Michael Olise came off the bench to turn a losing cause into a rout as France beat Belgium 4-1 in the Nations League at the Stade de France, delivering Zinedine Zidane his first home victory since he took charge of the national team.
For much of the night Belgium looked capable of a result that had eluded them for 45 years. Dodi Lukébakio fired the visitors in front in the first half, racing clear after Roméo Lavia split the French defence with a superb ball and finishing clinically. Belgium were without the suspended pair Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans, but debutant goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt kept out efforts from Esteban Lepaul and Rayan Cherki as the hosts pressed for a leveller.
Zidane had rotated heavily for the final match of a three-week international window, making ten changes with only Ousmane Dembélé keeping his place. The Manchester United defender Leny Yoro and the Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes made their debuts, and Dembélé again captained the side in the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappé.
The dam eventually burst. Désiré Doué gathered the ball and shot on the turn from the edge of the area in the 77th minute to haul France level, and four minutes later Olise teed up Cherki to fire the hosts ahead. Olise then scrambled in a third in the 88th minute and rolled in a fourth in stoppage time after skilful work from Doué, completing a stunning comeback in a blistering 14-minute finish.
The result moved France three points clear of Italy at the top of Group A1, with Belgium a further point back. It followed France’s 1-0 win over Belgium in Brussels the previous week, settled by a late goal from Olise, and preserved Zidane’s unbeaten start while edging his side closer to the quarter-finals.
Italy did their part in Bologna, beating Turkey 3-1 through goals from Gianluca Scamacca, Riccardo Calafiori and Pio Esposito, a result that condemned Turkey to a fourth straight defeat.
Elsewhere, Mark Csinger’s late goal earned second-placed Hungary a 2-1 win against Ukraine in Trnava in Group B2. Viktor Gyökeres scored in his seventh consecutive Nations League game as Sweden beat Romania 1-0 in Group B4, while Ivan Basic’s late penalty gave Bosnia and Herzegovina a 1-0 victory over Poland and the Burnley striker Marcus Edwards struck a stoppage-time winner as Cyprus came from behind to beat Latvia 2-1 in Group C2.