France arrive in Tamil Nadu with confidence, pedigree and momentum as they prepare to compete at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2025. The French men’s junior team finished as silver medalists at the previous edition in 2023, adding to their bronze-medal performance in 2021, and will once again look to establish themselves amongst the world’s elite.

Under the leadership of Head Coach Matthias Dierckens, the focus is firmly on performance, preparation and consistency rather than placing pressure on final outcomes.

“In terms of the expectations, it will be just to go and play the best tournament we can,” said Dierckens. “We take it match to match and try to give the best performance we can, prepare the best we can, against each opponent. The pool stage will be extremely important. You really cannot accept finishing second in the pool if you want to go further.”

France enter the competition with a slightly younger squad than in their previous campaigns, bringing both fresh energy and new opportunities for player development on the world stage.

“This year, compared to two years ago, we have a kind of younger under-21 team. We have less players who are in their last year of the category, so we do bring less experience than before,” explained Dierckens. “But we also bring a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of talent, so we’ll see how the players can develop themselves at the highest level of performance.”

Placed in a challenging pool, France will face Korea, Australia and Bangladesh in the opening phase of the tournament. Each opponent brings a distinct style and threat, demanding full focus and tactical precision from the French side.

“We will play Korea, then Australia and Bangladesh. They are all good teams,” said Dierckens. “We know Asian teams will bring a really fast and very skillful attacking style, so we will be looking for that. Against Australia, it will be a big clash. We beat them two years ago in a very close encounter, and they are really in good shape. So we must just prepare for them.”

With the world’s best young hockey players set to take the pitch in India, Dierckens also delivered a message to the fans, encouraging them to experience the tournament atmosphere in person.

“Come to the stadium. Come to watch hockey. Come watch us. Come support us. And I hope you fall in love with the French hockey style and what we bring to the pitch.”

As reigning silver medalists, France will be a team to watch at the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025, aiming to combine youthful energy with their growing tradition of success on the global stage to go one step further this time and claim the title at the FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025!