Zidane's Home Debut as France Coach Ends in 1-1 Draw With Italy After Olise Free-Kick Stunner

Zinedine Zidane got his first home game as France coach on Friday, October 2, and it ended the same way his playing career did against Italy: unfinished business. France and Italy drew 1-1 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, with Michael Olise's second stunning goal in four days canceled out by an Inter Milan defender.

Olise, fresh off a solo wondergoal that beat Belgium 1-0 last week, struck again in the 55th minute. Rayan Cherki won a free kick on the edge of the box and rolled it to Olise, who smashed a shot in off the crossbar, according to beIN Sports and Al Jazeera.

Italy answered in the 68th minute. Adrien Rabiot played Como midfielder Lucas Da Cunha into trouble, Alessandro Bastoni won the ball off him and finished past goalkeeper Mike Maignan, according to RFI and beIN Sports. France's night got worse five minutes from the end when Dayot Upamecano picked up a second yellow card for bringing down Moise Kean and was sent off.

The draw denied Zidane a clean sweep in his first three games as France's head coach. He had already won 1-0 on the road against both Turkiye and Belgium. France still leads UEFA Nations League Group A1 with seven points. Belgium sits one point back on six after thumping Turkiye 3-0, and the two teams meet Monday in the window's final match. Italy has four points and hosts Turkiye next.

A loaded homecoming

The fixture carried obvious weight. Italy was the opponent in Zidane's last match as a player, the 2006 World Cup final in Berlin, where he was sent off in extra time for headbutting Marco Materazzi in the chest. Italy won that game on penalties. Friday marked Zidane's first appearance at France's national stadium since a May 2006 friendly against Mexico, when he won his 100th cap.

A crowd of 77,118 showed up for it, according to Al Jazeera and RFI. Zidane called the night "magnificent" afterward. "We would have liked to win for our fans tonight but I was obviously really touched and delighted to be back at the Stade de France," he said, according to RFI. He added he was happy with the performance even if not the result: "We had chances to score a second goal and we didn't do it. But I am really proud of my players."

Italy coach Roberto Mancini, in his second stint running the national team after Italy missed the last three World Cups, had reason to feel good about the point. "I think this was a great performance tonight against one of the best teams in the world, with very positive aspects to it," Mancini said, according to RFI. "We knew it would be a very difficult match. But we did well to allow them very little in terms of chances, even if they had more possession."

That possession didn't translate into a dominant scoreline. Italy had its own missed chances to thank for keeping the game level before Bastoni's goal. Moise Kean shot straight at Maignan from close range in the first half after a low cross from Michael Kayode, according to beIN Sports, and Davide Frattesi's shot off a long throw deflected wide of the post. Kean also had a goal waved off for offside. Gianluigi Donnarumma kept Italy in it late, making saves off Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Olise in the second half.

France played without captain Kylian Mbappe, who returned to Real Madrid after suffering a knee injury while scoring the winner against Turkiye last week. Zidane made six changes from the Belgium match, including new faces Jeremy Jacquet of Liverpool and Da Cunha.

France now turns to Monday's showdown with Belgium to settle Group A1, while Italy faces Turkiye in Mancini's bid to keep his rebuild on track. Upamecano's red card leaves a lineup question for Zidane heading into that decisive match.