France hit the woodwork twice in Brussels. Olise came off the bench and won it two minutes from time

Michael Olise came off the bench to give France a 1-0 win over Belgium at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on Monday, scoring two minutes from time in the UEFA Nations League. It kept Zinedine Zidane at two wins from two as France coach, and gave Mark van Bommel his first defeat in charge of Belgium, three days after his side won 2-0 in Rome.

The winner came from almost nothing. Olise, on for Bradley Barcola after 77 minutes, took Rayan Cherki's pass around halfway and ran at the Belgian defence. He got away from Maxim De Cuyper, himself a substitute, and from the edge of the area placed a low shot past Senne Lammens into the far corner.

Nine changes from Friday

Zidane made nine changes from the side that won in Türkiye on Friday. With Kylian Mbappé back in Madrid with the knee injury he suffered scoring that winner, he started Désiré Doué, Esteban Lepaul and Barcola in attack and left Ousmane Dembélé and Olise on the bench. Only Mike Maignan, who captained the side, and Maxence Lacroix kept their places. Jérémy Jacquet, Andy Diouf and Lucas Da Cunha won their first caps, and Lepaul made his first start. Van Bommel made only two changes from Rome, bringing in Joaquin Seys and Romeo Lavia, who was making his first start for Belgium.

Twice off the woodwork

France had more of the ball and the better chances. They hit the woodwork twice and had a Pierre Kalulu shot cleared off the line. Doué danced into the box and hit the crossbar after 12 minutes, and soon afterwards picked out Lepaul, whose first-time shot went straight at Lammens.

Nine minutes after the break, Da Cunha hit the base of the post. Van Bommel then replaced Kevin De Bruyne and Diego Moreira with Hans Vanaken and Dodi Lukébakio, and Belgium grew into the game. Lukébakio surged forward after 73 minutes and got a shot away, but Maignan smothered it. Zidane had already sent on Dembélé for Lepaul, and Cherki and Olise followed four minutes later, for Maghnes Akliouche and Barcola.

What the coaches said

Zidane said afterwards that he was pleased, and not only with how France kept the ball. He called his side brave and unafraid to push into Belgium's half. He described Olise as a pure talent, a player who senses when to go forward and when to slow the game down.

Van Bommel said after the match, in comments reported by Belgian media, that he could not fault his players. He said Belgium would keep playing the same way, pressing to win the ball back, whoever they face. He felt De Cuyper should have been more forceful in stopping Olise, and said details like that decide matches, as they had at the World Cup. Belgium were on the right track, he said, but had still lost.

Group 1 after two rounds

All four teams have now played twice. France have six points, Belgium and Italy three each, and Türkiye none, after Italy won 4-1 in Bursa on Monday night. France have also won the last six meetings with Belgium.

France host Italy at the Stade de France on Friday 2 October, then Belgium there on Monday 5 October, both at 20:45 CEST. The Italy game is sold out.