France and Italy turn up the heat with Nations League wins

France and Italy turn up the heat with Nations League wins

France produced a stunning late comeback to beat Belgium 4-1, while Italy saw off Turkiye 3-1 as both sides strengthened their positions in UEFA Nations League Group A1.

Zinedine Zidane's France remain unbeaten and three points clear at the top, with Italy moving into second after another strong home performance.

France hit Belgium with late blitz

France recovered from a goal down to overwhelm Belgium 4-1 with four goals in the final 13 minutes.

Both teams handed international debuts to their goalkeepers, with France's Guillaume Restes and Belgium's Maarten Vandevoordt making confident starts. Restes denied Romelu Lukaku from distance, while Vandevoordt raced off his line to prevent Bradley Barcola from opening the scoring.

France controlled much of the possession but struggled to find a way through Belgium's organised defence. Nicolas Raskin blocked an Eduardo Camavinga effort, while Hans Vanaken later got in the way of an Ousmane Dembele shot.

Belgium, however, were dangerous when they attacked quickly. Romeo Lavia split the French defence with a precise pass in the 35th minute, sending Dodi Lukebakio through on goal. The winger kept his composure and finished past Restes to put the visitors ahead.

France continued to push after the break but Belgium remained difficult to break down. Lavia blocked another effort before being booked, ruling him out of Belgium's next match.

Zidane responded by making three substitutions on the hour mark and the changes transformed the game.

Michael Olise immediately threatened, while Rayan Cherki saw a curling effort tipped wide. Belgium survived another scare when Nathan Ngoy deflected Barcola's shot narrowly wide, but the pressure finally paid off in the 77th minute.

Lucas Da Cunha found Desire Doue on the edge of the box and the forward picked out the bottom corner to level the match.

France then completed the turnaround three minutes later. Olise's cutback found Cherki, whose shot went in despite Vandevoordt getting a hand to it.

The comeback was not finished. Olise added a third before finishing again after another impressive piece of play from Doue.

The result gives France three wins from four matches under Zidane, while Belgium remain third in Group A1.

Scamacca leads Italy past Turkiye

Italy moved into second place in Group A1 after beating Turkiye 3-1 in Bologna, extending their unbeaten record against their opponents to 16 matches.

Turkiye started with confidence and forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into early saves, with Ozan Kabak, Salih Ozcan and Yunus Akgun all testing the Italy goalkeeper.

Italy thought they had taken the lead when Gianluca Scamacca finished after being played through, but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Scamacca did not have to wait long for another opportunity. Giovanni Di Lorenzo's cross found the striker, who smashed a powerful volley against the underside of the crossbar and into the net to give Italy the lead.

Turkiye continued to threaten after half-time and Aral Simsir came close after rounding Donnarumma, although he could not get his shot away.

Turkiye eventually found their equaliser after the hour mark. Zeki Celik delivered a cross towards the back post and Eren Elmali flicked the ball into the path of Simsir, who tapped home his first international goal.

Italy responded almost immediately.

Substitute Riccardo Calafiori restored the lead four minutes later when he rose above Elmali to head Nicolo Barella's free-kick beyond Ugurcan Cakir.

Turkiye pushed for another equaliser and Donnarumma was called into action again, parrying a powerful strike from Ozcan.

Italy remained dangerous on the counter and finally sealed the victory through another substitute. Alessandro Romano's cross was met by Francesco Pio Esposito, who side-footed the ball into the net.

The win lifts Italy into second place, while Turkiye remain without a point and are facing relegation to League B with two matches remaining.

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