France U21 vs Italy U21 Prediction 22 June 2023

The highlight of the first round of the UEFA Euro 2023 U21 group stage will be the confrontation between the ambitious France U21 and Italy U21.

It is not surprising that France, which has a strong squad, is regarded by experts as one of the main favorites of the tournament. However, in the six friendly matches that took place after the qualifying round, Les Bleus got only two victories - over Germany (1:0) and Mexico (1:0).

Italy also has not the most outstanding statistics, including victories over Ukraine (3:1) and Serbia (2:0), a draw 1:1 with Japan, as well as defeats 0:2 against England and 2:4 against Germany. While Scuadra Azzurra managed without a fiasco in qualifying, gaining 24 points in duels with Ireland, Sweden, Bosnia, Montenegro and Luxembourg.

All eight meetings between these teams at the youth level were held in a bitter struggle and turned out to be poor in terms of goals scored. We think that now France and Italy will focus more on tactics than on spectacle.