Italy earned a prestigious 1-1 draw away to Zinedine Zidane’s France, as Alessandro Bastoni cancelled out the Michael Olise effort, with Dayot Upamecano sent off.
The Azzurri made only two changes from the side that won 4-1 in Turkiye, bringing back Riccardo Calafiori at left-back and Moise Kean for the injured Giacomo Raspadori, but the midfield remained intact with Nicolò Barella surprisingly benched after the 2-0 home defeat to Belgium. Brentford right-back Michael Kayode retained his spot after an impressive debut with goal.
France won both Nations League games 1-0 away, but with Kylian Mbappé injured, coach Zinedine Zidane confirmed Como’s Lucas Da Cunha and Juventus man Pierre Kalulu, leaving out Roma midfielder Manu Koné. Milan’s Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot also started.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
The Azzurri had a huge chance on after eight minutes when Kayode rolled across from the right for what should’ve been a Kean tap-in, but instead the striker scuffed the finish from point-blank range at the back post, allowing Maignan the save.
A Désiré Doué cross was deflected off Sandro Tonali to bounce off the top of the crossbar, while Sebastiano Esposito hit a fresh-air volley in a promising position.
Ousmane Dembélé was offside anyway when stinging Gianluigi Donnarumma’s gloves, but the Nazionale had two big chances on 42 minutes.
First Pio Esposito knocked down the long Kayode throw-in for Frattesi’s effort deflected inches wide. On the resulting corner, Kean did have the ball in the net, but he was flagged offside.
Each of France’s last 11 goals had come after the break and they threatened it again, but Donnarumma made a fantastic double save, first on the Doué curler, then the Dembélé follow-up from point-blank range.
Donnarumma needed another save on the Michael Olise curler moments later, but the deadlock was broken with a bit of good fortune for France.
The Rayan Cherki free kick just outside the box was flicked on for an Olise thunderbolt that took a deflection off the wall and bounced in off the underside of the crossbar.
Napoli winger Antonio Vergara came on for his Italy debut, with Kean moved to a centre-forward role. It paid off, because when a Vergara counter-attack was blocked off, Da Cunha was distracted and robbed by a Bastoni surging forward from defence, who fired in from the edge of the area. It was the first goal conceded by Zidane’s France and confirms they have not kept a clean sheet against Italy since the 0-0 in September 2007.
Donnarumma got down for a decisive fingertip save pushing the Rabiot angled drive round the far post, while Doué had timid penalty appeals rejected after an accidental coming together with Barella.
Vergara floated a cross to the back post for the Kean looping header, which Maignan fingertipped onto the top of the crossbar, while Donnarumma flew to palm away the Eduard Camavinga scorcher.
France ended the game with 10 men, as Dayot Upamecano received one yellow card for arguing with Kean, and another for wrestling the striker to the ground.
Barella stumbled and couldn’t get clean contact on the deflected Vergara pull-back from 10 yards, ballooning over.
In stoppages, Donnarumma flew to deny another Camavinga strike, then Bastoni made a decisive sliding tackle on Olise with French penalty appeals rejected.
France 1-1 Italy
Olise 55 (F), Bastoni 68 (I)
Sent off: Upamecano 85 (F)
Player statistic
| 54' |  |
Nicolò Fagioli | ||
| Michael Olise (Assist: Rayan Cherki) |
 |
55' | ||
| 68' | |
Alessandro Bastoni | ||
| Dayot Upamecano | |
73' | ||
| 73' | |
Moise Kean | ||
| 82' | |
Antonio Vergara | ||
| Dayot Upamecano |  |
85' | ||
| 90+2' | |
Alessandro Bastoni |
Match statistic
Great tie, excellent effort
pls throw out kean from the Italian team…..he is a street walker…does absolutely nothing…pathetic work rate….all players including se esposito were running….this kean was just walking walking…..pls find another striker….
Positive result for sure, but France is on a whole other level.
That back four should be the starting defense from now on. Kayode miles better than alternatives. Scalvini would grow barring more injuries. Calafiori is a guarantee and Bastoni is finally delivering for Italy for the first time in his career and I don’t say that because he score goals. More importantly, players like Mancini and Di Lorenzo should be nowhere near the squad. Not even as squad players. Bring in more youngster with a future as alternatives. Those guys had their chances and **** it up.
