France scored four goals against Belgium in 14 minutes and won 4-1 — The Guardian

France defeated Belgium 4-1 in a Nations League match at the Stade de France in France. The hosts were trailing after the first half but scored four goals in 14 minutes in the closing stages of the match. Substitute Michael Olise provided an assist and scored twice.

France’s late comeback

Belgium opened the scoring through Dodi Lukebakio, who capitalized on a pass from Roméo Lavia. The visitors could have secured their first official-match victory over France in 45 years, but the French team turned the game around late on.

In the 77th minute, Désiré Doué equalized with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Four minutes later, Rayan Cherki put France ahead after an assist from Olise. In the 88th minute, Olise scored the third goal, and he found the net for a second time in stoppage time following Doué’s work.

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As The Guardian reports, this was Zinedine Zidane’s first home win as France head coach. France made 10 changes to their starting lineup compared with the previous match, while Leny Yoro and goalkeeper Guillaume Restes made their national-team debuts. Ousmane Dembélé retained his place in the starting lineup and captained the side due to Kylian Mbappé’s injury.

Group standings and other results

France, who beat Belgium 1-0 in Brussels a week earlier, moved top of Group A1 and are three points ahead of Italy. Italy defeated Turkey 3-1 in Bologna. Gianluca Scamacca, Riccardo Calafiori and Pio Esposito scored, while the Turkish national team suffered its fourth consecutive defeat.

In Group B2, Hungary beat Ukraine 2-1 in Trnava thanks to a late goal by Mark Csinger. Sweden also defeated Romania 1-0, Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Poland 1-0, and Cyprus snatched a 2-1 win over Latvia.