We can’t imagine the Blues playing in any color other than blue, and yet, that hasn’t always been the case…
The French team is “the Blues”. In France and internationally, blue is associated with French selections, just like Spain, “La Roja”, plays in red. The color even inspired the nickname of the players of the French team, in the same way as the “Blues” of Chelsea, the “Red Devils” of Manchester, the Belgian “Red Devils” or even the “Greens” of Saint- Etienne.
The nickname “Blues” appeared for the first time on November 17, 1976, in a match against Ireland, according to journalist Didier Braun. Before that, the players of the France team were mainly nicknamed “the Tricolores”, a denomination still sometimes used to designate the selection of Didier Deschamps.
This nickname of the “Blues” has been established over time because of the color of the jersey. However, the double world champion team in 1998 and 2018 has not always played in this color. Originally, the French team’s tunic was even mostly white. It was only with the creation of the French Football Federation after the First World War in 1919 that the color blue became established. Between his first match, on May 1, 1904 against Belgium and 1914, the jersey used was white, or white with blue vertical stripes, while the shorts were either blue or red. Likewise, the alternate outfit, worn for the first time in 1906 during a France-England match, is red.
If since this period, blue has become the main color of the French teams’ equipment, the jersey has changed many times. Sometimes plain, with variations of blue, other times with vertical or horizontal stripes, the main outfit keeps the same main color, unlike the alternate jersey. Indeed, with the start of television broadcasts, the red away jersey does not contrast enough with the blue outfit. It was therefore decided to switch to a white jersey. This white jersey then became the main “away” jersey of the French team, while the red jersey only reappeared very little.
Only one color other than blue, white or red has ever appeared on the jersey of Antoine Griezmann’s teammates. This is a jersey with green stripes used during the 1978 World Cup. At the origin of this particularity, an error by the staff of the France team, who brought the white jersey instead of the blue . Their opponent, Hungary, had to play in white, so the “Blues” had to find a compatible set of jerseys at the last minute. It was a local club that lent them this green and white striped jersey.