Italy hold France to 1-1 draw in Paris to stall Zidane's winning run

Bastoni cancels out Olise strike

Italy recovered from a second-half deficit to secure a 1-1 draw against France in their Nations League Group A1 meeting at the Stade de France on Friday. France dominated possession during the early exchanges, but Italy produced the first clear opening in the eighth minute when Moise Kean fired directly at goalkeeper Mike Maignan from inside the six-yard box. The visitors threatened again before the interval when Davide Frattesi had a shot deflected for a corner, followed by an offside call that disallowed a close-range tap-in from Kean. Gianluigi Donnarumma kept the Azzurri level early in the second half by stopping shots from Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele, and Michael Olise. France broke the deadlock in the 55th minute when Rayan Cherki tapped a free kick to Olise, who curled the ball in off the crossbar. Italy levelled in the 68th minute after Lucas Da Cunha miscontrolled a pass while playing out from the back, allowing Alessandro Bastoni to drive forward and beat Maignan. France finished the match with ten men after Dayot Upamecano received a second yellow card in the 85th minute for a foul on Kean.

Reactions to Zidane's home debut

The match marked Zinedine Zidane's first home fixture as France manager, playing in front of 77,000 spectators at the Stade de France. Zidane had opened his tenure with back-to-back 1-0 away victories against Turkey and Belgium before facing Italy, the country he last met as a player in the 2006 World Cup final. The French coach acknowledged Italy's resilience in his post-match assessment.

When you have certain chances, you have to score. Italy defended well, made their counter-attacks, and could have scored.

For Italy, manager Roberto Mancini retained his defensive setup while giving starts to Michael Kayode, Giorgio Scalvini, and brothers Sebastiano and Pio Esposito, while resting Nicolo Barella. Bastoni reflected on his equalising goal in post-match comments to Rai.

I never lost faith in myself. I do not let two or three episodes ruin my career of over 300 matches. You always have to get back up.

Belgium keep pace with win in Liege

In the group's other matchday 3 fixture, Belgium defeated Turkey 3-0 at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne in Liege to move into second place. Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring in the tenth minute following a one-two with Dodi Lukebakio, who also struck the woodwork twice during the contest. De Bruyne added his second goal in the 59th minute, and Romelu Lukaku sealed the victory with a third strike in the 76th minute. The defeat leaves Vincenzo Montella's Turkey side at the bottom of Group A1 with zero points after three consecutive losses. France lead the standings with seven points, Belgium follow with six points, Italy sit third on four points, and Turkey remain fourth. Group A1 play resumes on Monday, 5 October, when France host Belgium at the Stade de France and Italy host Turkey.