France's No.1 seed finally is set down (6)
I believe the answer is:
placed
'set down' is the definition.
'placed' can be an answer for 'set' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'down' bit.
'france's no 1 seed finally' is the wordplay.
'france's no' becomes 'pl' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'p' becomes 'ace' (synonyms).
'finally' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'seed' is 'd'.
'pl'+'ace'+'d'='PLACED'
'is' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for placed that I've seen before include "Positioned" , "Put, situated" , "Set" , "Came second or third" , "In the first three" .)