France U-21

Number of appearances in the final stages of the European Championship (U-21) — eight. Highest achievement — European champion (1988).

Squad

Goalkeepers: Illan Meslier ("Leeds", England), Stefan Bajc ("Bristol City", England), Lucas Chevalier ("Lille").

Defenders: Pierre Kalulu ("Milan", Italy), Loïc Badé ("Sevilla", Spain), Valentin Jeanrdre ("Lecce", Italy), Mohamed Simakan ("RB Leipzig", Germany), Nils Nkunku ("Saint-Étienne"), Castelletto Lukeba ("Lyon"), Bafode Diakité ("Lille").

Midfielders: Michael Olise ("Crystal Palace", England), Kadio Koné ("Borussia M", Germany), Maxence Caqueret ("Lyon"), Hefren Türam ("Nice"), Enzo Le Fée ("Lorient"), Joris Chotard ("Montpellier"), Yassine Laroussi ("Troyes").

Forwards: Amine Adli ("Bayern", Germany), Amine Gouiri, Arnaud Kalimuendo (both — "Rennes"), Rayan Cherki, Bradley Barcola (both — "Lyon"), Eliot Bahi ("Montpellier").

Head Coach

The French youth team is coached by local specialist Sylvain Ripoll. The 51-year-old coach took charge of the team on May 11, 2017. Under his leadership, they have played 60 matches, winning 40 times, drawing 12 and losing eight.

Before this, Ripoll worked with "Lorient". The main tactical formation favored by the French specialist is 4-3-3.

Leader

Currently, the leader of the French youth team is forward Amine Gouiri from "Rennes". For the French youth squad, the 23-year-old striker has played in 30 matches and scored 12 goals. 

With "Rennes", Gouiri has 33 appearances and 15 goals. He also represented "Lyon" and "Nice". With "Lyon", he reached the final of the French League Cup (2019/2020), and with "Nice" — the final of the Coupe de France (2021/2022). His main position is center forward. Preferred foot — right.

Amine Gouiri is one of the most expensive players in the current French U-21 squad. His transfer value is 35 million euros.

Path to Euro 2023 (U-21)

Under Sylvain Ripoll's guidance, the team secured first place in our qualifying group N and advanced to the final stage of Euro 2023 (U-21). In this phase, they won eight matches and drew twice. 

02.09.2021. France — North Macedonia — 3:0

06.09.2021. Faroe Islands — France — 1:1

08.10.2021. France — Ukraine — 5:0

12.10.2021. Serbia — France — 0:3

11.11.2021. France — Armenia — 7:0

16.11.2021. North Macedonia — France — 0:1

24.03.2022. France — Faroe Islands — 2:0

02.06.2022. France — Serbia — 2:0

06.06.2022. Armenia — France — 1:4

09.06.2022. Ukraine — France — 3:3

Reminder, the match between the youth teams of France and Ukraine at Euro 2023 (U-21) will take place on July 2 in Cluj-Napoca (kick-off at 10 PM Kyiv time).