The French U17 team lost in the World Cup final this Saturday in Indonesia. As in the final of the last Euro, the Bleuets were beaten on penalties by Germany.
Clearly, France is cursed with penalties in the World Cup final. A year after the defeat of Didier Deschamps’ Blues in Qatar, so close to the goal, the Bleuets also saw the U17 World Cup escape them at the end of the suspense.
The scenario is doubly cruel. Like Kylian Mbappé and his gang against Argentina, the teammates of Joachim Kayi Sanda recovered from a two-goal deficit in this final. And this is the second time that this generation has lost a major title on penalties, after the Euro final lost last June against these same Germans, already.
And yet, Argnier…
During regulation time, France got off to a very bad start in this final. Germany was rewarded for its domination in the first half with a penalty of Paris Brunner (0-1, 29th), and we could fear the worst after the new goal for the Mannschaft, scored by Barcelona prodigy Noah Darvich (0-2, 53rd).
The Bleuets were not there until now, but they reacted perfectly by quickly reducing the gap by the Monegasque Saïmon Bouabré (1-2, 55th), who benefited from the good work of the Reims left side Nhoa Sangui. At 11 against 10 after the red card received by Osawe (69th), Jean-Luc Vannuchi’s players managed to equalize on an action this time coming from the right, and concluded by the Stéphanois Mathis Amougou (2-2, 85th).
The penalty shootout started well for the Bleuets with a first German miss, but Sangui shot over, and the attempt by Nantais Bastien Meupiyou was repelled. French goalkeeper Paul Argnier, excellent during this World Cup, saved a match point on Brunner’s shot. But the next failure, signed Tidiam Gomis was one too many. The dream has passed, and France will only win its second U17 World Cup after that won in 2001 by the Le Tallec/Sinama-Pongolle generation.
́… 😣😢
Our Bleuets lost on penalties in the final of the U17 World Cup against Germany.
Congratulations on this very beautiful journey 🙌
🇩🇪 2-2 (TAB 4-3) 🇫🇷 | #U17WC pic.twitter.com/hSMaefnJ2w
— French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) December 2, 2023