Midfielders like Tonali and Frattesi are excellent players. Barella needs to finally start contributing more like Bastoni. I’m not really convinced by Fagioli. Need to find some alternatives for midfield.
And we need to find starter quality players for the winger positions. All great nations have them now. We don’t. Pio, Kean and Scamacca are acceptable strikers imo but we need wingers OR another way of playing if we can’t find them. And we haven’t had any since Chiesa.
Lastly, Sebastiano Esposito surprised me. I wasn’t aware of his capabilities but he seems like a good player. Played well both against Turkey and France. Most importantly, he wasn’t afraid to his thing. He played.
Impressive result? Ok, I will grant you that much. The talent gap between the two sides is enormous. France should have won easily and Italy did well to earn a point. Even a man down, France were the more dangerous side. Donnarumma is the only world class talent we have.
Italy has played like a team.The only problem is converting chances into goals.With that spirit and morale the team can win the remaining matches.
Shout-out to Calafiori, too. I don’t think it’s possible for any player to do better than that up against Olise currently. Italy had chances but also Donnarumma saved some goals. Good result.
Didn’t see the game but kept an eye on the score. Well done Italy. Early days but things are looking better. Defense seems to be getting settled and if we can produce a couple of great wingers/attackers and another midfielder who can control games in the next couple of years I think we will be a match for any one.
Kean had a solid game @Danny. He shielded the ball, defenders draped all over him, won some fouls, and had a couple of real scoring chances. What else do you want from the guy?
@LorenzoDalecroft never saw them on another level in this game – which was Mancini’s third game back, add in Cisse and Vergara on the wings or Inacio or Palestra at wing forward, let’s see. Winnable game for Italy more clinical they may have…
@dannyfernandes
CF…
Tresoldi (if he comes) = Lewandowski style
Camarda = Benzema style
Pio = L. Toni
Ekhator = Moise Kean upgrade – also several years younger
Kean is a threat to score. To criticize him is ludicrous. Right know France is the better team. However in 2 years Italy will be the better team.
Kayode should always start the game.He is an excellent player.Leaving him out denied Italy a chance in world cup 2026
Kean was mych better playing as striker. He didn’t do well on wing. Vergara was good on wing. Pio did worse today. Pio and Scammaca are so slow that they aren’t suitable when we need to counter attack.
I think Pio just needs a rest and look forward to him breaking Riva’s strike record which I believe he will and hopefully help us win something in the process. Scamacca I had high hopes for, but I am slowly giving up on him. I would love for the guy to prove me wrong it’s just that I do not think he will and we should move on unless multiple forwards are injured. He does well in Serie A but not yet for Italy and he has been given opportunities. I am about ready to throw in the towel on him and do not care if he comes on because if he does, we are probably in big trouble and he won’t save us. Again. I would like to be wrong.
I was extremely happy when Mancini was de-hired. In fact I wanted him to take Spaletti’s job after he was sacked. I’ve always had belief if Mancini. What he did with that 2021 winner…
Look how much calmer, how steady the are playing. Just poised and organized.
Liberali needs to play at Como, otherwise that’s another wasted talent…Tresoldi needs to be convinced to play for the Azzurri
Good result for an Italy that is rebuilding. Still lots of talented youngsters on the sidelines like Palestra, Inacio, Cisse, and potentially Tresoldi, if he decides on Italy. Frattesi was very good today and Fagioli did some good things and will grow in this squad so we shouldn’t see the likes of Cristante and Locatelli in the midfield again. Bastoni has played better for Italy in the last two, but again today, some sloppy passing and he almost gave the penalty away which would have been game over – needs to get this out of his game. Vergara – very impressive.
I was impressed by Italy. I wasn’t expecting them to go ‘toe to toe’ with France. They were never really overwhelmed. There were stretches when France were dominant, and Italy were pinned back but Italy held their shape. Everyone played well, the concentration level was high and the tempo was always forward. It was a good game to watch – back and forth.