France national under-21 football team
Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
Nickname(s) | Les Bleuets (The Little Blues) Les Espoirs (The Hopes) |
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Association | French Football Federation | ||
Head coach | Pierre Mankowski | ||
Captain | Aymeric Laporte | ||
Most caps | Mickaël Landreau (43) | ||
Top scorer | Anthony Le Tallec (12) | ||
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First international | |||
U23: France 0–0 Norway Alès, 11 November 1970 U21: France 1–1 Belgium Amiens, 3 September 1976 |
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UEFA U-21 Championship | |||
Appearances | 8 (First in 1982) | ||
Best result | Winners (1988) |
The France national under-21 football team (French: Equipe de France Espoirs), known in France as Les Espoirs (French pronunciation: [ɛs.pwaʁ], The Hopes), is the national under-21 football team of France and is controlled by the French Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. The team was previously coached by former Toulouse manager Erick Mombaerts, however, following the team's failure to qualify for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in October 2012, he agreed to leave the position.
Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, under-21 football teams in Europe were formed. The team is exclusively for football players that are age 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship meaning a player can represent the national team until the age of 23. Since the coaching tenure of Aimé Jacquet, there has been an unwritten rule among senior national team coaches that players called up to the national team must have had prior international experience with the under-21 team. Due to the country's multicultural background, France regularly produces under-21 players who have gone on to play for other country's senior national teams. Players such as Mourad Meghni, Issiar Dia, Sébastien Bassong, and Hassan Yebda all represented France at under-21 level before opting to represent their country of origin at senior level.
France has won the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship once in 1988. Notable players on the team that went on to play for the senior national team include Laurent Blanc, Eric Cantona, Franck Sauzée, and Jocelyn Angloma, among others.[1] Blanc was named the tournament's Golden Player.[2] The team's best finish since was in 2002 when the team finished runner-up to the Czech Republic in Switzerland. Though the 2002 team produced ten players who went on to play for the senior team, only one of them, Sidney Govou, has become a regular international.
The France under-21 team does not have a permanent home. The team plays in stadiums located all around France, particularly grounds of Ligue 2 clubs. Because of the smaller demand compared to the senior national team, smaller facilities are used. Recently, the under-21 team has established the Stade Auguste-Delaune II, home of Stade Reims, as a home residence having played numerous matches there over the past two seasons.
Contents
History
Though, under-21 teams weren't formed until 1976, Les Espoirs, a youth national team in France, had existed since 1950 playing its first match on 22 May 1952 defeating England 7–1 at the Stade Jules Deschaseaux in Le Havre. The team's next match was two years later suffering a 3–1 defeat to Italy in Vicenza. For the rest of the decade, the youth team played seven more matches, which included a 1–1 draw with Hungary in Budapest and a 2–0 loss to England in Sunderland in 1959. In the 1960s, Espoirs continued to play matches against fellow national youth sides. However, on 18 December 1968, the team contested a match against Algeria senior team in Algiers recording an impressive 5–2 victory. Four days later, the team draw 1–1 with the under-23 team of Algeria in Oran. On 12 February 1969, the Espoirs played the Hungary senior team at the Stade Gerland in Lyon. The match ended in a 2–2 draw.
Results and fixtures 2015–2017
2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
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Qualification
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5 September 2015 | Iceland | 3 – 2 | France | Le Mans, France |
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16:00 CET | Sigurjónsson 10', 85' (pen.) Hermannsson 48' |
Report | Nardi 7' Laporte 39' Kyei 90' |
Stadium: Kópavogsvöllur Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain) |
10 October 2015 | Scotland | 1 – 2 | France | Aberdeen, Scotland |
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16:00 CET | King 90+1' | Report | Kingsley 11' (o.g.) Tolisso 53' |
Stadium: Pittodrie Stadium Referee: Marco Guida (Italy) |
13 October 2015 | France | 2 – 0 | Ukraine | Strasbourg, France |
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18:45 CET | Lemar 70' Rabiot 77' |
Report | Stadium: Stade de la Meinau Referee: Andreas Pappas (Greece) |
12 November 2015 | France | 1 – 0 | Northern Ireland | Guingamp, France |
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18:45 CET | Crivelli 82' | Report | Stadium: Stade du Roudourou Referee: Zaven Hovhannisyan (Armenia) |
15 November 2015 | Macedonia | 2 – 2 | France | Skopje, Republic of Macedonia |
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13:00 CET | Angelov 19' Radeski 40' |
Report | Sparagna 44', 59' Haller 65' N'Koudou 72' |
Stadium: FFM Training Centre Referee: Vitali Meshkov (Russia) |
Other fixtures
Friendly matches
25 March 2015 | France | 6 – 0 | Estonia | Valenciennes, France |
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21:00 | Tolisso 34' Haller 35', 78', 83' Benzia 55' Sanson 79' |
Stadium: Stade du Hainaut Attendance: 7,350 Referee: Kevin Clancy (Scotland) |
30 March 2015 | France | 4 – 1 | Netherlands | Sedan, France |
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21:00 | Benzia 17' (pen.) Martial 56' (pen.), 64' Tolisso 73' (pen.) |
Menig 69' | Stadium: Stade Louis Dugauguez Attendance: 9,100 Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany) |
11 June 2015 | France | 1 – 1 | South Korea | Gueugnon, France |
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21:00 | Haller 28' | Moon 63' | Stadium: Stade Jean Laville Attendance: 7,085 |
16 June 2015 | France | 2 – 1 | Paraguay | Besançon, France |
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21:00 | Benzia 73' Rabiot 74' |
Jacquet 32' | Stadium: Stade Léo Lagrange |
8 September 2015 | France | 2 – 1 | Brazil | Le Mans, France |
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21:00 | Amavi 17' Haller 72' |
Kimpembe 14' (o.g.) | Stadium: MMArena |
Players
Current squad
The following players have been called up to participate in two 2017 UEFA U-21 Euro qualification matches against Northern Ireland and Macedonia to be played respectively on 12 and 15 November 2015.[3]
Note: Names in italics denote players that have been capped by the senior team.
