France did not make it to the final of the European Championships as they so dreamed of doing. And yet come Sunday for the 17th final of the European Championship, there could be three French-born individuals on the pitch in Berlin as Spain take on England.
Spain centre-backs Aymeric Laporte and Robin Le Normand were both born in France. Should they partner up in central defence, they will be two of three individuals with French ties on the Olympiastadion field.
Francois Letexier, who is from Brittany in northwest France, has been chosen to officiate the showdown in Germany. Aged 35, he will become the youngest referee to take charge of a men’s European Championship final.
He received the news of his appointment from UEFA’s managing director of refereeing Roberto Rosetti.
“I was both happy and surprised – it was an emotional moment also because it’s something so rare,” Letexier told UEFA’s official website. “I was in a hurry to share the news with my assistants, Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni. That was my first feeling because it’s reward for the team. We worked together for eight years so we have a long story, and I wanted to share the moment with them.”
Letexier began refereeing when he was 13 and is now a Ligue 1 regular. He made his debut in January 2016 at the age of 26, at the time making him the youngest referee in the league. One year later he became an international official but Sunday represents the biggest game of his career so far.
The part-time court bailiff, who enjoys the life balance of both professions, was the fourth official for the opening game of the tournament between Germany and Scotland. And Letexier will be familiar with Spain having taken charge of their last-16 meeting with Georgia, which they won 4-1.
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He was also in the middle for two group stage games, Croatia’s 2-2 draw against Albania and Denmark’s goalless draw against Serbia.
Last season he was the fourth official as Real Madrid secured a record 15th Champions League title against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1.
In April he officiated Madrid’s 3-3 draw with Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu. During the game, Man City striker Erling Haaland walked into the hand of Letexier as he was locked in conversation with Dani Carvajal. Letexier immediately apologised to the Norway international after accidentally knocking him in the face.
Last December, Letexier was accused by Will Still, the then Stade de Reims manager, of making an inappropriate comment following his side’s 2-0 defeat to Lens. Still was being linked to the vacant Sunderland job at the time.
“He said something like ‘It will be better in England’,” Still said about the alleged incident. “I didn’t find it very appropriate, but it’s not a story, it’s not interesting.”
When approached by L’Equipe, Letexier responded to say anything he said was made in a light-hearted way and was misinterpreted by Still.
(Sebastien Salom-Gomis/AFP via Getty Images)
Letexier was at the helm for Man City’s Super Cup win over Sevilla in Greece in 2023 and was the video assistant referee (VAR) in 2021 when Villarreal defeated Manchester United in the Europa League final.
He has taken charge of two Coupe de France finals and Paris Saint-Germain won both of them. The first was at the end of the 2020-21 season as PSG defeated Monaco 2-0. Letexier was also in charge as Kylian Mbappe played his last game for PSG in May when they defeated Lyon 2-1.
Sunday’s game thought is without a doubt Letexier’s most high profile match and it has arrived quite early in his career.
Only five years ago he was the referee for Porto’s UEFA Youth League final win over Chelsea. England internationals Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher both started the match for Chelsea who lost 3-1.
Letexier’s busy summer will continue after he was chosen to be one of the referees at this year’s Paris Olympics.
“I was passionate about football,” he told UEFA ahead of the Super Cup final in 2023. “I watched a lot of games on TV. I was attracted to the referees’ work. How they viewed the game, how they took decisions.
“I struggled early on. It took a lot of time – I had to grow up quickly. Refereeing helped me to get organised and structured. I have to thank a lot of people for encouraging me and giving me advice along the way. They helped me to pass each step and get to where I am now.”
On Sunday he will take charge of a game which promises to be one of the biggest and most watched games in world football.
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