France held by Italy in Euro Under-21 Championship

Impressive Gli Azzurini come from behind twice to earn draw against tournament favourites

Substitute Esposito and Bertola on target as Nicolato's side show character and quality in Dijon

Italy Under-21s twice came from behind to earn an impressive 2-2 draw against tournament favourites France in their opening match of the 2023 Euro Under-21 Championship in Dijon on Sunday.

Les Bleus, who are the top seeds in Group A and one of the pre-tournament favourites, took the lead through Arsenal's Folarin Balogun in the 28th minute.

But Italy responded well and levelled through substitute Pio Esposito just seven minutes later. France restored their lead early in the second half through Lyon's Castello Lukeba, but again Italy hit back quickly, with Empoli's Tommaso Baldanzi teeing up fellow substitute Nicolo Bertola to make it 2-2 in the 53rd minute.

Both sides had chances to win it late on, but in the end, a draw was a fair result.

Italy coach Paolo Nicolato was pleased with his team's performance, saying: "I am very happy with the character and quality that my players showed tonight.

"We knew that France would be a tough opponent, but we never gave up and we always believed that we could get something from the game.

"This is a good start for us and we now need to build on this performance in our next game against Hungary on Tuesday."

France coach Sylvain Ripoll was also pleased with his team's performance, saying: "I am happy with the way that my players played tonight.

"We created a lot of chances and we were unlucky not to win the game.

"But I am confident that we can still win this tournament and we will learn from this experience."

Italy will face Hungary in their next Group A match on Tuesday, while France will take on Romania.