Italy bounced back from an early setback to secure a 3-1 victory over France in their UEFA Nations League match at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Friday. Despite conceding a goal within 13 seconds, Italy managed to overturn the deficit with goals from Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi, and Giacomo Raspadori.
Bradley Barcola scored the fastest-ever goal by a France player to open the scoring, but the home team could not capitalize on their early lead. Italy emerged as the more resilient side, ultimately earning a well-deserved win.
The result provides a boost for Luciano Spalletti's team, which had a disappointing performance at Euro 2024, where their title defense was ended by Switzerland in the Round of 16.
Following this win, Italy is tied at the top of Group A2 with Belgium, who also secured a 3-1 victory against Israel in the other Friday fixture. Italy’s next match is against Israel on Monday, with the game scheduled to take place in Budapest due to security concerns in the Middle East.
France, whose captain Kylian Mbappe struggled to make a significant impact, will look to recover when they face Belgium next in Lyon. This upcoming match will be a rematch of their Euro 2024 last-16 encounter, which France won 1-0.
Despite reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2024, France's campaign ended in disappointment as they lost to eventual champions Spain. In this Nations League fixture, France manager Didier Deschamps gave a debut to Michael Olise, the London-born Bayern Munich winger who was part of France's Olympic silver medal-winning team last month. Barcola also made his second full international start and made an immediate impact.
Barcola’s goal came after just 13 seconds, surpassing Bernard Lacombe’s previous record for the fastest goal by a France player, which was scored in 38 seconds during the 1978 World Cup against Italy.
Italy, after Barcola's early goal, nearly equalized in the sixth minute when Frattesi’s header hit the crossbar. They found the equalizer on the half-hour mark with Dimarco’s impressive volley from a crossfield pass by Andrea Cambiaso and a return from Sandro Tonali.
Italy took the lead five minutes after halftime when Frattesi intercepted a pass from Youssouf Fofana and scored from Mateo Retegui’s assist. France made substitutions, bringing on Ousmane Dembele and Manu Kone, but could not stop Italy from adding a third goal.
Raspadori scored in the 74th minute, finishing a pass from Destiny Udogie after eluding William Saliba. Despite efforts to respond, France could not recover, and the match ended with a mixed reaction from the home supporters.
