France won the home games against Ireland and Belgium, but lost all three away games against the competitors. France finished in second place in the group, one point behind Belgium, equal on points with Ireland but a better goal difference and one point ahead of the Netherlands. The qualifying tournament for the 1974 World Cup started promisingly with a 1-0 win over the Soviet Union, but only one point was scored in the two games against Ireland. Since Czechoslovakia won twice against the Swedes and the Czechs won 2-0 against France, the battle was quickly decided. Because the evidence was based on the incorrect use of 'anatomically correct' dolls, all suspects were acquitted. There was no clear favorite for the overall victory. In the end, the referee disallowed the goal, the French eventually won 4-1. A 1-1 draw against Czechoslovakia was enough to qualify for the second round. In the second round, France had little trouble with Austria (1-0) and Northern Ireland (4-1) and increasingly revealed itself as the European alternative to Brazil's swinging football. The first European Championship was held in 1960. After victories over Greece and Austria, France reached the final tournament, which was held in their own country. The city is the political, economic and cultural center of the country.
The great players of France, Jonquet, Kopa and Fontaine, were absent. After the game, the players brawled and the game went down in history as the Battle of Bern. The very first World Cup match in history was United States v Belgium and France v Mexico. Significantly, European Footballer of the Year Rivera sat on the bench, because Italy played with only one creative player (Mazzola) in midfield. France missed the final tournament by one point. In the penalty shootout, both teams had one miss to their name after five penalties, in the extra penalty kicks Schumacher stopped the effort of Maxime Bossis, the replacement for Battiston. This quarter-final was eventually lost to Spain – also after penalties. The Netherlands captured the title again on March 27, 2002 against Spain. For the 1972 European Championship, placement became hopeless after a 0-2 home defeat against Hungary, only a 0-4 win over Bulgaria would save the team, but after the 2-1 defeat, France finished in third place. A 2-1 win over Scotland was enough to qualify for the quarter-finals, in which Northern Ireland was beaten 4-0. Around 1976 there was light in the darkness, AS Saint-Étienne reached the final of the European Cup I in that year, lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich and the Olympic team surprisingly qualified for the Olympic Games in Montreal by beating full war strength playing Romania 4-0.
The fourth away game against Cyprus ended in 0-7, an important boost for the goal difference. Garrincha was clearly only a shadow of the past, but just went along, just like 37-year-old Djalma Santos, who was going to play his fourth world championship. Substitutes were not allowed yet and France was then lost, mainly due to three hits from Pelé: 5-2. The game for third and fourth place was Just Fontaine's last chance to score the most hits of all time, he had nine hits and Hungarian Sándor Kocsis' record was eleven hits. To qualify for the 1982 World Cup, there were formidable opponents: Ireland for the third consecutive time, European Championship finalist Belgium and two-time World Cup finalist the Netherlands. Belgium was beaten in Oosterhout. However, there were many rainbow flags in the stadium and Manuel Neuer wore a captain's armband in rainbow colors. Battiston was later found to have suffered broken teeth, a broken jaw, a concussion and a broken vertebrae, he was even briefly in a coma.
