France looked headed for a flat and damaging night at the Stade de France before Zinédine Zidane turned to his bench and watched his attacking replacements tear Belgium apart. Michael Olise, Rayan Cherki and Désiré Doué all scored in a stunning late surge as Les Bleus recovered from a goal down to win 4-1.
The result gives Zidane three victories from his first four matches as France coach, following 1-0 wins in Turkey and Belgium and Friday’s 1-1 draw with Italy. For more than an hour, however, his first home gathering in charge threatened to end with Belgium deservedly ahead.
Zidane’s substitutes change the match
Zidane made nine changes to the side that had played previously, a rotation which had worked more smoothly in Brussels a week earlier. France again pressed high and held an ambitious defensive line, but the approach left spaces for Belgium to attack.
The hosts created the earlier openings. Esteban Lepaul failed to hit the target from Ousmane Dembélé deliveries in the ninth and 33rd minutes, while Bradley Barcola was denied one-on-one by goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt after 16 minutes.
Belgium had already warned France when Nicolas Raskin headed over from a promising position in the 22nd minute. Their breakthrough arrived 13 minutes later. Dodi Lukebakio escaped behind the French defence, with Andy Diouf unable to keep track of him, and beat Guillaume Restes, who was slow to react.
Lepaul had another chance after the interval but was stopped by Vandevoordt in the 59th minute. Zidane then introduced Lucas Da Cunha, Cherki, Olise and Doué after the hour, and the match changed direction completely.
Doué, the Paris Saint-Germain forward, brought France level in the 77th minute with a left-footed turning effort. Four minutes later, Manchester City’s Cherki put France in front after meeting a cross from Bayern Munich winger Olise.
Olise completed the turnaround himself, scoring twice in the closing stages, in the 88th minute and first minute of stoppage time. His four-goal contribution across the night’s late spell underlined a growing importance to France’s forward line after an impressive three-week international window.
Dembélé struggles again
Dembélé started on the right wing and wore the captain’s armband in Kylian Mbappé’s absence, but the Ballon d’Or winner again endured a difficult performance.
After disappointing starts against Turkey and Italy, either side of an unremarkable substitute appearance in Belgium, Dembélé showed energy and saw plenty of the ball without finding his usual cutting edge. He struggled to beat defenders in one-on-one situations and repeatedly lost precision in the decisive moments.
There were useful contributions: he created three opportunities for Lepaul, in the ninth, 33rd and 59th minutes. Yet Dembélé also missed a clear chance from a good position in the 53rd minute.
Olise replaced him around the hour mark and made a far greater impact, providing the cross for Cherki before finishing Belgium off himself. Zidane’s reshuffle had looked risky for much of the evening; by the final whistle, it had delivered a resounding French win.
