Though, under-21 teams weren't formed until 1976,
Les Espoirs, a youth national team in France, had existed since 1950 playing its first match on 22 May 1952 defeating
England 7–1 at the
Stade Jules Deschaseaux in
Le Havre. The team's next match was two years later suffering a 3–1 defeat to
Italy in
Vicenza. For the rest of the decade, the youth team played seven more matches, which included a 1–1 draw with
Hungary in
Budapest and a 2–0 loss to England in
Sunderland in 1959. In the 1960s,
Espoirs continued to play matches against fellow national youth sides. However, on 18 December 1968, the team contested a match against
Algeria senior team in
Algiers recording an impressive 5–2 victory. Four days later, the team draw 1–1 with the under-23 team of Algeria in
Oran. On 12 February 1969, the
Espoirs played the
Hungary senior team at the
Stade Gerland in Lyon. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. ==Team image==