Zidane's home debut ends 1-1 v Italy before France beat Belgium 4-1

📰 Zidane's first match at the Stade de France ended 1-1, but three days later France scored four late goals to come from behind and beat Belgium 4-1. 📌 Key points 🏟️ France and Italy drew 1-1 on 2 October. ⚽ Olise opened the scoring with a free-kick, but Bastoni equalised. 🟥 Upamecano was sent off for a second booking and missed the Belgium match. 🔥 On the 5th, France came from 0-1 down to beat Belgium 4-1. 🎯 Olise scored twice late on against Belgium to finish the game off. 📝 What happened ⚽ With the Italy game goalless in the 55th minute, Michael Olise converted a free-kick won by Rayan Cherki, the ball going in off the crossbar. But 13 minutes later France lost the ball while building from the back and Alessandro Bastoni equalised. In the 85th minute Dayot Upamecano was shown a second yellow card for pulling back Moise Kean and was sent off. 🩹 Captain Kylian Mbappé injured his left knee against Türkiye on 25 September and missed both matches. 🔥 Against Belgium at the same stadium on 5 October, France fell behind to Dodi Lukébakio in the 35th minute. But second-half substitutions changed the game. Désiré Doué scored in the 77th minute and Cherki in the 81st, before Olise added two more in the 88th minute and stoppage time (ESPN). Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes made his international debut in this match. 🗣️ Zidane went viral for running along the touchline and kicking at the ball as Olise scored. He laughed that he had simply been following Olise's movement, that it might have looked a bit silly but he didn't care, and praised Olise, saying what he does is simply special (Goal). 📊 By the numbers • France 1-1 Italy (Olise 55', Bastoni 68') • France 4-1 Belgium (Lukébakio 35' / Doué 77', Cherki 81', Olise 88' and 90+1') • Zidane's record: 4 games, W3 D1 • Nations League A Group 1: France 10 points (1st), Belgium 6 (ESPN) 🔭 Why it matters The defensive error and red card against Italy remain issues to fix, but the attacking power that produced four goals in roughly the last 13 minutes against Belgium, even without Mbappé, showed the weapon Zidane's France possess. Bayern's Olise in particular took centre stage in attack with three goals in two games. France ended their October schedule top of the group, and the next camp is the November international window.