Preview: Portugal Under-21 vs France Under-21 - prediction, team news, lineups

The two favourites to advance from Group C at the Under-21 European Championships will lock horns on matchday one this Wednesday, when Portugal face France in Trencin.

These two nations will be among the favourites to win the competition in Slovakia this summer, but firstly, they have to navigate through a section involving Georgia and Poland.

Match preview

Portugal enter yet another Under-21s tournament under the guidance of long-term manager Rui Jorge, who has now been at the helm for 15 years, overseeing an endless list of future superstars in that time.

The Esperancas have never tasted success in this competition though, with silver medals the best they have to show for their efforts from 1994, 2015 and 2021.

Eventual-champions England got in their way in its last iteration in 2023 too, suffering elimination in the quarter-finals, after an underwhelming group stage that saw them lose to hosts Georgia.

England beat them once again in preparation for this tournament in a friendly back in March, just a few days after Romania got the better of them in Famalicao too.

In recent competitive outings though, Portugal have been much stronger, winning nine of their 10 qualifiers to cruise into the finals, where they are now fancied to advance.

This will be a tough start though against a France side that have one of the most prosperous youth setups in Europe at present.

Even though many of the players who are currently at big clubs and are already seasoned senior internationals have been left out, there is still an abundance of top-flight talent at Gerard Baticle’s disposal.

Baticle replaced Thierry Henry midway through qualifying, and Le Bleuets were anything but convincing, missing out on top spot to Slovenia, and only edging out Austria by one point into second.

France were slightly fortunate to be one of the three best runners-up, earning them a direct spot at the finals instead of going through the playoffs, but they must improve greatly if they are to improve on their poor record in this competition.

An astonishing run of six successive non-qualifications between 2007 and 2017 was eventually arrested for the 2019 finals, and France have reached the last three, but the furthest they have gone is the semi-finals, going out to Ukraine a round earlier in 2023.

Not since 1988 when Laurent Blanc won Player of the Tournament and Eric Cantona was part of the squad have France won this competition, and while they will be shorts odds, it is tough to make a case for them, with so many of their best young players not involved.

France have won all three friendlies heading into the finals, beating England, Slovakia and Uzbekistan, scoring 11 goals in the process, but many of the standout stars from those matches are now in the senior squad, such as Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki

Portugal Under-21 form (all competitions):

W W D W L L

France Under-21 form (all competitions):

L D D W W W

Team News

Portugal will be without Eduardo Quaresma and Fabio Silva for the tournament after they both pulled out late on with injury, while Rodrigo Mora is also not involved after being a part of the senior side’s UEFA Nations League winning squad.

Joao Neves, Francisco Conceicao, Renato Veiga and Tomas Araujo are all eligible for selection, being under 23, but all four are now established senior players, and will not be present here.

Captain Henrique Araujo will equal Manuel Fernandes’ record for the most Portugal under-21 caps (30) if he features here, and he is set to hold the record outright by the end of the competition.

Castello Lukeba is the only player in the France squad with senior experience, as Barcola and Cherki are not the only notable players who have been left out.

Champions League final hero Desire Doue is one who could have featured, along with Warren Zaire-Emery, Eduardo Camavinga, Hugo Ekitike, Enzo Millot, Malo Gusto and Leny Yoro, but none are present in the squad.

Guillaume Restes is set to be the number one for the French in this tournament, but there are big question marks over him after a very indifferent season with Toulouse.

Portugal Under-21 possible starting lineup:

Samuel Soares; Pinheiro, Rafael Rodrigues, Rodrigo Gomes, Nazinho; Paulo Bernardo, Mateus Fernandes, Pedro Santos; Henrique Araujo, Tiago Tomas, Quenda

France Under-21 possible starting lineup:

Restes; Doukoure, Lukeba, Mawissa; Sildillia, Lepenant, Magassa, Merlin; Tel, Abline, Odobert

We say: Portugal U21 2-1 France U21

The Portugal squad has much more experience playing with one another, while the French side has been constantly changing since the start of this Euro cycle.

While Le Bleuets may have more individual talent in their ranks, this competition has proven numerous times over the years that the collective is more important, and Portugal look a more complete team heading into the tournament

Written by
Andrew Delaney

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