for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to the Ligue de Football Professionnel, which oversees, organizes and manages the country's two main leagues. The LFP is also responsible for the organization of the Coupe de la Ligue, the national league cup competition. The French Football Federation also oversees the leagues of the overseas departments and territories and organizes the football club AS Monaco, which is based in the independent sovereign state of Monaco. In 2006, the FFF had 2,143,688 licenses with over 1,850,836 registered players and 18,194 registered clubs.

The first football club was introduced to France in 1863, as described in a newspaper article by The Scotsman, which states: "Lately, some English gentlemen living in Paris have set up a football club ... The football competitions take place in the Bois de Paris Boulogne, with the permission of the authorities and surprisingly the French. "Nine years later, in 1872, modern football was introduced by English sailors who played in Le Havre in 1872.

The two main divisions of French football, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, are managed by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The League is responsible for overseeing, organizing and managing the two main leagues, as well as the 46 professional football clubs in France (20 in Ligue 1, 20 in Ligue 2 and 6 in Championnat National).

League 1 football is the French professional league for football clubs. It is the most important football competition in the country and serves as the top division of the French football league system. It is contested by 20 clubs and maintains a promotion and relegation system with the Ligue 2. The Ligue 1 is one of the best national leagues and currently occupies fifth place in Europe behind the English Premier League football, the Spanish LaLiga football, the Italian Serie A football and the German Bundesliga football. The Ligue 1 was inaugurated on September 11, 1932 under the name National, before she moved after a year of existence in Division 1. The name lasted until 2002, before it was changed to the current name. The current champion of France is Paris Saint-Germain, who won his seventh title in 2018.

League 2 football is the second league of French football. It is contested by 20 clubs and maintains a promotion and relegation system with the Championnat National. The league was founded in 1934, one year after the Ligue 1, and consisted of 23 clubs split into two groups, North and South.

The French national football team (French: Équipe de France de football) represents France in international football and is controlled by the French Football Federation, also known as FFF, or in French: Fédération française de football. The colors of the team are blue, white and red, and the Coq Gaulois is his symbol. France is colloquially known as Les Bleus (The Blues). The French team is the reigning world champion after winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 15 July 2018.

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