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Key events
9 min: Italy 0-0 Belgium
Now Esposito hits the post! Barella finds a pocket of space and lifts it over the top for Esposito, who breaks the offside trap and shoots in one fluid movement, nearly catching Lammens cold at his near post. The ball bounces off the foot of the post and away!
7 min: Italy 0-0 Belgium
Huge save from Donnarumma to deny De Ketelaere. De Bruyne finds the Atalanta striker with a pinpoint pass and De Ketelaere goes across goal with his shot, only to watch in astonishment as Donnarumma extends his left paw and claw the ball away.
4 min: Turkey 0-0 France
France clear a ball off the line! Baris Yilmaz races through on goal and after forcing a save from Maignan, Koundé hacks the rebound off the line! Replays show that Baris Yilmaz was offside, so it wouldn’t have counted, but this has been a shaky first few minutes for Zidane and France.
2 min: “I’d be rooting for tiny Cyprus to hold off mighty Montenegro today,” writes AnhTuan Nguyen Huynh.
Cyprus have never beaten Montenegro, although they did earn a couple of score draws back in the 2000s.
Peeeeeeeeep!
We are underway in our six Nations League matches.
Turkey v France
Italy v Belgium
Hungary v Ukraine
Sweden v Romania
Poland v Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro v Cyprus
I am multi-screening so be kind to me. Even if I am scanning like prime Xavi, my fingers only type so fast.
Before kick-off in Italy, there is a minute’s applause for Sandro Mazzola, the legendary Inter midfielder who won two European Cups and a World Cup runners-up medal. You can read our obituary, by Richard Williams, here.
The teams are out! It’s quite the atmosphere in Izmit as the Turkish fans give the France side a warm welcome. Real Madrid teammates Kylian Mbappé and Arda Güler embrace, both talismen for their countries. Zidane looks typically stoic in the French dugout, dressed head to toe in navy suit, shirt, tie.
Two new managers here but both Italy and Belgium have put out established sides with few shocks. Given his form for Brentford, it is a surprise that Michael Kayode is not given his debut at right back, veteran Di Lorenzo is preferred by Mancini. One eye-catching selection is Alessandro Romano, who makes his debut in the middle alongside Barella and Tonali, while Cambiaghi returns to the side after a year in the cold. Arsenal fans will be hoping for an injury-free night for Calafiori, especially with Kai Havertz limping off last night for Germany.
Belgium under Van Bommel are pretty much as expected. Doku is injured but that means the hugely exciting Godts (of PSG) gets a chance on the left, with the in-form Milan winger Moreira on the opposite flank. De Bruyne is still there in the No 10 position, while De Ketelaere keeps Lukaku on the bench.
Italy v Belgium team news
Italy 4-3-3: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Coppola, Calafiori; Barella, Romano, Tonali; Cambiaghi, Esposito, Kean.
Subs: Ahanor, Carnesecchi, Doumbia, Frattesi, Kayode, Maldini, Mandragora, Raspadori, Scalvini, Scamacca, Vicario, Zoma.
Belgium 4-2-3-1: Lammens; Castagne, Ngoy, Mechele, De Cuyper; Tielemans, Raskin; Moreira, De Bruyne, Godts; De Ketelaere.
Subs: De Busser, Debast, Fernandez-Pardo, Keita, Lavia, Lukaku, Lukébakio, Openda, Seys, Theate, Vanaken, Vandevoordt.
“What a great result and a terrific goal from Shea Charles,” emails a delirious Tony Mason. “The penalty decision was bizarre but even more bizarre was the ref, in injury time, telling Ballard to get off the pitch with a clear hamstring injury but afterwards allowing a Georgian defender time on the pitch to recover from cramp. Because of all that it was delightful to see the 40 or so NI fans celebrating that last gasp goal.”
Only six minutes of additional time were awarded in Tbilisi, but after more than eight additional minutes, Northern Ireland hurled a long throw into the Georgia box, and after an initial clearance, Charles pounced on a loose ball to poke the ball into the roof of the net. There was a VAR check for offside but the goal stood!
It should be said that Shea Charles’ younger brother, Pierce, played a blinder in net for Northern Ireland. Pierce Charles has been in fine form for QPR this season and saved a penalty against Georgia to keep the game at 0-0.
Here’s what Shea Charles had to say after the game:
“To come away with the winner is incredible. Pierce made a few massive saves to keep us in the game and then the penalty as well which I thought was justice really. He was incredible, as were the whole back five. I thought everyone on the pitch deserved the win.
“The win sets us up really well for Belfast which I am really excited for as it feels like I have not been there in ages.”
Full-time: Georgia 0-1 Northern Ireland
Shea Charles has scored a 99th-minute winner to give Michael O’Neill’s side a dramatic win in Tbilisi and get their Nations League campaign off to winning start!
