<P> Association football is the most popular sport in France, followed by rugby union . The Fédération Française de Football is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the country, both professional and amateur . The federation organizes the Coupe de France and is responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's and youth national football teams in France . The federation gives responsibility of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to the Ligue de Football Professionnel who oversee, organize, and manage the country's top two leagues . The LFP is also responsible for organizing the Coupe de la Ligue, the country's league cup competition . The French Football Federation also supervises the overseas departments and territories leagues and hosts football club AS Monaco, a club based in the independent sovereign state of Monaco . In 2006, the FFF had 2,143,688 licenses, with over 1,850,836 registered players and 18,194 registered clubs . </P> <P> The first football club was introduced to France in 1863, as described in a newspaper article by The Scotsman, which stated "A number of English gentlemen living in Paris have lately organised a football club...The football contests take place in the Bois de Boulogne, by permission of the authorities and surprise the French amazingly ." Modern football was introduced nine years later in 1872 by English sailors playing in Le Havre in 1872 . </P> <P> The top two divisions of French football, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, are governed by the Ligue de Football Professionnel . The league is responsible for overseeing, organizing, and managing the top two leagues and is also responsible for the 46 professional football clubs that contest football in France (20 in Ligue 1, 20 in Ligue 2, and 6 in the Championnat National). </P> <P> Ligue 1 is the French professional league for football clubs . It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system . Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Ligue 2 . Ligue 1 is one of the top national leagues, currently ranked fifth in Europe behind the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, and the German Fußball - Bundesliga . Ligue 1 was inaugurated on 11 September 1932 under the name National before switching to Division 1 after a year of existence . The name lasted until 2002 before switching to its current name . The current champions of France are AS Monaco . </P>

How many football teams are there in france