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 Corentin Tolisso
Most caps Mickaël Landreau (43)
Top scorer Sébastien Haller (13)
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 6–0 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  Macedonia 10 6 3 1 13 7 +6 21 Final tournament — 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–0 2–0
2  France 10 6 2 2 17 8 +9 20 1–1 — 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0
3  Iceland 10 5 3 2 13 9 +4 18 3–0 3–2 — 2–4 2–0 1–1
4  Ukraine 10 4 2 4 14 12 +2 14 0–2 1–0 0–1 — 4–0 1–1
5  Scotland 10 2 2 6 8 17 −9 8 0–1 1–2 0–0 2–2 — 3–1
6  Northern Ireland 10 0 2 8 6 18 −12 2 1–2 0–3 0–1 1–2 1–2 —
Source: UEFA

Other fixtures

Friendly matches

Players

Current squad

The following players have been called up to participate in friendly matches against Ivory Coast and England to be played respectively on 10 and 14 November 2016.[3]

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

Caps and goals as of 14 November 2016, after the team's match against England.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Thomas Didillon (1995-11-28) 28 November 1995 6 0 France Metz
1GK Mike Maignan (1995-07-03) 3 July 1995 6 0 France Lille
2DF Presnel Kimpembe (1995-08-13) 13 August 1995 11 0 France PSG
2DF Benjamin Pavard (1996-03-28) 28 March 1996 11 0 Germany Stuttgart
2DF Clément Lenglet (1995-06-17) 17 June 1995 10 0 France Nancy
2DF Lucas Hernández (1996-02-14) 14 February 1996 5 0 Spain Atlético Madrid
2DF Abdou Diallo (1996-05-04) 4 May 1996 2 0 France Monaco
2DF Léo Dubois (1994-12-07) 7 December 1994 2 0 France Nantes
3MF Jean-Philippe Gbamin (1995-09-25) 25 September 1995 11 0 Germany Mainz 05
3MF Vincent Koziello (1995-10-28) 28 October 1995 4 2 France Nice
3MF Wylan Cyprien (1995-01-28) 28 January 1995 2 1 France Lens
3MF Lucas Tousart (1997-04-29) 29 April 1997 2 0 France Lyon
3MF Yann Bodiger (1995-02-09) 9 February 1995 1 0 France Toulouse
4FW Sébastien Haller (1994-06-22) 22 June 1994 20 13 Netherlands Utrecht
4FW Jean-Kévin Augustin (1997-06-16) 16 June 1997 6 4 France PSG
4FW Marcus Coco (1996-06-24) 24 June 1996 6 0 France Guingamp
4FW Moussa Dembélé (1996-07-12) 12 July 1996 4 4 Scotland Celtic

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 Paul Nardi (1994-05-18) 18 May 1994 3 0 France Rennes v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
GK Mouez Hassen (1995-03-05) 5 March 1995 5 0 France Nice v.  Scotland, 24 March 2016
GK Bingourou Kamara (1996-10-21) 21 October 1996 0 0 France Tours v.  Ukraine, 13 October 2015
DF Issa Diop (1997-01-09) 9 January 1997 4 0 France Toulouse v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
DF Jordan Amavi (1994-03-09) 9 March 1994 10 1 England Aston Villa v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
DF Benjamin Mendy (1994-07-17) 17 July 1994 9 0 France Marseille v.  Georgia, 6 October 2016 INJ
DF Antoine Conte (1994-01-29) 29 January 1994 6 0 France Reims v.  Italy, 2 June 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 Lorient v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015
DF Stéphane Sparagna (1995-02-17) 17 February 1995 1 0 France Auxerre v.  Macedonia, 15 November 2015
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 Baptiste Aloé (1994-06-29) 29 June 1994 1 0 France Valenciennes v.  Paraguay, 16 June 2015
MF Corentin Tolisso (1994-08-03) 3 August 1994 19 6 France Lyon v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
MF Tiemoué Bakayoko (1994-08-17) 17 August 1994 13 0 France Monaco v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
MF Thomas Lemar (1995-11-12) 12 November 1995 9 1 France Monaco v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
MF Alexis Blin (1996-09-16) 16 September 1996 2 0 France Toulouse v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
MF Adrien Rabiot (1995-04-03) 3 April 1995 19 1 France PSG v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
MF Rémi Walter (1995-04-26) 26 April 1995 11 0 France Nice v.  Georgia, 6 October 2016 INJ
MF Morgan Sanson (1994-08-18) 18 August 1994 11 2 France Montpellier v.  Italy, 2 June 2016
FW Ousmane Dembélé (1997-05-15) 15 May 1997 4 0 Germany Dortmund v.  Northern Ireland, 11 October 2016
FW Maxwel Cornet (1996-09-27) 27 September 1996 4 1 France Lyon v.  Georgia, 6 October 2016 INJ
FW Enzo Crivelli (1995-02-06) 6 February 1995 5 1 France Bastia v.  Iceland, 6 September 2016
FW Corentin Jean (1995-07-15) 15 July 1995 8 0 France Monaco v.  Italy, 2 June 2016
FW Georges-Kévin N'Koudou (1995-02-13) 13 February 1995 6 1 England Tottenham Hotspur v.  Italy, 2 June 2016
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 Lenny Nangis (1994-03-24) 24 March 1994 4 0 France Bastia 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

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
Poland 2017Did not qualify10622178
Total1 title1911134335334152
*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.
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