Caps and goals as of 15 November 2015, after the team's match against Macedonia.
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Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the France under-21 squad and remain eligible:
Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
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GK | Bingourou Kamara | 21 October 1996 | 0 | 0 | Tours | v. Ukraine, 13 October 2015 |
GK | Thomas Didillon | 28 November 1995 | 0 | 0 | Metz | v. Brazil, 8 September 2015 |
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DF | Benjamin Mendy | 17 July 1994 | 8 | 0 | Marseille | v. Macedonia, 15 November 2015 INJ |
DF | Jordan Amavi | 9 March 1994 | 7 | 1 | Aston Villa | v. Macedonia, 15 November 2015 INJ |
DF | Aymeric Laporte | 27 May 1994 | 18 | 1 | Athletic Bilbao | v. Northern Ireland, 12 November 2015 INJ |
DF | Kurt Zouma | 27 October 1994 | 7 | 1 | Chelsea | v. Northern Ireland, 12 November 2015 INJ |
DF | Frédéric Guilbert | 24 December 1994 | 1 | 0 | Bordeaux | v. Ukraine, 13 October 2015 |
DF | Antoine Conte | 29 January 1994 | 4 | 0 | Reims | v. Brazil, 8 September 2015 |
DF | Léo Dubois | 7 December 1994 | 0 | 0 | Nantes | v. Brazil, 8 September 2015 |
DF | Baptiste Aloé | 29 June 1994 | 1 | 0 | Valenciennes | v. Paraguay, 16 June 2015 |
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MF | Thomas Lemar | 12 November 1995 | 4 | 1 | Monaco | v. Ukraine, 13 October 2015 |
MF | Tiemoué Bakayoko | 17 August 1994 | 7 | 0 | Monaco | v. Scotland, 10 October 2015 |
MF | Wylan Cyprien | 28 January 1995 | 0 | 0 | Lens | v. Brazil, 8 September 2015 |
MF | Morgan Sanson | 18 August 1994 | 10 | 2 | Montpellier | v. Netherlands, 30 March 2015 |
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FW | Grejohn Kyei | 12 August 1995 | 1 | 1 | Reims | v. Ukraine, 13 October 2015 |
FW | Kingsley Coman | 13 June 1996 | 9 | 2 | Bayern Munich | v. Scotland, 10 October 2015 |
FW | Yassine Benzia | 8 September 1994 | 9 | 6 | Lille | v. Scotland, 10 October 2015 |
FW | Lenny Nangis | 24 March 1994 | 4 | 0 | Lille | v. Brazil, 8 September 2015 |
FW | Anthony Martial | 5 December 1995 | 12 | 4 | Manchester United | v. Paraguay, 16 June 2015 |
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- Notes
- INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
- SEN Player withdrew from the squad due to a call up to the senior team.
Previous squads
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Coaching staff
- As of 9 September 2013
Position | Name | Nationality |
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Manager | Pierre Mankowski | French |
Assistant manager | Patrice Gonfalone | French |
Assistant manager | José Alcocer | French |
Goalkeeping coach | Sylvain Matrisciano | French |
Doctor | François Brochet | French |
Physiotherapist | Guy Puravet | French |
Competitive record
- For single-match results of the under-21 national team, see French football single-season articles.
UEFA U-23 Championship Record
- 1972: Did not qualify. Finished 4th of 4 in qualification group.
- 1974: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 3 in qualification group.
- 1976: Losing quarter-finalists.
UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record
Year | Result | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
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1978 | Did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
1980 | Did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
1982 | Quarterfinals | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 |
1984 | Quarterfinals | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 9 |
1986 | Quarterfinals | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 13 |
1988 | Champions | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 13 |
1990 | Did not qualify | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 |
1992 | Did not qualify | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
1994 | Fourth Place | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 8 |
1996 | Third Place | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 5 |
1998 | Did not qualify | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 8 |
2000 | Did not qualify | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 6 |
2002 | Runners-Up | 15 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 7 |
2004 | Did not qualify | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 7 |
2006 | Semi-finals | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 10 |
2007 | Did not qualify | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
2009 | Did not qualify | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 7 |
2011 | Did not qualify | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 6 |
2013 | Did not qualify | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 7 |
2015 | Did not qualify | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 11 |
Total | 1 title | 181 | 107 | 41 | 33 | 317 | 144 |
- *Draws include knockout matches decided by penalty shootout.
- **Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won. Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Honours
- Champions (11): 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 1997, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1985, 1984, 1977
- Finalists (11): 2009, 1998, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1991, 1986, 1980, 1978, 1976, 1975
Broadcaster
France's under-21 football friendlies and qualifying matches are broadcast by Direct 8.
References
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External links
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