Italy's explosive reunion with Zidane

Four days after their 4-1 victory in Turkey, Italy's recently humiliated national football team is aiming for points again in the Nations League and wants to make another statement against World Cup semi-finalists France on Friday (8:45 pm). All eyes will be on France coach Zinedine Zidane.

02 October 2026

From: dpa/dl

In his last match as a player, he delivered the infamous headbutt to Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final; now he stands on the sidelines. The emotional end to a lost final is certainly not Zidane's only connection to Italy. At the 1998 World Cup, he eliminated the Azzurri with France in the quarterfinals on their way to the title, and at Euro 2000, Zidane's Les Bleus also prevailed against Italy in the final.

He also played five seasons for Juventus, facing Italy's current coach Roberto Mancini on several occasions. It's quite fitting, then, that the now 54-year-old will welcome the four-time world champions in his home debut as France's national team manager. In his first two matches, Zidane celebrated two 1-0 victories in Turkey and Belgium – the latter in the absence of star player Kylian Mbappé, who is still sidelined with a knee injury, and despite heavy squad rotation.

Zidane's career with France came to an ignominious end in the 2006 World Cup final. © AFP / JOHN MACDOUGALL

The Italians, who had made a false start to the restart after missing out on the World Cup with a 0-2 defeat against Belgium, were looking to bounce back against Turkey and are now hoping for a real breakthrough in their third Group A1 match. "Playing against such a strong team is also a good opportunity to see where we stand," said center-back Giorgio Scalvini, one of Mancini's young players.

Nations League: Friday's matches

Group a:
Belgium – Türkiye (8:45 pm)
France – Italy (20.45)

Group B:
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Sweden (20.45)
Hungary – Georgia (20.45)
Poland – Romania (20.45)
Ukraine – Northern Ireland (20.45)

Group C:
Kazakhstan – Moldova (16.00)
Cyprus – Armenia (18.00)
Latvia – Montenegro (18.00 p.m.)
Faroe Islands – Slovakia (20.45)

Keywords Soccer Nations League frankreich Italy