So, the other day I was watching a soccer game, and it got me thinking – do they play the French national anthem before sporting events in France? I mean, here in the US, we play our anthem at pretty much every major gathering, from pro sports to even high school games.

I decided to dig around and see what’s up. First, I hit up some forums and found a post where someone mentioned that their national football and rugby teams sing the anthem right before the games start. That’s kind of cool, but it didn’t really answer my question about France specifically.
Next, I stumbled upon an article talking about some senator, Ana Amlia, who was saying that people in her country don’t feel patriotic about their anthem like folks in other countries do. Still not what I was looking for, but it’s interesting to know the different perspectives on national anthems.
Then I found another article that said “La Marseillaise”, which I learned is the French national anthem, is most commonly heard at international sporting events. Okay, that’s starting to make sense. It also mentioned that “La Marseillaise” has been the official anthem since 1879 and hasn’t changed. That’s a pretty long time!
I also came across a piece that said not all countries play their anthems before events, and it’s usually up to the organizers to decide. That makes sense, but I was still curious about the common practice in France.
Finally, I found a tidbit saying that in most parts of the world, anthems are only played before international matches. This seems to be the case for France as well, based on what I’ve gathered. Oh, and I also read something about Lady Gaga, Gojira, and Aya Nakamura performing along the Seine. That sounds like a wild event, but it’s a bit off-topic, haha.

So, after all this digging, it seems like the French do play their national anthem, “La Marseillaise”, before international sporting events, but maybe not as routinely as we do here in the States. It’s interesting to see how different countries handle these traditions.
- Started by watching a soccer game.
- Got curious about the French national anthem at sporting events.
- Checked forums and articles online.
- Learned about “La Marseillaise” and its history.
- Discovered that it’s mostly played at international events.
- Concluded that France does play it, but maybe not at every game.
It was a fun little research project! I always like learning about how things are done in other parts of the world.