France Held 1-1 by Italy as Zidane's Perfect Start Ends in Paris

France were held to a 1-1 draw by Italy at the Stade de France on Friday, October 2, ending Zinedine Zidane's perfect start as head coach in his first home game. France stay top of Nations League Group A1 with seven points.

Italy had the better of the first half. Moise Kean shot straight at Mike Maignan from close range early on and later had a goal disallowed for offside shortly before the break. France improved after the interval, with Ousmane Dembele forcing a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma. Michael Olise then put France ahead in the 55th minute, smashing a free-kick in off the crossbar. Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni equalised midway through the second half. France finished with ten men after defender Dayot Upamecano was sent off late on.

Olise had also scored the winner in France's 1-0 victory in Belgium four days earlier. He has now been involved in 14 goals in 15 appearances for France this year. Zidane had opened his tenure with 1-0 wins in Türkiye and Belgium. A crowd of 77,118 watched the match, which was Zidane's first meeting with Italy since the 2006 World Cup final, his last game as a player.

Belgium are a point behind France on six points after beating Türkiye 3-0. The two sides meet on Monday at the Stade de France in the last game of this international window. Italy have four points and host Türkiye next. They have won one, drawn one and lost one since Roberto Mancini returned as head coach.