Olise stunner not enough as Italy hold France on Zidane’s home debut

France finished with 10 men following Dayot Upamecano’s late dismissal, but both teams had opportunities to claim victory before settling for a point.

The result extended Les Bleus’ unbeaten competitive home run to seven matches, comprising six wins and one draw, and kept them top of Group A1.

Match highlight

Having opened their campaign with successive 1-0 victories, France began aggressively, pressing high and looking to establish control.

However, Italy should have taken the lead after 10 minutes. Upamecano failed to deal with Michael Kayode’s ball across goal, leaving Moise Kean with a close-range opportunity that Mike Maignan brilliantly saved.

France responded and almost forced a breakthrough when Sandro Tonali diverted Olise’s lofted delivery against his own crossbar.

Italy’s organised defending otherwise restricted the hosts during the remainder of the first half. The visitors briefly thought they had gone ahead when Kean converted a loose ball, but an offside decision ruled out the effort.

France increased the pressure after the restart. Gianluigi Donnarumma saved Desire Doue’s curling shot before reacting superbly to deny Ousmane Dembele from the rebound.

It eventually required a moment of exceptional quality to beat the Italy goalkeeper.

Olise stepped up to a free-kick and sent a perfectly placed strike into the top corner, leaving Donnarumma with no chance and giving France the advantage.

The lead did not last long. A heavy first touch from Lucas Da Cunha allowed Bastoni to win possession high up the pitch, and the Inter defender kept his composure to finish and bring Italy level.

With little more than 20 minutes remaining, the contest became increasingly tense. Italy continued to threaten despite spending much of the match under pressure, with Maignan saving another Kean header.

Donnarumma then kept out substitute Eduardo Camavinga’s effort towards the top corner before France suffered a setback when Upamecano received a second yellow card for pulling Kean’s shirt.

Even with a numerical disadvantage, the hosts almost found a late winner through Bradley Barcola, but Donnarumma again intervened to preserve the draw.

France remain unbeaten under Zidane and well positioned in the group as they pursue another place in the knockout phase.

Italy, meanwhile, sit two points behind second-placed Belgium at the halfway stage. Roberto Mancini’s side still have ground to recover, but their resilience and Donnarumma’s saves earned a valuable away point.