Nations League roundup: Olise leads late charge as France bowl over Belgium

Michael Olise came off the bench to inspire France to a 4-1 win over Belgium in the Nations League, handing Zinedine Zidane his first home victory since taking charge.

Dodi Lukébakio put Belgium on course for their first competitive win over Les Bleus in 45 years when he fired the visitors in front in the first half at the Stade de France. But the hosts turned the match on its head in a blistering finish, scoring four times in 14 minutes to preserve Zidane’s unbeaten start and move closer to the quarter-finals.

Désiré Doué hauled France level in the 77th minute with a low drive from the edge of the area before Olise teed up Rayan Cherki to fire them ahead four minutes later. Olise then put the result beyond doubt with a third goal before adding another in stoppage time to cap a stunning French comeback.

France, who also beat Belgium 1-0 in Brussels last week thanks to a late goal from Olise, moved three points clear of Italy at the top of Group A1, with Belgium another point back. Italy beat Turkey 3-1 in Bologna to condemn their opponents to a fourth straight loss, goals from Gianluca Scamacca, Riccardo Calafiori and Pio Esposito doing the business.

Zidane heavily rotated his team for the last match of this three-week long international window, with only Ousmane Dembélé keeping his place among the 10 changes. The Manchester United defender Leny Yoro and the Toulouse goalkeeper Guillaume Restes made their debuts, with Dembélé again captaining the side in the absence of the injured Kylian Mbappé.

Belgium were without the suspended duo of Kevin De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans but caught France cold when Roméo Lavia’s superb ball split open the home defence, allowing Lukebakio to race clear and produce a clinical finish. Maarten Vandevoordt, making his debut in goal for Belgium, kept out efforts from Esteban Lepaul and Cherki as France pressed for an equaliser, but the dam eventually burst.

Doué gathered the ball and shot on the turn, beyond the reach of Vandevoordt, to haul France level. Cherki then turned home a cutback from Olise to give the hosts the lead as the Bayern Munich winger stole the show late on.

Olise scrambled in a third in the 88th minute and rolled in a fourth after skilful work from Doué to complete a remarkable turnaround.

In Group B2, Mark Csinger’s late goal earned second-placed Hungary a 2-1 win against Ukraine in Trnava.

Viktor Gyökeres scored in his seventh consecutive Nations League game as Sweden earned a 1-0 win against Romania in Group B4, while Ivan Basic’s late penalty gave Bosnia and Herzegovina a 1-0 victory over Poland. The Burnley striker Marcus Edwards scored a stoppage-time winner as Cyprus hit back from behind to beat Latvia 2-1 in Group C2.