Belgium beats Türkiye 3-0 and France draws with Italy 1-1 in the European Nations League

The Belgian national team defeated its Turkish guest 3-0, on Friday, in the third round of Group A in the first level of the European Nations League.

The Belgian team raised its score to six points to occupy second place in the group, one point behind the leading French team.

The Belgian team had won the first match of the group at the expense of Italy 2-0, but the team lost in the last minutes to France with a clean goal in the second round.

On the other hand, the Turkish national team is at the bottom of the group without any points after suffering its third defeat in a row.

The Turkish team lost to France with a clean goal and then to Italy by four goals to one in the first and second rounds, respectively.

The Belgian national team took the lead through Kevin De Bruyne in the tenth minute, then the same player added the second goal in the 60th minute.

In the 75th minute, Romelu Lukaku scored the third goal for the Belgian national team.

In the next round, the Belgium national team will meet its host, France, next Monday, which is the same day that the Turkish national team will be a guest of Italy in the fourth round.

The Italian national team snatched a valuable draw with its host, the French national team, with a score of 1/1, on Friday, in the third round of Group A in the first level of the European Nations League, a match that witnessed the first appearance of Zinedine Zidane in front of his country’s fans.

The Italian national team raised its score to four points to occupy third place in the group, which also includes Belgium and Turkey, while the French national team raised its score to seven points at the top of the group.

The French national team, which Zidane took over as coach to succeed Didier Deschamps, had begun its journey in the Nations League by defeating Turkey and Belgium with 1-0, while the Italian national team began its journey in the tournament with a harsh defeat at home against Belgium 0-2, but achieved a major victory in Turkey with a score of 4-1.

The French team took the lead through Michael Olise in the 55th minute, then the Italian team equalized through its defender Alessandro Bastoni in the 68th minute.

The match witnessed Dayot Upamecano, the French national team defender, being sent off in the 85th minute, and his team completed the match with ten players.

In the next match, the French team will meet its guest, Belgium, next Monday, while the Italian team will host its Turkish counterpart on the same day in the fourth round.

French fans welcomed Zinedine Zidane, the new coach of the national team, with enthusiastic cheers when his name was mentioned on the internal radio of the Stade de France stadium, before facing Italy in the European Nations League.

The crowd chanted at the “Stade de France” stadium, chanting, “Zizou, Zizou!” It is the nickname by which Zidane is known among French football fans, and a banner was raised that read: “Welcome home.”

This was the first match in which Zidane led the French national team at home since taking over as coach of the team, which he had previously led to win the World Cup title as a player, and his arrival was met with a wave of public enthusiasm.

Zidane was appointed technical director of the French national team, succeeding Didier Deschamps after the end of the 2026 World Cup, and he succeeded in achieving victory in his first two matches with a clean goal against Turkey and Belgium outside his stadium, within the European Nations League competitions.

This was Zidane's first confrontation against Italy since the famous "headbutt" incident in the 2006 World Cup final, which led to his expulsion, during extra time in the last match of his busy football career.