Nations League | France 1-1 Italy: Bastoni seals impressive result in Paris

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.

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)

02-10-2026 19:45

Matchday 3

Live 1 - 1

France

Italy

Starting lineups

Mike Maignan Goalkeeper

Adrien Truffert Defender

Dayot Upamecano Defender

Jeremy Jacquet Defender

Pierre Kalulu Defender

Adrien Rabiot Midfielder

Désiré Doué Midfielder 76'

Michael Olise Midfielder

Lucas Da Cunha Attacker 87'

Ousmane Dembélé Attacker

Rayan Cherki Attacker 76'

Gianluigi Donnarumma Goalkeeper

Alessandro Bastoni Defender

Giorgio Scalvini Defender

Michael Kayode Defender

Riccardo Calafiori Defender

Davide Frattesi Midfielder 80'

Nicolò Fagioli Midfielder 90'

Sandro Tonali Midfielder 63'

Pio Esposito Attacker 63'

Moise Kean Attacker

Sebastiano Esposito Attacker 80'

Substitutes

Maghnes Akliouche Midfielder

Jean Butez Goalkeeper

Jules Koundé Defender

Andy Diouf Attacker

Guillaume Restes Goalkeeper

15 Leny Yoro Defender

Manu Koné Midfielder

Esteban Lepaul Attacker

Bradley Barcola Attacker 76'

Eduardo Camavinga Midfielder 76'

Maxence Lacroix Defender 87'

Gianluca Mancini Defender

6 Samuele Ricci Midfielder

Guglielmo Vicario Goalkeeper

Giovanni Di Lorenzo Defender

17 Matteo Ruggeri Defender

Marco Carnesecchi Goalkeeper

Mohamed Alì Zoma Attacker

Antonio Vergara Midfielder 63'

Nicolò Barella Midfielder 63'

Daniel Maldini Midfielder 80'

Issa Doumbia Midfielder 80'

Gianluca Scamacca Attacker 90'