Match Preview: France U-21 vs Uzbekistan

Gérald Baticle, who was hired to the position last year, will have 90 minutes to begin forming an idea of what players he wants to see more of to determine his potential starting 11 for Matchday 1 against Portugal

Baticle and his squad enter this friendly on a two-match winning streak, having picked up victories over England and Slovakia. France have also been unbeaten since last October under Baticle, with their last loss coming against Austria.

In this friendly, France will be able to answer the question of where the goals for the team will come from. Hugo Ekitiké isn’t part of the squad and the former Paris Saint-Germain attacker recorded five goals in five appearances.

All eyes could turn to FC Nantes’ Matthis Abline, who recorded 11 goals in 36 matches for the Ligue 1 McDonald’s side this season. Abline’s goal-scoring production took a major jump from the 2024-25 season, where he only recorded five.

The 22-year-old will look to continue this growth and have it translate over to the U21 squad where he has a chance to find the back of the net against Uzbekistan and show Baticle that he’s up for the challenge of being a go-to scorer for France this summer.

France will have a difficult group, as they'll face Portugal to kick off the group stage and then face off against Georgia and Poland to round out the three matches.

The friendly against Uzbekistan U23 is the only match that this team will have, so each player needs to make a good impression to ensure that their play knows that Baticle can trust them in these crucial matches.

Despite having plenty of talent over the years, France have only won a Euro U21 tournament once in 1988, so this friendly is important if the team wants to head into the competition with the mentality of they want to end the drought and have France add another trophy to the cabinet. 

READ MORE:

>>Tournoi Maurice Revello: Leroux features as Zidane hands France first win (2-1)