Zinédine Zidane’s first home game as France coach had everything: a sold-out Stade de France, a Michael Olise free-kick bent in off the underside of the bar, the ghost of the 2006 World Cup final in the opposite half — and then, thirteen minutes later, Alessandro Bastoni crashing the party. France 1-1 Italy ended Zidane’s perfect start, left Dayot Upamecano walking off with a red card, and turned Monday’s rematch with Belgium into a genuine Nations League group decider. Here are the five talking points that matter.
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Graphic: thefalse9.com
1. Michael Olise Is Zidane’s Cheat Code
Four days after coming off the bench to score a stunning solo winner in the 1-0 victory over Belgium, Michael Olise did it again — only louder. The Bayern Munich winger’s first-half cross had already clipped the bar when, ten minutes after the restart, he stood over a free-kick following Rayan Cherki’s short routine and curled it in gloriously off the underside of the crossbar. Stade de France erupted. Zidane, on the touchline for his first home game in charge, allowed himself a smile.
The pattern is already unmistakable: when Zidane’s France need a moment, they find Olise. His role in this new-look Les Bleus is not the touchline-hugging winger of old but a roaming right-sided creator drifting into the half-spaces, combining with Cherki and Désiré Doué in overloads that Italy simply could not track for the opening hour. UEFA’s official Matchday 3 round-up singled out the strike as the game’s defining moment — and with seven points keeping France top of Group A1, Olise is fast becoming the poster boy of the Zidane era.
The tactical detail matters too. Cherki’s short free-kick was no accident: France are manufacturing shooting angles for Olise in the right half-space rather than relying on individual magic alone. It is the kind of rehearsed detail that suggests Zidane’s coaching staff have identified their primary weapon early — and built the set-piece playbook around him.
2. Bastoni Is Doing It at Both Ends Now
If Olise was France’s hero for 68 minutes, Alessandro Bastoni was Italy’s for the other 22 — and then some. The Inter defender dispossessed Lucas Da Cunha high up the pitch and finished ruthlessly to level the scores, his second consecutive goal for the Azzurri after also netting in the 4-1 win in Turkey. Centre-backs are not supposed to do this two games running. Bastoni is rewriting the job description.
Defensively, he was the organiser of an Italian back line that bent badly in the first 20 minutes — when Kean was denied by Mike Maignan and France swarmed — but never broke. Roberto Mancini’s side defended as a compact 4-4-2 block, funnelling France’s attacks wide and trusting Gianluigi Donnarumma to handle the rest. Bastoni’s reading of Da Cunha’s touch for the goal was pure anticipation: step in, steal, finish. It was the single most ruthless moment of Italy’s night.
There is a broader point here for the tactical obsessives. Bastoni’s forays forward are not freelancing — they are a designed feature of Mancini’s rebuild, with the left-sided centre-back stepping into midfield to create overloads, much like the role we analysed in our breakdown of Jürgen Klopp’s first Germany win earlier this week. When it works, Italy get an extra midfielder for free. On Friday in Paris, they got a goal too.
Graphic: thefalse9.com
3. Mancini’s Italy Have Their Identity Back
Rewind two weeks and Italy were in crisis: a 2-0 home defeat to Belgium, no identity, questions everywhere. Since then? A 4-1 demolition of Turkey and now a deserved draw at the Stade de France against Zidane’s France. Three matches, four points, and — as the Italian press has noted — a completely different national team.
Mancini’s verdict after the final whistle said it all. “We did everything as a team,” the Italy coach told RaiSport. “They are an extraordinary team, full of champions, but we always tried to play and go for a goal. When we had to suffer, we suffered.” It is the sound of a manager who has found his formula: a younger, braver Italy that presses in spells, defends in a disciplined block, and counters through Kean’s running.
Donnarumma was immense — denying Doué, Dembélé, Olise, Rabiot and Camavinga in a one-man highlight reel — but the collective structure is the real story. Italy conceded very little against arguably the most talented squad in international football, and even came close to a famous late win after Upamecano’s dismissal. Kean had a goal ruled out for offside and a golden first-half chance; on another night, the Azzurri leave Paris with all three points. From the wreckage of the Belgium defeat, Mancini has built something with a spine. Monday’s home game against Turkey in Bologna is now a genuine opportunity, not a damage-limitation exercise.
4. Upamecano’s Red Exposes France’s Defensive Fault Line
For all the attacking fireworks, France’s evening ended with ten men and a familiar anxiety. Dayot Upamecano’s late red card — with Kean instrumental in drawing the foul — capped a night where Les Bleus’ defence looked anything but Zidane-assured. The equaliser itself came from a French mistake: Da Cunha dispossessed in a dangerous area, Bastoni pouncing before the cover could arrive.
This is the crack in the Zidane project. Going forward, France are electric — Olise, Cherki, Doué, Dembélé is a frightening rotation of creators. But the defensive structure behind them has now conceded in the biggest moments of the window, and Upamecano’s suspension leaves Zidane reshuffling his back line for the Belgium decider on Monday. With Romelu Lukaku fresh from sealing Belgium’s 3-0 win over Turkey and Kevin De Bruyne scoring twice in that game, France’s makeshift defence will be tested by the most in-form attacking duo in the group.
Zidane the player was defined by control; Zidane the coach must now find it at the back. The 77,118 fans who packed the Stade de France — the biggest crowd of the international window in Europe — saw both sides of the new era in 90 minutes: breathtaking going forward, brittle when pressed. Unlike England’s ruthless 7-0 machine we broke down earlier this week, France are still a work in progress. The talent is undeniable. The balance is not.
Graphic: thefalse9.com
5. Monday’s Belgium Rematch Is Now a Group Decider
Here is what Friday’s results did to Group A1: France stay top on seven points, but Belgium — 3-0 winners over Turkey thanks to De Bruyne’s brace and a Lukaku sealer — are now just one point behind on six. Italy sit on four. And on Monday, France and Belgium meet again, just days after Les Bleus edged the reverse fixture 1-0 in Brussels.
The stakes could hardly be clearer. Win, and Zidane’s France take a stranglehold on the group with a four-point cushion. Lose, and Belgium leapfrog them — with De Bruyne in the form of his late career and Lukaku bullying defences again. It is also a personal test for Zidane: his first home game ended in a draw that felt like a defeat after Olise’s stunner; his response, shorn of the suspended Upamecano, will tell us how quickly this coach adapts under pressure.
For Italy, the equation is simpler and suddenly optimistic. Host Turkey in Bologna on Monday, win, and the Azzurri are right in the mix — a remarkable turnaround for a side that looked finished a fortnight ago. Mancini wanted “another step forward in our journey of improvement.” Paris was exactly that. As noted in reports on Zidane’s homecoming — his first appearance at the Stade de France since his 100th cap against Mexico in May 2006, against the same nation that ended his playing career in that Berlin final — the symbolism was irresistible. The result, though, belonged to Italy’s revival. The group is alive, the narratives are rich, and Monday cannot come soon enough. Much like Spain’s tenth straight win we analysed this weekend, the Nations League’s heavyweights are separating themselves — but in Group A1, nothing is settled yet.
