This article explores the press coverage of the football match between the French and the Algerian national teams that took place on 6 October 2001 in the Stade de France, in order to shed light on certain aspects of the representation of the Franco-Algerian relationship in France. Based on the analysis of four national newspapers (Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération and L’Équipe), this research shows that the press dealt with the match through the construction of certain categories and classifications involving conceptual models based on cultural, national and social hierarchies. In particular, coverage of this match promoted the idea of a ‘clash of civilisations’, symbolically placing France in a more privileged position in the hierarchy between the two countries. Finally, it promoted a model of integration for France based on the separation of the public and the private, and on notions of individual responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]