team to bring his appearance total to four. He scored no goals. The foursome of Ben Arfa, Nasri, Benzema, and Menez returned to international play together for under-19 duty. The four were joined by Issiar Dia, Blaise Matuidi, and Serge Gakpé with the objective of winning the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. In the first round of qualification for the tournament, Ben Arfa scored his lone goal in the opening match against Wales as France advanced through the round undefeated. Due to injury, Ben Arfa was absent from the final round of qualification for the tournament and, despite going undefeated in the round, France were eliminated after being beaten on points by Scotland. Ben Arfa made only one competitive appearance with the under-21 team, appearing in a 2009 UEFA Under-21 Championship qualification match against Romania. Senior Before representing France, Ben Arfa was eligible to represent Tunisia and was offered a place in the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany. Like Sami Khedira he turned down the opportunity, preferring to continue his career with the France national team. Ben Arfa was called up to the senior team for the first time on 10 October 2007 by Raymond Domenech to replace the injured Louis Saha and played in the Euro 2008 qualifying matches against the Faroe Islands and Lithuania. This move stunned critics of Domenech as they expected striker David Trezeguet to get the call-up. Ben Arfa made his debut on 13 October when he came on for Franck Ribéry in the 64th minute and scored the last goal in France's 6–0 victory over the Faroe Islands. Ben Arfa was, however, omitted from Domenech's final 23-man Euro 2008 squad on 28 May. On 25 February 2010, after a long period without a call-up, Ben Arfa returned to the team, alongside teammates Steve Mandanda and Benoît Cheyrou, after being called up for France's friendly match with Spain on 3 March. On 11 May, he was named to the 30-man preliminary list by Domenech to play in the 2010 World Cup, but failed to make the final 23. After going nearly two years without representing France internationally, on 5 August 2010, Ben Arfa was called up to the senior team by new manager Laurent Blanc for the team's friendly match against Norway on 11 August 2010. Ben Arfa made his return to the team in the match appearing as a half-time substitute for