France national under-21 football team

France Under-21
Nickname(s) Les Bleuets (The Little Blues)
Les Espoirs (The Hopes)
Association French Football Federation
Head coach Pierre Mankowski
Captain Aymeric Laporte
Most caps Mickaël Landreau (43)
Top scorer Anthony Le Tallec (12)
First colours
Second colours
First international
U23: France France 0–0 Norway Norway
Alès, 11 November 1970
U21: France France 1–1 Belgium Belgium
Amiens, 3 September 1976
Biggest win
France France 7–0 Yugoslavia Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Reims, 16 November 1985
Biggest defeat

England England 6–1 France France
Sheffield, 28 February 1984

Records for competitive
matches only.
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.

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

Qualification

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  France 7 4 2 1 12 7 +5 14 Final tournament 6 Sep 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0
2  Iceland 6 3 3 0 8 3 +5 12 Possible Play-offs 3–2 3–0 5 Oct 11 Oct 1–1
3  Macedonia 6 2 3 1 6 7 1 9 2–2 0–0 8 Oct 1–0 6 Sep
4  Scotland 6 2 2 2 8 8 0 8 1–2 0–0 2 Sep 2–2 3–1
5  Ukraine 5 1 1 3 4 7 3 4 2 Sep 0–1 27 May 6 Sep 6 Oct
6  Northern Ireland (X) 6 0 1 5 5 11 6 1 11 Oct 2 Sep 1–2 1–2 1–2
Updated to match(es) played on 29 March 2016. Source: UEFA
(X) Cannot qualify directly as the top team, but may still qualify for the play-offs.

Other fixtures

Friendly matches

Players

Current squad

The following players have been called up to participate in two 2017 UEFA U-21 Euro qualification matches against Scotland and Macedonia to be played respectively on 24 and 28 March 2016.[3]

Note: Names in italics denote players that have been capped by the senior team.

Caps and goals as of 28 March 2016, after the team's match against Macedonia.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Paul Nardi (1994-05-18) 18 May 1994 3 0 France Monaco
23 1GK Thomas Didillon (1995-11-28) 28 November 1995 2 0 France Metz

2 2DF Antoine Conte (1994-01-29) 29 January 1994 6 0 France Reims
3 2DF Jean-Philippe Gbamin (1995-09-25) 25 September 1995 6 0 France Lens
5 2DF Clément Lenglet (1995-06-17) 17 June 1995 6 0 France Nancy
20 2DF Presnel Kimpembe (1995-08-13) 13 August 1995 6 0 France Paris Saint-Germain
17 2DF Benjamin Pavard (1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 6 0 France Lille
4 2DF Abdou Diallo (1996-05-04) 4 May 1996 0 0 Belgium Zulte-Waregem

6 3MF Adrien Rabiot (1995-04-03) 3 April 1995 15 1 France Paris Saint-Germain
8 3MF Corentin Tolisso (1994-08-03) 3 August 1994 15 3 France Lyon
22 3MF Rémi Walter (1995-04-26) 26 April 1995 11 0 France Nancy
7 3MF Tiemoué Bakayoko (1994-08-17) 17 August 1994 8 0 France Monaco
12 3MF Thomas Lemar (1995-11-12) 12 November 1995 6 1 France Monaco

11 4FW Sébastien Haller (1994-06-22) 22 June 1994 14 9 Netherlands Utrecht
18 4FW Corentin Jean (1995-07-15) 15 July 1995 8 0 France Troyes
14 3MF Georges-Kévin N'Koudou (1995-02-13) 13 February 1995 6 1 France Marseille
9 4FW Maxwel Cornet (1996-09-27) 27 September 1996 2 0 France Lyon
15 4FW Ousmane Dembélé (1997-05-15) 15 May 1997 2 0 France Rennes

