Toronto Star
· collected 2026-10-05 · by Daniella Matar The Associated Press
Zinedine Zidane secured his first home victory as France's national team coach with a 4-1 win over Belgium in the Nations League on Monday. This result strengthened France’s lead in Group A1, three points ahead of Italy, which also won its match against Turkey by the same scoreline. The article highlights key moments from both matches, including goals scored by substitutes Désiré Doué and Rayan Cherki for France, and Pio Esposito's late goal for Italy.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Zinedine Zidane secured his first home victory as France's national coach on Monday with a 4-1 win over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League, strengthening France's position at the top of Group A1. This followed Italy's own triumph against Turkey earlier that day, winning by a score of 3-1 and ensuring both Zidane and Roberto Mancini achieved their first home wins since taking charge of their respective teams. Third-placed Belgium fell four points behind France, while Turkey remained at the bottom with no points. Despite trailing until the 77th minute against Belgium, France rallied to score goals from substitutes Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki, and Michael Olise (who scored twice). This victory kept France on track for a quarterfinal spot but required them to secure top-two positions within their group by outperforming Italy and Turkey.
Written for “Nations League Matches” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
France left it late to beat Belgium 4-1 in the Nations League as Zinedine Zidane got his first home win as the national coach on Monday.
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Zidane → leave → Monday
That reinforced France’s control of Group A1, three points above Italy, which beat Turkey 3-1.
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which → reinforce → Turkey
Third-placed Belgium slipped four points below France.
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Belgium → place → France
Turkey has no points.
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Turkey → have → points
Zidane started his time in charge of Les Bleus with wins over Turkey and Belgium before being held to a draw by Italy on his home debut on Friday.
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Zidane → start → Friday
France was trailing until the 77th minute on Monday before goals from substitutes Désiré Doué, Rayan Cherki and Michael Olise (two).
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France → trail → substitutes
“The first half was tough; facing a low block is always difficul,” Olise said.
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Olise → face → block
“But we kept going and at the end it was good.
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it → keep → end
“It’s a collective effort, too.
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It → ’ → ?
He (Zidane) brings in ideas, we follow them — we’ve done that well over the last four matches, we’re going to continue like this.”
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we → bring → this
France was still to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
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France → book → quarterfinals
It would have been assured of one of the top two places in the group if it beat Belgium and Italy failed to beat Turkey.
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Italy → assure → Turkey
Olise at the double
At the Stade de France, Belgium took the lead in the 35th minute.
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Belgium → take → minute
Dodi Lukébakio sprung the offside trap to run onto a magnificent, long pass from Roméo Lavia, raced through one-on-one with debutant Guillaume Restes and powered it over the France goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
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Lukébakio → spring → net
Doué finally pulled one back for France in the 77th with a low shot into the bottom right corner, and Les Bleus got the match winner in somewhat strange fashion four minutes later.
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Bleus → pull → fashion
Maarten Vandevoordt appeared set to save Cherki’s strike but the ball hit the Belgium goalie’s foot and rebounded in off his left arm.
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ball → appear → arm
Olise set that up and added two goals in three minutes himself to seal the match.
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Olise → set → match
First home win of Mancini’s return
In Italy, Roberto Mancini was also looking for a first home win.
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Mancini → look → win
He started his return to the Italy bench with a loss in Rome to Belgium before morale-boosting away performances against Turkey — where the Azzurri won 4-1 — and France.
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Azzurri → start → Turkey
Turkey was under pressure after scoring just one goal and conceding eight in its three matches.
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Turkey → score → matches
It was also missing key players but nevertheless started the brighter in Bologna.
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It → miss → Bologna
However, Italy took the lead against the run of play in the 26th.
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Italy → take → 26th
Gianluca Scamacca attempted to knock down a cross and it bounced off a Turkey defender’s shoulder before falling kindly back to Scamacca, who volleyed it in off the underside of the crossbar.
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who → attempt → crossbar
Aral Şimşir swept in a deserved equalizer for Turkey in the 61st but Italy was back in front just three minutes later when Riccardo Calafiori headed in Nicolò Barella’s free kick.
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Calafiori → sweep → kick
Pio Esposito sealed the win late on when he tapped in Alessandro Romano’s shot.
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he → seal → shot
Esposito became only the second Italy player to score seven international goals before his 21st birthday.
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Esposito → become → birthday
Gyökeres scores again
Victor Gyökeres extended his record Nations League scoring streak to seven games to fire Sweden to a 1-0 win in Romania.
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Gyökeres → score → Romania
It was a fourth of the campaign for Gyökeres, who broke the record on Friday.
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who → break → Friday
Sweden tops Group B4 and is two points above Bosnia-Herzegovina, which beat Poland 1-0.
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which → top → Poland
Northern Ireland remained on top of Group B2, despite being held to 0-0 by Georgia.
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Ireland → remain → Georgia
Hungary won against Ukraine 2-1 and was second.
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Hungary → win → Ukraine
The Aporia
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