France U21 beat Luxembourg 3-2 to reach Euro 2027; Leeds’ Bahoya goes off injured

France’s under-21s are going to the 2027 Euros. Gérald Baticle’s side beat Luxembourg 3-2 in Orléans on Saturday evening and booked their place at the tournament, to be staged in Albania and Serbia. A point would have been enough. They took three, in a game that nearly slipped away from them.

The match swung twice

After leading 2-0, France had a man sent off and Luxembourg levelled at 2-2 soon after. “At 2-0 a game is never over,” Baticle told L’Équipe. “That is what happened with the red card and above all with the goal that followed it.” France went back in front from a counter-attack and then a corner, with the goals coming from Steve Ngoura and Mathys Tel, who came off the bench to score the winner.

An unbeaten campaign, Switzerland to finish

The qualification rewards a campaign without defeat: a 1-1 draw in Iceland, a 2-0 win in Estonia, 5-1 in Luxembourg in the first leg. Switzerland await on Tuesday for the final round of matches. “The pride of validating the good run we have been on for two years. We are unbeaten, we still have one game left and we manage to qualify,” Baticle said after the match.

The treatment room fills up before Tuesday

The bad news of the night is Jean-Mattéo Bahoya’s ankle. The Leeds United player went off in the 37th minute, replaced by Tel, and faces further examinations. “I cannot tell you exactly what he has. There will be further examinations, but it is the ankle,” Baticle told Foot Mercato. He may leave the player with his club, as happened with Ethan Mbappé, Senny Mayulu and goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen, out with a hamstring injury, all left at the disposal of their respective clubs. In goal, Baticle was weighing Mathieu Patouillet (Brest) against Issiaka Touré (Aubagne), with Mathys Niflore (Toulouse) joining the squad.

Before the game, the coach had already described the schedule that wears this squad down: “There is not really a typical eleven on a run like this, so close together. It is like a tournament, we play every four days, so there is little recovery.” On Tuesday against Switzerland, France can finish qualifying without having lost a match, with or without Bahoya.