Koné and Noß take U21 EURO steps with national teams

Manu Koné and the France national team and Conor Noß’s Ireland have edged closer to qualifying for the European U21 Championship in 2023. Stefan Lainer, Hannes Wolf (both Austria) and Ramy Bensebaini were not involved in their teams’ games.

Manu Koné picked up his second international cap for France U21s, coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute in their 4-1 away win over Armenia. Enzo Le Fee (21’) had put the visitors ahead, before Amine Gouiri (66’), Le Fee (76’) and Malo Gusto (89’) added to the scoring. Koné and France need a draw from their final group stage game against Ukraine in Istanbul on Thursday evening (18:45 CEST) in order to book their ticket to the European finals.

Ireland U21 also boosted their qualification chances with a 3-1 win against Montenegro. Conor Noß (photo: imago/PA Images) started the game and was brought off in the 64th minute. William Smallbone (41’), Liam Kerrigan (57’) and Tyreik Wright (67’) were on the scoresheet for Ireland, who now sit in second place ahead of the final group game against first-placed Italy on Tuesday, 14th June (17:30 CEST).

Three Foals on the bench

Three other players were able to relax on Monday evening. Stefan Lainer (Austria) and Ramy Bensebaini (Alegria) were unused substitutes for their sides, while Hannes Wolf was not named in the Austria squad. Austria were defeated 2-1 by Denmark, despite Xaver Schlager levelling things in the 67th minute. On Friday evening, Austria will take on France in Vienna (20:45 CEST).

Algeria beat Niger 1-0 in a friendly thanks to a goal from Abderrahmane Meziane Bentahar in the 49th minute. Bensebaini is expected to return to the starting XI on Wednesday when Algeria take on Tanzania in their second Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game (18:00 CEST).