Prior to representing the senior team, Ribéry was ever present with the France under-21 team earning his first selection on 3 September 2004 in a 1–0 victory over Israel in qualifying for the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[194] Ribéry scored his first under-21 goal five days later in a 1–0 friendly win over Slovakia.[195] On 15 November 2005, he scored an important goal against England during the qualification playoffs as France defeated them 3–2 on aggregate to advance to the finals.[196] Ribéry, however, missed the competition after earning selection to coach Raymond Domenech's pre-World Cup squad.