England and France, who meet in their opening Euro 2012 Group D pool match here on Monday, have jousted in football duels for 90 years.
But if England had by far the better of the earliest exchanges - they won the first six encounters, all on French soil, comfortably - it is Gallic fans who have enjoyed more recent fare - not least a smash-and-grab group success at Euro 2004.
England won the first game 4-1 in 1923 and it was not until eight years later that the French got off the mark.
They would also hand Sir Alf Ramsey's Three Lions a 5-2 defeat in a Euro '64 qualifier - but Sir Alf would have his revenge during the victorious 1966 World Cup campaign where two Roger Hunt goals - final hat-trick star Geoff Hurst was kept in reserve that day - secured top spot in the group with France eliminated.
The next time the pair met in competition, in 1982, England again took bragging rights as Bryan Robson scored the (then) fastest goal in the history of World Cup final stages, netting after only 27sec in a 3-1 group win - though both sides made it though the first phase.
France hoped they would have the last laugh as Germany eliminated England in the second phase but the...
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