France Held 1-1 by Italy as Zidane’s Perfect Start Comes to an End

PARIS — France were held to a 1-1 draw by Italy in the UEFA Nations League, bringing Zinedine Zidane’s perfect start as France coach to an end.

Michael Olise gave France the lead in the second half, but Italy responded through Alessandro Bastoni to level the match. France controlled long stretches of possession and created the greater volume of attacking pressure, but were unable to regain the lead.

The match also ended with France reduced to 10 men after Dayot Upamecano was sent off late in the game.

Zidane had won his first two matches in charge before the draw, making the Italy fixture his first home match as national-team manager. The opponent carried obvious historical significance: Italy were also the team France faced in Zidane’s final international appearance as a player, the 2006 World Cup final.

Group picture

The result leaves France at the top of their Nations League group, while Italy remain in the race after taking a point away from Paris.

Interest in the fixture surged online, with “France vs Italy” among the leading Google Trends searches in the United States during the past 24 hours.

Source: Match details verified against Reuters and current Google Trends data.