France and Italy’s Fate in the UEFA Nations League is in Their Own Hands
France maintained their dominance over Belgium with a 2-1 victory at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, in the fourth round of the UEFA Nations League’s top tier, despite being without captain Kylian Mbappé.
“Les Bleus” continued their winning streak over their neighbors, notching their seventh consecutive official victory against the “Red Devils”. Belgium’s last win against France dates back to September 1981 during the 1982 World Cup qualifiers.
Belgium, missing key players like Kevin De Bruyne due to injury and striker Romelu Lukaku, who is focused on his new Napoli chapter, started the match brightly. They had a golden chance to take the lead when Youri Tielemans missed a penalty in the 24th minute, blasting the ball over the bar after William Saliba fouled Lois Openda in the box.
Belgium’s missed opportunity came back to haunt them just moments later when France won a penalty for a Wout Faes handball. Randal Kolo Muani stepped up and calmly converted the spot-kick in the 35th minute to give France the lead.
However, Belgium hit back just before halftime, with Openda nodding in a header from a Timothy Castagne cross. The goal stood after a VAR review confirmed no offside (45+3).
In the second half, France thought they had retaken the lead through Manu Koné’s long-range effort, but the goal was disallowed for offside on Kolo Muani (58). Muani, however, made up for it just minutes later, heading in a superb cross from Lucas Digne after a fluid team move (62), securing France’s decisive goal.
Despite being reduced to ten men following Aurélien Tchouaméni’s second yellow card in the 76th minute, France defended resolutely to secure the win.
With this result, France moved closer to clinching a quarterfinal spot in Group B, similar to Italy, who played their match against Israel under tight security at the “Friuli” Stadium in Udine, where fan attendance was limited due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Lebanon.
Italy cruised to a 4-1 victory, leaving them just one point away from quarterfinal qualification. The Italians had already secured wins in their opening two matches, defeating France 3-1 in Paris and Israel 2-1 in Budapest. However, they stumbled in their previous home game, drawing 2-2 with Belgium despite being 2-0 up, a setback caused largely by Lorenzo Pellegrini’s 38th-minute red card.
Under Luciano Spalletti’s guidance, Italy bounced back from the disappointment of last summer’s European Championship campaign, where they lost their continental title. The team regained their momentum with this win, placing them at the top of the group with 10 points—one ahead of France and six clear of Belgium. A draw in their next match against Belgium would be enough for Italy to secure their spot in the quarterfinals.
