France had the ball for almost two thirds of the night at the Stade Roi Baudouin and could not do anything useful with it for eighty-seven minutes. Then Rayan Cherki slid one across and Michael Olise finished, and Belgium's evening of disciplined suffering counted for nothing.
One-nil. On the numbers it looks like a stroll. France had eighteen shots to Belgium's twelve, seven on target to two, forty-one touches in the opposition box against twenty-two. Six corners to two. Sixty-five per cent of the ball. And for almost the whole game none of it mattered, because Belgium were happy to sit deep and let Zinedine Zidane's side pass in front of them.
Van Bommel's plan nearly held
Mark van Bommel had spent the build-up promising Belgium would attack. What his team actually did was defend, in numbers, with a back line that refused to be pulled apart and a goalkeeper who made five saves. That is not a criticism. Against this French forward line it was probably the only sensible way to play, and it very nearly produced a point.
Belgium committed twelve fouls to France's nine, which is the signature of a side breaking up rhythm rather than building it. Half-time came goalless. The longer the second half ran the more it looked like one of those nights where France's talent piles up shots without ever finding the one that counts.
Cherki and Olise, in the eighty-eighth minute
The goal, when it came, was the two youngest ideas on the pitch finding each other. Cherki had been the one player consistently willing to take the ball into the space between Belgium's lines, and on eighty-eight he finally got through it. Olise did the rest.
It is the kind of goal that flatters a performance, and Zidane will know it. France created plenty and converted one. Against Italy, who won 4-1 in Bursa on the same evening in the same group, that ratio will not hold up.
Group 1 is going to be tight
Three sides in this League A group with genuine claims on it, and after this round France and Italy have both won. Belgium are the ones left doing the arithmetic. Van Bommel can point to a performance that kept the best attack in the group to a single goal, but he cannot point to a point, and in a group this small that is what he needed.
France travel on knowing they can win these games badly. Whether that is reassuring or worrying probably depends on whether you support them.
Match facts: Belgium 0-1 France, Uefa Nations League League A Group 1, Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels, Monday 28 September 2026. Goal: Michael Olise 88 (Rayan Cherki). Half-time: 0-0. Possession: Belgium 35.4%, France 64.6%. Shots: 12-18. On target: 2-7. Corners: 2-6. Fouls: 12-9. Belgium goalkeeper saves: 5.
0 Comments