France suffered a 3-1 defeat against Italy at San Siro on Thursday marking Zinedine Zidane’s first loss as national team coach and shifting the Group 1 standings in the UEFA Nations League.
The visiting side opened the scoring after ten minutes when a defensive error by the goalkeeper allowed Michael Olise to put France ahead in Milan. Francesco Pio Esposito equalized for the home side in the 26th minute by converting a cross from Nicolo Cambiaghi.
Italy seized control in the second half. Following a missed penalty by Sebastiano Esposito, Davide Frattesi scored in the 63rd minute to make it 2-1 following a pass from Federico Dimarco.
Italy comeback to defeat France in Milan ๐#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/Fo5oLtabCj
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Francesco Pio Esposito secured the victory by scoring a late penalty kick awarded after a foul by Dayot Upamecano inside the penalty area. The result leaves both teams level with 10 points in the group standings, though Italy holds the advantage on goals scored.
France played without their captain Kylian Mbappรฉ, who missed the fixture due to a knee injury. Zidane’s team will conclude the group stage on November 15 against Turkey, while Italy travels to Brussels to face Belgium.
To save the honor of the family, Francesco Pio Esposito took the decisive spot-kick in the final minutes, as noted by OneFootball.
The fixture in Milan saw Roberto Mancini deploy an initial tactical setup featuring Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal, protected by Michael Kayode, Giorgio Scalvini, Alessandro Bastoni, and Riccardo Calafiori in defense. The Italian midfield and attack featured Sandro Tonali, Nicolรฒ Barella, Davide Frattesi, and the Esposito brothers alongside Nicolรฒ Cambiaghi.
โฑ๏ธ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ซ๐ท #ItaliaFrancia 3๏ธโฃ-1๏ธโฃ 10โ Olise; 26โ, 75โ F. P. Esposito; 63โ Frattesi#NationsLeague#Nazionale #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/KOOSCfe0T6
— Post by @Azzurri on X
Zinedine Zidane lined up his squad with Mike Maignan starting between the posts behind Malo Gusto, Dayot Upamecano, Jรฉrรฉmy Jacquet, and Adrien Truffert. The French central areas and attack included Lucas da Cunha, captain Adrien Rabiot, Dรฉsirรฉ Douรฉ, Rayan Cherki, Michael Olise, and Bradley Barcola.
The encounters between these two football federations carry a long history across competitive tournaments and friendlies, featuring previous meetings in the Nations League and international friendly matches where both sides have regularly contested top honors in European competition.