Belgium 0–1 France, Turkey 1–4 Italy, Sweden 3–1 Poland; Northern Ireland Held by Hungary
Nations League Roundup: Olise’s Late Stunner Leads France Past Belgium
Michael Olise’s brilliant late goal gave France a 1–0 Nations League victory over Belgium in Brussels, handing new head coach Zinedine Zidane a second win in as many matches.
Olise came off the bench in the 77th minute and decided a largely uneventful match 11 minutes later. Receiving the ball inside his own half, he carried it forward, reached the edge of Belgium’s penalty area and curled a precise shot beyond goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
France were without Kylian Mbappé, who returned to Real Madrid after injuring his left knee while scoring against Turkey on Friday. Even without their captain, France created the better chances: Désiré Doué hit the crossbar in the first half and debutant Lucas Da Cunha struck the post shortly after the interval.
France now lead Group A1 with six points and will host Italy at the Stade de France on Friday. Belgium will look to recover at home against Turkey in Liège.
Italy Respond with a Four-Goal Victory
Italy bounced back from their opening 2–0 defeat by Belgium with an emphatic 4–1 win over Turkey in a rainy Bursa.
Roberto Mancini’s side made an aggressive start and scored three times inside the first half-hour. Turkey’s defensive errors in difficult conditions opened the door for Italy, who took the lead when Zeki Çelik swung at a low corner and inadvertently deflected the ball into Alessandro Bastoni’s path. The defender finished high into the net.
After 23 minutes, Altay Bayındır failed to deal with a cross-shot from Michael Kayode, allowing the ball to fall to Davide Frattesi, who made it 2–0. Four minutes later, Kayode found space on the right side of the box and his near-post effort beat the Turkish goalkeeper.
Turkey briefly threatened a comeback when Gianluigi Donnarumma was drawn away from his goal and Barış Yılmaz finished into an empty net. Italy restored control within five minutes, however, as Pio Esposito headed home after Sandro Tonali had struck the post.
Yılmaz later appeared to score again, but the goal was ruled out because an offside Aydın had interfered with the play. The match also saw Esposito and his older brother, Sebastiano, become the first brothers to start together for Italy since Aldo and Luigi Cevenini in 1915.
Northern Ireland Held by Hungary
Northern Ireland were left frustrated by a 0–0 home draw with Hungary after missing several chances to take all three points.
Patrick Kelly went close twice in the first half, including a looping effort that struck the crossbar. Isaac Price was denied late on by Balázs Tóth, while Ruairi McConville blocked a shot from Willi Orbán and Pierce Charles saved from Alex Tóth.
Northern Ireland remain joint-top of their group alongside Ukraine, who drew 0–0 with Georgia in Tbilisi.
Sweden Continue Their Winning Start
Sweden earned a second victory in two Group B4 matches by defeating Poland 3–1 in Solna.
Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren opened the scoring after eight minutes, finishing at the far post. Sebastian Szymański equalised with a shot that hit both posts before crossing the line, but Yasin Ayari restored Sweden’s lead with a composed finish despite losing his footing.
Arsenal forward Viktor Gyökeres added Sweden’s third goal to complete a convincing win. Bosnia and Herzegovina sit second in the group after beating Romania 4–2 in Bucharest.
Montenegro Take Control in League C
Aleksa Latković’s 89th-minute goal gave Montenegro a dramatic 3–2 victory over Armenia and moved them to the top of their group.
Latvia and Cyprus played out a goalless draw in the other League C fixture.
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