Paris (AFP)

The Bleuets inherited a fairly affordable group in the company of Denmark in particular for the first round of the Euro Hopefuls at the end of March in Hungary, the draw on Thursday having given birth to a very tough group D around England.

Seeded, the selection led by Sylvain Ripoll knew they were safe from Spain, who had beaten them in the semifinals of the 2019 tournament before being crowned champion, and from Germany who had reached the final .

But the hat 2 was well stocked between the Netherlands, a real goal machine during qualifying (46 goals in 10 matches), Italy and Portugal of former Lille scorer Rafael Leao, now at AC Milan.

It was Denmark that finally came out of the ball opened by former Swiss international Philippe Senderos, who was responsible for the draw during a ceremony organized by UEFA behind closed doors, pandemic obliges.

The Danes finished first in a qualifying group also made up of Romania and Ukraine, among others, recording a total of eight wins and two losses.

The Bleuets will also have to face Russia, leader of its group during the playoffs, and Iceland.

According to the FFF, the meetings are scheduled in Szombathely or Györ, Hungary.

- Euro in two stages -

Enlarged to sixteen teams, the U21 Euro will take place in two stages, with a group stage from March 24 to 31, 2021. The first two of each group will advance to a "Final 8" played from May 31 to June 6, 2021, in knockout matches leading to the final in Ljubljana, after the quarter and semi-finals split between Hungary and Slovenia.

Semi-finalists in 2019, the French approach the next continental meeting with ambition, driven by their successful qualifying campaign (9 wins, 1 defeat) and strong individuals such as Jules Koundé, Houssem Aouar, Jeff-Reine Adelaide and the home scorer. Odsonne Edouard.

"It is obvious that we can do something good," did not hide Ripoll who, after the Euro, will lead the under-21s to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In the spring, however, it will be necessary to be well in legs for this organized group phase without a warm-up lap.

No slot has been dedicated to selections for preparation matches, in the middle of a schedule made hyper dense by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Group B, the Spanish European champions will meet Italy, with which they share the title record in the competition (five), as well as the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

The Germans, finalists in 2019, will find on their way the Netherlands of Parisian side Mitchel Bakker, in addition to Romania and Hungary, other residents of group A.

The battle promises to be tight in Group D with England, Portugal, Croatia and Switzerland.

"It's a difficult group," smiled Senderos, almost sorry to have had such a heavy hand for the Nati.

© 2020 AFP