UEFA Nations League: France's Zidane Returns from Brussels with a Decisive Win as Italy Rises with a Four-Goal Thriller

The French national team, managed by former star midfielder Zinedine Zidane, secured a decisive 1-0 victory over Belgium in their own backyard, while Italy bounced back from their opening defeat by thrashing Turkey 4-1 away from home. These results came in the second round of Group 1 of the top tier of the UEFA Nations League.

At the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, substitute Michael Olise handed coach Zidane his second win since taking charge following Didier Deschamps, just 12 minutes after coming on. Olise started a run from the right wing in the middle of the pitch, cut inside, and curled a perfect shot with his left foot from 16 meters out, beating goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in the 88th minute. This was the eighth goal for the Bayern Munich winger in 27 matches.

Zidane smiled broadly, praising Olise: “I watched Michael’s movement and felt he was going to dribble. He made a great move. Then I saw the ball and he had to shoot. It’s incredible.” He added, “I believe in my players. I have high-quality players who understand each other well. I trust them, and they reward me for it.”

With this win, France topped their group with a perfect record of six points from two matches, having started their campaign with a goal from Kylian Mbappé, who was later substituted due to injury.

Belgium sits in second place with three points, level with Italy, who avenged their opening loss to the “Red Devils” with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Turkey away from home.

Italy face a fiery clash in the next round away to France, recalling the 2006 World Cup final, before hosting Turkey, who will play away against Belgium in their next match.

In Brussels, Zidane made nine changes to the starting lineup that played against Turkey, with Esteban Cambiasso, Andy Delort, Jeremy Gelin, and Lucas Digne making their debut appearances for the national team.

Unlike Zidane, Dutch coach Marc Wilmots opted for stability in Belgium’s lineup, making only two changes compared to his last match, where they defeated Italy 2-0 at home.

After a second corner kick from the right, Dries Mertens ignited the penalty area with his dribbling, and a shot he took hit the crossbar in the 12th minute.

France continued to press. Digne passed the ball to Mertens, who delivered a cross to Cambiasso, who shot from the edge of the box. Mignolet saved it (17). Ten minutes later, Mignolet intervened again against Rennes striker Digne, who returned the ball to Pierre Kalulu, whose shot was cleared off the line by Romeo Lavia.

The visitors nearly opened the scoring at the start of the second half, as Digne’s shot from 20 meters hit the crossbar (53). Mignolet also saved a low shot from Mertens (56), who later showcased his skills by beating four players and slotting an easy shot past the goalkeeper (62).

Despite French dominance, substitute Dodi Lukébakio nearly turned the game around twice. First, a shot was saved by Mignolet (72), and then after a run down the right wing, he entered the penalty area and fired a low shot with his left foot, forcing the French goalkeeper to make a two-handed save (78).

Zidane made three substitutions, bringing on Ousmane Dembélé, Ryan Cherki, and Olise, who fulfilled his coach’s faith by scoring the decisive goal two minutes before the end of regular time.

In the match between the two injured sides, after Turkey also stumbled against France (0-1), Roberto Mancini, the new-old coach of the Azzurri, managed to secure his first victory with his national team since returning to the helm. Mancini had previously led Italy to Euro 2021 glory before his sudden departure to coach Saudi Arabia.

The outcome of the match was decided within the first half-hour, as Italy surprised the home side with an early goal scored by Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni, who fired a precise shot from the penalty spot in the ninth minute.

The visitors continued their aggressive attacking play to make it 2-0 through Davide Frattesi, who finished a shot from Michael Kayode that slipped past goalkeeper Altay Bayindir in the 22nd minute, before Kayode himself added a third goal in the 27th minute.

With the start of the second half, Turkey revived their hopes with an early goal through Barış Alper Yılmaz in the 47th minute, before Francesco Pio Esposito extinguished any comeback dreams with a fourth, decisive goal in the 50th minute.

VAR canceled a second goal for Barış in the 57th minute, which could have rekindled Turkish hopes of a comeback.

Mancini breathed a sigh of relief at the outset of his mission to rescue the four-time World Cup champions, following their failure to qualify for the World Cup finals in three consecutive tournaments and suffering three defeats in their last four official matches before the win over Turkey.

Arda Güler’s teammates failed to maintain their strong home record, having won nine of their last 13 matches played in front of their own fans in both friendly and official games before Monday’s loss.

Italian coach Vincenzo Montella continues to experience inconsistent results with Turkey. After leading the team to their first World Cup qualification since 2002, he oversaw a disappointing campaign at the 2026 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage after accumulating just three points.