football team at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. During the group stage, France defeated Iran, and had draws with Paraguay and Ghana. France progressed from the group stage after finishing second behind Ghana. France defeated Germany 3–2 in the Round of 16 thanks to a goal from Djibril Cissé in the 90+3rd minute. France were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 3–1 loss to hosts and eventual champions Argentina. France qualified for the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship after finishing first in their qualifying group and defeating Romania in the playoffs. France were undefeated during qualifying. France won all their group matches at the tournament against Czech Republic, Belgium and Greece. France progressed to the final after defeating Switzerland in their semifinal. France met Czech Republic again, but this time the Czech side were victorious in a penalty shootout after the game ended at 0–0 after extra time. France were dominant in the group stage of qualifying for the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. They finished first in their group with seven wins, one draw, no losses and no goals conceded. They were drawn against Portugal in the playoffs and won the first leg in Portugal 2–1. However, Portugal won 2–1 away from home in the second leg, sending the game to extra time. Djibril Cissé had been sent off just before halftime. There were no goals in extra time, so the match was decided by a penalty shootout. Portugal won the shootout, with their final penalty kick being scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal would go on to finish third at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. France senior national team 2006 World Cup On 12 July 2004, Domenech was a surprise choice to succeed Jacques Santini after the country's disappointing exit from UEFA Euro 2004 by losing in the quarter-final match to the eventual tournament-upset winners Greece. He beat the two other shortlisted candidates, Jean Tigana and Laurent Blanc. France struggled in the qualifiers, even though the team was seeded in a group that included the relatively unheralded teams of Israel and Switzerland. Domenech persuaded Claude Makélélé, Lilian Thuram and Zidane, members of France's "golden generation", out of international retirement to aid the national team. It was paid off and they qualified for the finals. On the final day of fixtures, France qualified automatically with a 4–0 home win over Cyprus. Domenech fell out with Vikash Dhorasoo after