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France are already world champions, but can they add the Under 21 European Championship to their trophy cabinet? They haven’t managed to win this competition since 1988, which is a huge gap for a country who have produced so many talented players over the years. In fact, France hadn’t even qualified for the last six tournaments ahead of this one, so they are certainly making the most of this visit to the finals. Will they follow that up with a victory over Romania this week?
These two sides head into the final game level, with the pair on six points from their opening clashes. France claimed a huge 2-1 victory over England. That result effectively knocked the stuffing out of the Young Lions, which helped Romania. They were able to win 4-2 against England in their last game, with both of these sides seeing off Croatia so far. That means the two teams are top of the pile on six points each heading into their final day meeting.
Romania have been the real dark horse of the tournament so far, emerging as the hipster choice given their impressive form in front of goal. They’ve scored eight times in their opening two games in Italy, which has put them on the verge of the last four. They qualified for the finals for the first time, having made it back in 1998 as hosts. They lost both games that year, while this time around Romania have two wins already and they’ve got an eye on the next round.
In what is a huge game for both sides, the fact that a draw would be enough for both to qualify could mean that neither really opens up.
Hosts Italy currently occupy the best runner-up spot so the local support within the stadium could turn on the players if they feel both teams are playing for a point.
France haven't performed particularly well for large parts of their matches so far and will need to improve to beat a Romania side that have scored eight times and are fast becoming a dark horse to go all the way.