No one thought that with home field advantage and a squad full of talented players who had just reached the Euro 2024 semi-finals not long ago, the French team would lose miserably in the opening match of the Nations League.
The ball had just rolled 12 seconds after the opening whistle when the Italian team’s net shook from Bradley Barcola’s super-fast goal. The away team’s defender Giovanni di Lorenzo fumbled and lost the ball to Barcola, and the young French striker sprinted down and leisurely shot past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in a one-on-one situation.
Bradley Barcola (20) opened the scoring for France after just 12 seconds
Stunned by the early goal, the Italian visitors quickly consolidated their position and launched quick attacks in search of an equalizer. Davide Frattesi almost did so in the 6th minute with a close-range header that hit the crossbar of the French team’s goal and Mateo Retegui’s follow-up header went over the bar.
Kylian Mbappe was closely marked by Italian defenders.
Kylian Mbappe had a dangerous shot, almost beating goalkeeper Donnarumma in the 7th minute and this was probably the most notable situation of the French captain in this match. The home team then almost gave up the entire game to their opponents and this tactical mistake cost them dearly.
Federico Dimarco scored to level the score at 1-1
In the 30th minute, Federico Dimarco had a good pass-and-go with Sandro Tonali, then he received the ball back and calmly shot into the far top corner of goalkeeper Mike Maignan’s goal, leveling the score 1-1 for the Italian team.
After the break, the adjustments in personnel and playing style of coach Luciano Spaletti helped the Italian team play better than their performance in the first half. In the 50th minute, the away team organized a quick counterattack from home field and the Frattesi-Retegui duo “atoned” with a cross from Retegui for Frattesi to quickly connect, putting the away team ahead 2-1.
Davide Frattesi made it 2-1 for the visitors.
Falling behind, the French team’s reaction was quite slow and when forced to attack to regain the game, they continued to receive painful blows from the sharp counter-attacks of the Italians. In the 74th minute, from a situation of advancing and boldly holding the ball into the middle of defender Destiny Udogie, Giacomo Raspadori dribbled past the French defense as if there was no one there before finishing very skillfully, defeating goalkeeper Mike Maignan in a one-on-one situation. 3-1 for the Italian team.
Giacomo Raspadori sealed a 3-1 win for Italy at the Stade de France
During the remaining time, host France increased their attacking pressure but their efforts to find a goal were unsuccessful, and they had to accept a bitter defeat on the opening day of the Nations League at home at Parc des Prince.