Belgium vs France looked like it was heading for a goalless draw in Brussels until Michael Olise took over. The France forward came off the bench, picked the ball up inside his own half in the 88th minute and ran straight through the Belgian defence before finishing low past Senne Lammens. France won 1-0 at the King Baudouin Stadium on Monday night, and Zinedine Zidane has now won both of his first two games as France head coach.
The result sends France top of UEFA Nations League A Group 1 with six points from two matches. Belgium, who won 2-0 in Rome on Friday, drop to second on three points.
How Olise broke Belgium
According to ESPN’s match report, Olise had been on the pitch for around 12 minutes when he collected the ball deep, went past four Belgian players and put his shot into the bottom corner. VAVEL’s live coverage describes the same move: a dribble from his own half and a low shot just inside the post. UEFA’s results list and FOX Sports both log the goal in the 88th minute, while ESPN’s report puts it a minute later.
France had been knocking on the door all night. Désiré Doué hit the woodwork early on, Lucas Da Cunha struck a post from distance after half time and Lammens made several saves, including a fingertip stop from Doué. Esteban Lepaul also sent a free header from a Doué cross straight at the goalkeeper, as ESPN noted.
Belgium had their moments too. Mike Maignan twice kept out Dodi Lukébakio, the man who scored Belgium’s second goal against Italy on Friday, and a Kevin De Bruyne cutback flashed across the box with nobody there to finish it.
Belgium vs France: key numbers
| Stat | Belgium | France |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 0 | 1 (Olise, 88′) |
| Possession | 35% | 65% |
| Shots | 7 | 20 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 7 |
| Saves | 5 | 2 |
| Corners | 2 | 6 |
| Fouls | 12 | 9 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 0 |
Match stats from ESPN’s match centre; cards from FOX Sports’ box score. Belgium’s bookings went to Diego Moreira, De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans. The referee was Rade Obrenović of Slovenia. France had almost two thirds of the ball and nearly three times as many shots, which says plenty about how long Belgium held on.
Zidane is two from two
This was only Zidane’s second match in charge of France. His first, on Friday in İzmit, finished 1-0 against Türkiye, with Kylian Mbappé scoring in the 54th minute and then going off injured. Mbappé was not in the side in Brussels, and France started with a young front three of Doué, Lepaul and Bradley Barcola. Maignan kept goal behind Pierre Kalulu, Jérémy Jacquet, Maxence Lacroix and Andy Diouf, with Maghnes Akliouche, Da Cunha and Eduardo Camavinga in midfield.
Mark van Bommel’s Belgium went with De Bruyne, Tielemans and Roméo Lavia in the middle and Charles De Ketelaere up front between Moreira and Mika Godts. Godts scored the opener in Rome on Friday, so this was a strong Belgium side, not a rotated one.
Nations League Group A1 table after matchday 2
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Belgium | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Italy | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Türkiye | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
In the group’s other game on Monday, Italy won 4-1 away to Türkiye in Bursa. Every team in League A plays six group games, home and away, and the top two in each group go through to the quarter-finals. France have not conceded yet, and a clean sheet in both games so far is a decent start for a coach two matches into the job.
What’s next for France and Belgium
There is no break. On Friday, October 2, France host Italy at the Stade de France and Belgium host Türkiye, with both games kicking off at 8:45pm CEST (7:45pm BST, 2:45pm ET).
Then comes the rematch. France host Belgium on Monday, October 5, at the same time: 8:45pm CEST, 7:45pm BST, 2:45pm ET. The final two group games follow in November.
Elsewhere in the Nations League, catch up on how Haaland extended his record but Portugal won 2-1 in Oslo.
