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Italy stun France 3-1 to hand Zidane first defeat as Les Bleus coach

Italy stun France 3-1 to hand Zidane first defeat as Les Bleus coach

Italy came from behind to beat France 3-1 in Milan and hand Zidane his first defeat since taking charge of Les Bleus. Belgium host Italy on Sunday and France are at home to Turkey.

Italy came from behind to beat France 3-1 in Milan and hand Zidane his first defeat since taking charge of Les Bleus. France were without Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele due to injury but Michael Olise pounced on a loose pass from Gianluigi Donnarumma to fire them ahead on 10 minutes. Francesco Pio Esposito steered in Nicolo Cambiaghi’s pass to bring Italy level before France twice hit the post through Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki.

Sebastiano Esposito blazed a second-half penalty wide for Italy, but Roberto Mancini’s side did not rue that miss as Davide Frattesi powered home Federico Dimarco’s cut-back. Francesco Pio Esposito then doubled his tally for the night, succeeding where his older brother had failed by converting a penalty after Dayot Upamecano fouled substitute Antonio Vergara.

Italy climbed above France at the top of Group A1 on head-to-head record. Both teams have 10 points going into the final round of games, with Belgium just one point adrift. Belgium host Italy on Sunday and France are at home to Turkey. Turkey slid to a fifth straight loss as they went down 2-1 to Belgium in Izmir. Arda Guler’s magnificent free-kick put Turkey ahead under new coach and former midfielder Sergen Yalcin, but Belgium struck twice in quick succession with goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Charles De Ketelaere to come away with victory.

  • italy
  • france
  • zidane
  • defeat
  • les
  • bleus
  • coach
  • belgium

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