UEFA Nations League, Matchday 3, 02/10/2026

France and Italy shared the spoils as Alessandro Bastoni cancelled out Michael Olise’s brilliant free-kick. Les Bleus lacked an edge in the final third against Roberto Mancini’s world-class defenders.

On the back of two away wins to Türkiye and Belgium, Zinédine Zidane returned on home soil as Les Bleus played their first game at Stade de France for the first time in 18 months. Zidane went for a medley of the teams from his first two games with Liverpool’s Jérémy Jacquet, Como’s Lucas Da Cunha and PSG’s Désiré Doué retained in the starting line-up to accompany regular starters such as Dayot Upamecano, Adrien Rabiot and Ousmane Dembélé.

France nicely sat in Italy’s half from the get-go, but the visitors were a menace on the counter. Davide Frattesi’s diagonal opened up France’s defense for Sebastiano Esposito and Michael Kayode to combine on Les Bleus’ exposed left-channel. The Brentford full-back’s cross found Moise Kean, who crept behind Pierre Kalulu, but the Atalanta loanee lacked ruthlessness to deny the in-form Mike Maignan. France rallied to pin Italy with some sleek team movement, and when they were dispossessed, Les Bleus could always rely on Jacquet to snuff out the danger.

Danger was clearly found wanting for France though. Les Bleus’ attack was stuttering with Ousmane Dembélé yet to stake his claim as Kylian Mbappé’s replacement upfront. Désiré Doué was a lively, but wasteful outlet on the left wing, although he shone as a right-winger on Monday against Belgium. Michael Olise was the most proactive member of the triumvirate, but he also lost countless balls. Both aspects of defending were particularly on show. France’s high line hurt Italy strikers whereas the visitors’ back-line put in a clinic in shot-blocking. Les Bleus had no shot on target in the first half.

France upped the tempo in the second half, prompting Gianluigi Donnarumma to deliver a couple of class saves. But there was nothing he could have done to prevent Olise from striking the underside of his crossbar to send Stade de France into bedlam. Although Italy haven’t been that threatening in the second half, there was a twist to the tale as Da Cunha was closed down by Bastoni, who kept it cool and tidy to slot it past Maignan.

France lacked control in the closing stages. The introdution of fresh legs by Zidane made little to no difference, and Les Bleus’ woes deepened when Dayot Upamecano was given his marching orders for two bookable offenses. The Bayern Munich defender will miss Monday’s home game against Belgium. Both teams could have left with two extra points as Italy chased down an unlikely winner, but the visitors were also indebted to some supreme goalkeeping from Donnarumma. All in all, no team deserved to lose tonight.

The Liverpool centre-back looks very much at ease in France’s back-line. He’s as much able to clear the danger as he is to pick up a line-breaking pass with an uncisive move. He was so close to what would have been a stunning goalline clearance to prevent Bastoni from restoring parity.