England vs France head to head: how many times have they met, who has won more games - and memorable moments

England will go head to head with France in a mouth watering World Cup quarter-final tie.

The two sides are both amongst the bookmakers favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar and they are both blessed with immensely talented teams.

England reached the semi-final of the World Cup four years ago and narrowly missed out on European Championship glory after a penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the final. The Three Lions are hotly tipped to go all the way this year and have started their World Cup campaign in fine fashion with 12 goals from their opening four games.

Meanwhile France are aiming to defend their World Cup title from four years ago and are looking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to lift back to back World Cups. Didier Deschamp had to contend with a number of pre-tournament injuries such as Paul Pogba, N’golo Kante and Karim Benzema, but still has an array of exciting talent at his disposal and the attacking trident of Oliver Giroud, Antoine Grizemann and Kylian Mbappe have been the main players getting the headlines at this tournament so far.

The quarter-final clash will be the first meeting between the two European giants in 10 years and the two teams last met in the opening game of Euro 2012. But who has had the better record of England and France in major tournaments?

Here is everything you need to know.

When did England and France last meet in a major tournament?

England and France last met in the opening game of Euro 2012 in Donetsk, Ukraine.

The two sides were drawn in a challenging group featuring co-hosts Ukraine and a Sweden side spearheaded by former Manchester United star Zlatlan Ibrahimovic.

The England and French team looked largely different from the one we will see in this tournament - the likes of Oliver Giroud, Hugo Lloris and Jordan Henderson are the only three players to make the squad for both tournaments. Karim Benzema also featured that day but he was ruled out of the 2022 tournament with injury after initially making the squad.

The game was a tightly fought affair. Defender Joleon Lescott opened the scoring from a Steven Gerrard free kick but France levelled before the interval with a 20-yard finish from Lescott’s team-mate Samir Nasri. The game finished a score draw at 1-1 and both sides prevailed from the group stage before exiting the tournament in the quarter-finals.

What is England’s record against France?

The Three Lions have faced France on 31 occasions in total and have the superior record with 17 victories, five draws and just nine defeats.

Of those 31 meetings - just seven have come in major tournaments. England have a 100% record at the World Cup and have won both of their two meetings with France, however they have failed to win a single game at the European Championships - drawing two and losing one.

Other previous meeting with France in major tournaments

England 2-0 France : World Cup 1966 group stage

England were the hosts of the World Cup in 1966 and hopes were high for Alf Ramsey’s side heading into the competition. The Three Lions had a star studded team featuring Bobby Charlton, Jack Charlton, Nobby Stiles, Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks and Geoff Hurst.

England began the tournament with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay before recording a 2-0 win in their second match against Mexico. Meanwhile France had drawn one and lost one of their opening two games.

England ended their group campaign in style against France and secured a 2-0 victory courtesy of a double from Liverpool forward Roger Hunt. The Three Lions went on to become World Cup champions for the first time in their history, meanwhile France exited the tournament in the group stage.

England 3-1 France: World Cup 1982 group stage

England returned to the world stage for the first time in 12 years at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Ron Greenwood’s side were drawn in Group 4 which featured France, Czechoslovakia and Kuwait.

England faced their toughest test against France in the opener. Les Bleus had a strong team which was spearheaded by Juventus midfielder Michel Platini.

The Three Lions got off to a dream start in the game and took the lead after 27 seconds through Bryan Robson. France equalised later in the first half through Gerard Souler but the Three Lions regained the lead in the second half with Robson and Paul Mariner scoring the goals to secure a 3-1 victory.

Both sides prevailed through the first group stage of the tournament. England were knocked out in the second group stage and France would advance to the semi-final before suffering a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to West Germany.

England 0-0 France - Euro 1992 group stage

England and France met for the first time in a European Championship and were paired together in a group which also featured Sweden and eventual winners Denmark.

France at the time were managed by three time Ballon d’Or and 1984 European Championship winner Michel Platini. Meanwhile World Cup semi-finalists England were led into the tournament by Graham Taylor.

The two sides began the tournament with a disappointing draw and were hoping for a victory to boost their hopes of progressing from the group. However, the game was a dour affair and neither side were able to break the deadlock.

England and France both crashed out in the group stage of the tournament and Sweden and Denmark advanced through the group.

England 1-2 France - Euro 2004 group stage

England and France were amongst the favourites to win Euro 2004 and both teams were blessed with exceptionally talented sides.

France were the reigning European champions after their victory in Euro 2000 and also still had a strong core of players remaining from their World Cup victory six years earlier such as Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Zinedine Zidane.

Meanwhile England had an immensely talented squad which was dubbed by the media as the “golden generation”. Sven Goran Eriksson had the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham and a teenage sensation Wayne Rooney all at his disposal.

England dominated the game and took the lead through Lampard in the first half. Eriksson described the performance as excellent for 90 minutes, but England somehow lost the game in added time after a dramatic double from Zidane.

Both sides progressed to the knockout stage of the tournament but were eliminated in the quarter-final. France were stunned by eventual winners Greece in a 1-0 defeat, meanwhile England suffered an agonising penalty shootout defeat to Portugal.