In 1977, Pierre Cangioni had the idea for a French football television programme. He pitched the idea to bosses of TF1, who agreed to pay 700,000F to acquire the rights for the coverage from Division 1. It was France's first dedicated football television programme, and Cangioni was the show's first presenter. The original format was two matches, each with ten minutes of highlights, and an in depth look at some players, and the show was broadcast on Saturday evenings. The show was not allowed to be broadcast before 10:30pm so that people were able to go to matches and get home in time for Téléfoot. Initially trialled for 15 programmes under the name of Téléfoot 1, TF1 decided to renew the show for the 1978, and renamed the show Téléfoot. In 1979, TF1 signed a three-year contract with Ligue 1 for the rights, at a cost of 9 million francs. In 1981, Téléfoot replaced Cangioni with Michel Denisot as presenter, and the programme was moved to Sunday mornings. From 1983 until June 1984, hosted the show. was the temporary presenter in June 1984, before being replaced by Thierry Roland. Roland presented the show from 1984 until 2003. Roland's co-hosts included Roustan,,, Jean-Michel Larqué, Pascal Praud,, and Christian Jeanpierre. Roland commentated for Téléfoot on the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final. He is now known for the quote "Je crois qu'après avoir vu ça, On peut mourir tranquille" after France won the match. has been the main presenter of Téléfoot since 2018. After Roland's departure, Jeanpierre hosted the show in 2004, alongside. In January 2005, they were replaced by Thierry Gilardi, who presented the show until his death in 2008. After his death, Téléfoot gave a special tribute to him, including interviews with Didier Drogba and. Christian Jeanpierre took over from Gilardi as Téléfoot presenter, and his first programme was the one dedicated to Gilardi. Co-presenters alongside Jeanpierre included and, and Bixente Lizarazu made guest host appearances on the show. After the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Jeanpierre was replaced by Grégoire Margotton as the main presenter of Téléfoot. In 2007, Téléfoot lost the rights to Ligue 1 football, after the Ligue de Football Professionnel awarded the rights to Canal+. Téléfoot continued to show highlights of foreign matches, European club competitions, and international matches. After the decision, former presenter Roland said that he would no longer watch Téléfoot, as he wanted to see French league goals. TF1 were the only free-to-air French channel with coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. TF1 had won the rights to broadcast twelve matches at UEFA Euro 2020. In June 2020, it was announced that TF1 had partnered with new Ligue 1 rightsholder Mediapro to launch a Téléfoot-branded pay television channel.
