"There's a great potential in this team and I hope this qualification will help us play more freely because we aren't bad at all," said France midfielder Patrick Vieira, who scored one goal in the final group match.

"It took time and it was difficult but in the end we proved competitive and reached our first goal which was to advance to the second round," added Vieira

France suffered an early exit in 2002 as they went out after failing to score in the group stage.

In Germany, it appeared that they might suffer the same fate after the first two group matches, tying with Switzerland 0-0 and drawing with South Korea 1-1. The former world champions had to beat Togo by at least two clear goals to secure the berth for the last 16.

"It's a great relief," said goalkeeper Fabien Barthez."We've played many matches like this one and we know how badly they can go. It was nervous and really tough."