A costly victory for France.. and Italy rises up

France, under the guidance of their 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 UEFA Nations League’s top tier.

At Brussels’ King Baudouin Stadium, substitute Michael Olise handed coach Zidane his second win since taking charge following Didier Deschamps, just 12 minutes after coming on. Olise surged down the right flank from midfield, cut inside, and curled a perfect left-footed shot from 16 meters past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet (88’). It was the eighth goal in 27 matches for the Bayern Munich winger.

With this victory, France topped their group with a perfect record of six points from two games, having started their campaign with a win over Turkey thanks to a goal by Kylian Mbappé, who was later substituted due to injury. Belgium sit second with three points, level with Italy, who avenged their opening loss to the “Red Devils” with a comprehensive 4-1 away win against Turkey.

Italy face a fiery clash in the next round, traveling to France amid memories of 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 faced Turkey. Esteban Cambiasso, Andy Duffour, Jeremy Gakeme, and Lucas Da Cunha made their national team debuts.

Unlike Zidane, Dutch coach Mark van Bommel opted for stability in Belgium’s lineup, making only two changes compared to the side that defeated Italy 2-0 away in their previous match.

Belgium created early chances, with Dries Mertens dazzling in the penalty area with his dribbling and hitting the crossbar with a shot (12’). The visitors nearly took the lead early in the second half, but Da Cunha’s 20-meter strike hit the crossbar (53’), while Mignolet saved a low shot from Mertens (56’).

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

In the match between two struggling teams, after Turkey also fell to France (0-1), new-then-old Italy coach Roberto Mancini secured his first victory in charge of the national team. The outcome was decided in the first half, as Italy stunned the hosts with an early goal from Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni, who fired a precise shot into the net from the penalty area in the ninth minute.

Italy continued their attacking dominance, with Davide Frattesi scoring the second goal by finishing off a shot from Michael Kayode that slipped past goalkeeper Altay Bayındır (22’), before Kayode himself added the third (27’).

Turkey pulled one back early in the second half through Barış Yeşil (47’), but Francesco Pio Esposito extinguished their hopes of a comeback with a fourth, decisive goal (50’). A second goal by Barış (57’) was disallowed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which would have kept Turkey’s revival hopes alive.

Mancini breathed a sigh of relief at the start of his tenure, aiming to rescue the four-time World champions after failing to qualify for the World Cup finals in three consecutive campaigns and suffering three defeats in their last four official matches, before this victory over Turkey.