France Rally Late to Beat Belgium 4-1 as Zidane Earns First Home Win

France produced a dramatic late comeback to beat Belgium 4-1 in the Nations League on Monday, giving Zinedine Zidane his first home victory as national coach.

France trailed Belgium until the 77th minute before substitutes Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki and Michael Olise turned the match around with four goals in a 14-minute spell.

Doué equalized with a low shot into the bottom right corner before Cherki put France ahead four minutes later in unusual fashion. His effort appeared to be heading toward Belgium goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt, but the ball struck the goalkeeper’s foot and rebounded into the net off his left arm.

Olise then scored twice in three minutes to complete the comeback and secure a convincing victory for the hosts at the Stade de France.

“Tonight, this is soccer, this is what we love,” Zidane said. “We faced some difficulties in the first half but that’s part of the game. It’s the kind of match you get from time to time. It’s good to set things right, which is what we did, and we managed to play an extraordinary second half.”

The result strengthened France’s position at the top of Group A1, three points ahead of Italy, which defeated Turkiye 3-1. Belgium remained third, four points behind France, while Turkiye has yet to collect a point.

France had taken the lead in the group under Zidane after opening victories against Turkiye and Belgium, followed by a home draw against Italy on Friday.

Belgium looked capable of causing another setback after taking the lead in the 35th minute. Dodi Lukébakio escaped the offside trap and raced onto a long pass from Roméo Lavia before beating debutant France goalkeeper Guillaume Restes.

Zidane credited his substitutes for changing the game but stressed that the result reflected the contribution of the entire squad.

“We knew the substitutes could change the game because they are high-quality players,” he said.

Olise, who scored twice, said the squad had responded well to Zidane’s ideas and would look to maintain its progress.

In Bologna, Italy defeated Turkiye 3-1 as Roberto Mancini secured a first home victory since returning to the Italy bench. Gianluca Scamacca put Italy ahead in the 26th minute before Aral Şimşir equalized in the 61st. Riccardo Calafiori restored Italy’s lead three minutes later and Pio Esposito sealed the victory late in the match.

Elsewhere, Victor Gyökeres scored again as Sweden beat Romania 1-0, extending his Nations League scoring streak to seven matches. Sweden leads Group B4, while Bosnia-Herzegovina moved second after beating Poland 1-0.

Northern Ireland stayed top of Group B2 despite a goalless draw with Georgia, while Hungary beat Ukraine 2-1sport