France’s perfect start to their Nations League campaign came to a halt under the Stade de France lights on Friday, as Italy recovered to claim a 1-1 draw in Group 1.
Olise puts France ahead before Italy respond
Zinedine Zidane’s side had begun League A with two narrow victories, beating Turkey 1-0 and Belgium by the same scoreline. Italy arrived for the third group match and left with a point after cancelling out France’s second-half breakthrough.
- Michael Olise opened the scoring for France in the 55th minute.
- Italy centre-back Alessandro Bastoni levelled the match 11 minutes later, in the 66th minute.
- The final score at the Stade de France was France 1-1 Italy.
A first dropped points of the campaign
The draw was France’s first failure to win in the group after their successful opening fixtures against Turkey and Belgium. Zidane’s team remain unbeaten after three matches, but could not preserve the advantage handed to them by Olise.
France will now look to turn their early momentum into a stronger run through the remaining Nations League group matches, with the Italian equaliser ensuring that the contest in Group 1 remains open.