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
GK Mouez Hassen (1995-03-05) 5 March 1995 5 0 France Nice v.  Scotland, 24 March 2016
GK Mike Maignan (1995-07-03) 3 July 1995 3 0 France Lille v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015
GK Bingourou Kamara (1996-10-21) 21 October 1996 0 0 France Tours v.  Ukraine, 13 October 2015

DF Lucas Hernández (1996-02-14) 14 February 1996 0 0 Spain Atlético Madrid v.  Scotland, 24 March 2016
DF Aymeric Laporte (1994-05-27) 27 May 1994 19 1 Spain Athletic Bilbao v.  Scotland, 24 March 2016
DF Steven Moreira (1994-08-13) 13 August 1994 4 0 France Rennes v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015
DF Stéphane Sparagna (1995-02-17) 17 February 1995 1 0 France Marseille v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015
DF Benjamin Mendy (1994-07-17) 17 July 1994 8 0 France Marseille v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015 INJ
DF Jordan Amavi (1994-03-09) 9 March 1994 7 1 England Aston Villa v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015 INJ
DF Kurt Zouma (1994-10-27) 27 October 1994 7 1 England Chelsea v.  Northern Ireland, 12 November 2015 INJ
DF Frédéric Guilbert (1994-12-24) 24 December 1994 1 0 France Bordeaux v.  Ukraine, 13 October 2015
DF Léo Dubois (1994-12-07) 7 December 1994 0 0 France Nantes v.  Brazil, 8 September 2015
DF Baptiste Aloé (1994-06-29) 29 June 1994 1 0 France Valenciennes v.  Paraguay, 16 June 2015

MF Vincent Koziello (1995-10-28) 28 October 1995 0 0 France Nice v.  Scotland, 24 March 2016 INJ
MF Marcus Coco (1996-06-24) 24 June 1996 2 0 France Guingamp v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015
MF Wylan Cyprien (1995-01-28) 28 January 1995 0 0 France Lens v.  Brazil, 8 September 2015
MF Morgan Sanson (1994-08-18) 18 August 1994 10 2 France Montpellier v.  Netherlands, 30 March 2015

FW Enzo Crivelli (1995-02-06) 6 February 1995 4 1 France Bordeaux v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015
FW Grejohn Kyei (1995-08-12) 12 August 1995 1 1 France Reims v.  Ukraine, 13 October 2015
FW Kingsley Coman (1996-06-13) 13 June 1996 9 2 Germany Bayern Munich v.  Scotland, 10 October 2015
FW Yassine Benzia (1994-09-08) 8 September 1994 9 6 France Lille v.  Scotland, 10 October 2015
FW Lenny Nangis (1994-03-24) 24 March 1994 4 0 France Lille v.  Brazil, 8 September 2015
FW Anthony Martial (1995-12-05) 5 December 1995 12 4 England Manchester United v.  Paraguay, 16 June 2015
Notes

Previous squads

U-21 European Championship squads

Coaching staff

As of 9 September 2013
Position Name Nationality
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

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record

Year Result GP W D* L GS GA
1978Did not qualify401346
1980Did not qualify421132
1982Quarterfinals631298
1984Quarterfinals6312119
1986Quarterfinals82331313
1988Champions126512113
1990Did not qualify6321117
1992Did not qualify832375
France 1994Fourth Place141022248
Spain 1996Third Place14842305
Romania 1998Did not qualify8431138
Slovakia 2000Did not qualify8622196
Switzerland 2002Runners-Up151230277
Germany 2004Did not qualify10811207
Portugal 2006Semi-finals1410222410
Netherlands 2007Did not qualify421163
Sweden 2009Did not qualify10532177
Denmark 2011Did not qualify8431126
Israel 2013Did not qualify10802237
Czech Republic 2015Did not qualify108113111
Total1 title1811074133317144
*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 (1): 1988
Finalists (1): 2002
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

  1. "1988: France sweep to final glory". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  2. "1988: Laurent Blanc". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  3. "Dernière sélection". French Football Federation (in French). 21 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to France national under-21 football team.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.