UruguayUruguay - National football team
The Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay in international football competition and is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol.
Uruguay have won two FIFA World Cups, including the first ever World Cup in 1930 as hosts, beating Argentina 4-2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting hosts Brazil 2-1 in the final match. They also won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928, before the creation of the World Cup. They also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions Uruguay hosted in 1980 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first World Cup.
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Uruguay is one of the most successful teams in the world, having won 18 official titles: 2 FIFA World Cup, 2 Olympic Games and 14 Copa América.
Their success is amplified by the fact that the nation has a very small population. Uruguay is the only country in the world to win a World Cup with a general population of under 4 million inhabitants and is by far the smallest nation to do so. The second smallest country to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a total population of over 40 million people. Uruguay is also the smallest country ever to win any World Cup medals. In fact, only six nations with populations smaller than Uruguay's have ever participated in any World Cup: Northern Ireland (3 times), Wales, Kuwait, Jamaica, Slovenia and Trinidad and Tobago. Uruguay is also the smallest nation to win Olympic gold medals in any team sport.
Uruguay is also the smallest member nation of CONMEBOL, South American Football Association. Nevertheless, Uruguayan national team also have won the Copa América 14 different times, a record it shares with Argentina.
However, the level of the Uruguay national team has decreased lately as Uruguay has only qualified on two occasions in the last five World Cups, although it remains a strong team in South America, having reached third place and fourth place in the last two Copa América tournaments, respectively..
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FranceFrance - National football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation and competes as a member of UEFA.
France was one of the four European teams that participated at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and are one of seven national teams to have won the competition, which they did in 1998 when they hosted the Cup. They defeated Brazil 3–0 in the final. France and England share the record of having one World Cup victory.
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France has also won two UEFA European Football Championships, winning the first in 1984, led by Ballon d'Or winner Michel Platini, and the most recent in 2000, led by FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane. Following France's 2001 Confederations Cup victory, they became, along with Argentina, the only national teams to win the three most important men's titles organized by FIFA: the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Confederations Cup, and the Olympic Tournament.
France currently share a competitive rivalry with neighbors Italy, whom they first contested in 1910. The rivalry laid dormant for awhile, but re-ignited following the controversial circumstances surrounding Zinedine Zidane's sending-off in the 2006 World Cup final.
Terminata la guerra, la situazione migliorò e nel campionato del mondo 1958 la Francia fu sconfitta soltanto in semifinale dal Brasile, dopo aver patito l'infortunio del difensore centrale Robert Jonquet e la tripletta di Pelè. In quel torneo i transalpini si piazzarono terzi, sconfiggendo la Germania per 6-3 nella finale per il terzo posto. L'attaccante Just Fontaine in 6 partite realizzò ben 13 gol, cifra che rappresenta ancora oggi un record per la fase finale di un Mondiale. In quel periodo l'ossatura della squadra era composta in gran parte da giocatori o ex giocatori del forte Stade de Reims come Raymond Kopa, Robert Jonquet, Roger Marche e Just Fontaine, cui si aggiungeva Roger Piantoni.
Il terzo posto ai Mondiali svedesi fu comunque un traguardo isolato, dato che nel ventennio seguente i galletti avrebbero collezionato soltanto eliminazioni al primo turno o addirittura mancate qualificazioni alla fase finale dei Mondiali e degli Europei. Nella prima edizione degli Europei la Francia giunse tra le prime quattro, ma nella fase finale a quattro squadre che si teneva in casa dovette fare a meno di Fontaine, autore di cinque reti tra ottavi e quarti che si erano svolti in partite di andata e ritorno, e perse così la semifinale contro la Jugoslavia per 5-4. Nella finale per il 3° e 4° posto fu superata dalla Cecoslovacchia per 2-0..
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