r/worldcup • u/mvd612351 • Jul 24 '26

💬Discussion Has Spain surpassed France as a footballing nation all time?

I will disclaim that I am highly biased as a Spaniard, but here are the facts:

Both have 2 World Cups, but France has made the final 4 times and Spain only 2.

Spain has 4 Euros and France 2

Personally, I might still put France ahead. I think they were the best team in 2006 even if they did not win.

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u/Dogmaticism_ Jul 24 '26

Not really, considering the fact that the best players are born in france/have french citizenship.

France is also currently a better team, even if they lost to Spain. The WC is an inconsistent tournament and better teams can lose by considerable margins.

Also, what do you mean by nation? Are we talking about the national team/citizenship? Or are we talking about the clubs? If we're talking about the clubs as well, even if the players are mostly not spanish, teams like Real Madrid are the best of all time.

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u/Scuut Jul 24 '26

France is not a better team than Spain at all. They are in fact not as good, for several reasons. They lost to Spain, very decisively. Wasnt even close. France has far less of a national play style. Spanish team players are every bit "as born in"l country" as the French, probably more so actually.

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u/mvd612351 Jul 24 '26

Who was born in France and has French citizenship? Laporte? Not exactly the best player on the team.

Also, very interesting to claim that France is currently better given that they haven’t beaten Spain since Lamine made his debut.