France

France U21

FranceFounded: 1919Stadium: Stade de France, Paris (81,338 seats)Coach: Gerald Baticle

History

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 Championship, held every two years.

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 who are age 21 or under at the start of the two-year campaign of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, meaning a player can represent the national team until the age of 23.

France has won the Under-21 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. Blanc was named the tournament's Golden Player. The team's best finish since was in 2002 when the team finished runners-up to the Czech Republic in Switzerland.

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.

Read the full 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.

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Squad

#	Goalkeepers	Age
1	Ewen Jaouen	20
16	Issiaka Toure	21
23	Mathieu Patouillet	22

#	Defenders	Age
3	Sael Kumbedi	21
4	Ismaelo Ganiou	21
13	Christian Mawissa	21
15	Nathan Zeze	21
17	Dayann Methalie	20
21	Jaydee Canvot	20
22	Joane Gadou	19

#	Midfielders	Age
2	Aladji Bamba	20
5	Kevin Danois	22
6	Valentin Atangana	21
8	Lesley Ugochukwu	22
9	Jean-Matteo Bahoya	21
11	Senny Mayulu	20
11	Dehmaine Tabibou	21
14	Ethan Mbappe	19
18	Darryl Bakola	18
20	Noe Lebreton	22