These are often considered the glory years of French rugby league as from the 1950s to the 1970s the team were strong and regularly beat Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.

Since those days, les Chanticleers have not done as well with their nadir occurring at the 1995 World Cup when they failed to win a single match.

In 2006, the Perpignan based team Catalans Dragons entered Super League, and have since produced a number of top-class French players.

In Europe alone they are ranked second, ahead of Lebanon, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy, but behind their main rival, England.

On New Year's Eve 1933, England and Australia played in Paris – the first game of rugby league football in France.

Jean Galia, a former rugby union international and champion boxer, led France on a six-match tour of England in 1934 and they recorded their first win in Kingston upon Hull.

In 1951 France embarked on their first ever tour of Australasia, coached by Robert Samatan and led by the legendary chain-smoking fullback, Puig Aubert.

When the two nations met for the first Test, the match became the first "all ticket" international to be staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground, and attracted a crowd of over 60,000.

In the 1954 World Cup, which was the first of either rugby code and was instigated by France, Les Tricolores defeated both Australia and New Zealand, and drew with Great Britain to reach the final.

This was the closest they went to getting their hands on the World Cup, going down narrowly, 16-12, to Great Britain in the final in Parc des Princes.

In the 1957 World Cup, held in Australia, the winner was decided by finishing top of the table with no final being played.

In the 1960 Rugby League World Cup France failed to win a match, and finished last for the second consecutive time.

The trend of underperforming in the World Cup continued for the French in the expanded 1975 tournament in which they got a lone win over Wales and a draw against New Zealand.

The turbulent period was steadied by the influence of French Rugby League guru Jean-François Bouchet, however poor results followed.

The team reached a low point when they were forced to forfeit away World Cup games against Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in the 1985-88 edition because of lack of funds.

On Sunday 7 July 1991, the two sides met again for a World Cup encounter at Danny Leahy Oval, Goroka.

On Sunday 27 October 1991, the first ever Test match involving the Soviet Union took place at the Stade Georges Lyvet, Villeurbanne, near Lyon, France.

The Papua New Guinea national team wound up their 1991 tour of Europe with a World Cup rated Test match against France, which was played on Sunday 24 November at the Stade Albert Domec, Carcassonne.

In the 1995 World Cup France had to play the Samoans three days after taking a physical pounding from the Welsh in Cardiff.

In 2011 the English team, rather than playing their annual test against France, instead arranged the inaugural 2011 International Origin match.

In May 2015, France were set to take on South Africa However, the Africans had to withdraw due to the concerns of national contingencies.

[8] In August 2016 Richard Agar, who began coaching France at the 2013 World Cup, left the national team.

It is believed he left because new Fédération Française de Rugby à XIII president Marc Palanques wants a Frenchman to coach the national team.

At the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, France were placed in a strong group, pitted against the likes of England, Lebanon and defending champions Australia.

Squad selected for the European qualification tournament for the 2026 Men's Rugby League World Cup:[21] Below are the France international XIII results up until 23 October 2024.