Let’s unpack those teams a little. Turkey are missing one of their star players, Kenan Yildiz, who is sidelined with a long-term injury. Yildiz normally operates on the left wing for Juventus, but with him out of action, Montella has leaned into this wing-back system, which seems to lean heavily on Kadioglu on the left. The 24-year-old won Brighton’s player of season last year and has quietly turned into one of the best left backs in the Premier League. Much rests of Arda Güler, in the No 10 position. Expect Turkey to have five at the back against France, when they are out of possession.
Zinedine Zidane’s first France XI throws no huge surprises, although notable additions include Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert, who earns his second cap, four years after making his international debut. Interesting that Zidane also favours Lacroix as the replacement for the injured Saliba at centre-back. Jacquet and Yoro have to make do on the bench. Cherki gets the nod in midfield, alongside Rabiot and Manu Koné, who has been in sublime form for Roma at the start of this season. There is no room for Tchouameni or Kanté in this new-look squad, even if the XI is mostly unchanged. Jean-Phillipe Mateta (Crystal Palace), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan) also miss out.
Turkey v France team news
Turkey 3-4-2-1: Cakir; Celik, Demiral, Bardakci; Aydin, Salih Ozcan, Yuksek, Kadioglu; Güler, Uzun; Baris Yilmaz
Subs: Akgun, Aktürkoglu, Bayindir, Elmali, Gül, Kabak, Kabasakal, Kahveci, Kocuk, Topcu, Simsir.
France 4-3-3: Maignan; Koundé, Upamecano, Lacroix, Truffert; Koné, Rabiot; Cherki; Olise, Mbappé, Dembélé.
Subs: Butz, Barcola, Akliouche, Camavinga, Diouf, Doué, Jacquet, Kalulu, Lepaul, Restes, Yoro, Da Cunha.
Preamble
Of all the new international appointments, the most eye-catching is probably Jürgen Klopp with Germany, which feels both a radical and a natural fit for the four-time World Cup winners, who are in desperate need of a hard reset. Klopp was denied a win in his first game in charge against the Netherlands – now managed by Xavi – with Cody Gakpo striking in injury-time to earn a 1-1 draw for the Dutch.
The next most exciting appointment is surely France and Zinedine Zidane, who has not stepped into a dugout since leaving Real Madrid (for a second time) five years ago. After winning three consecutive Champions Leagues and a couple of La Liga titles in the Age of Messi, nobody is really sure Zizou is a managerial great, or simply an elite vibesman, who uses his personal aura to instill deference and respect into a talented squad, rather than being a master tactician. Maybe a vibesman is just what France need after the rigidity of Didier Deschamps – Les Bleus are surely the best team on the planet on paper, but have looked clunkier and less cohesive than they should, despite their tournament success in recent years. This opening test for Zidane, away to Turkey, should be enlightening and this is an excellent piece by Jonathan Wilson that expands on those ideas about Zidane. Get stuck in.
Turkey do not have a new manager, which is something of a surprise given they finished bottom of a relatively kind World Cup group that also included USA, Australia and Paraguay. Vincenzo Montella has clung on, with the Turkish federation taking a long-term view of his reign. “I could have been sacked, but the federation looked beyond: to the future,” Montella explained. “When I arrived, we couldn’t qualify for the Euros, and we won the group. They didn’t judge me on those two matches, but on all my work.”
Nobody is expecting a Turkey win over France, but a shock victory would certainly help Montella’s cause, with Italy and Belgium also lurking in Group A of the Nations League. Italy (Roberto Mancini) and Belgium (Mark van Bommel) also have new appointments. Mancini, of course, returns for the Euro 2028 cycle, having steered Italy to European glory at Euro 2020. The pressure, though, is on, after Italy failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup finals earlier this year.
Following their historic failures, many were expecting the Italian federation to break with the establishment and make a bold appointment. Mancini is seen as the continuity candidate, which has frustrated some, but there is no denying his success (38 wins, 12 draws and just eight losses in his previous tenure) or passion for the job. One key reason that Mancini was appointed was his discipline within the camp and his tendency to give youth a chance. It will be very interesting to see the starting XI against Belgium, with Mancini’s 34-man squad including an unprecedented 10 players from outside Serie A, with more expected to join in the future, including Giovanni Leoni and Marco Palestra. Brentford’s Michael Kayode is in line to make his senior debut, while Mohamed Ali Zoma, playing in the second tier in Germany with Nürnberg, has also been called up.
Lots of intrigue, then, to get the juices flowing. We’ll have live updates of six 7.45pm BST kick-offs (below), as well as mopping up the final results of the two early 5pm BST kick-offs: Georgia v Northern Ireland and Armenia v Latvia.
Turkey v France
Italy v Belgium
Hungary v Ukraine
Sweden v Romania
Poland v Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro v Cyprus
#Turkey #France #Italy #Belgium #Northern #Ireland #win #Georgia #Nations #League #live #Nations #League
