Olise Inspires France Comeback

Michael Olise came off the bench to score twice and provide an assist as France overturned a first-half deficit to defeat Belgium 4-1 in the UEFA Nations League at the Stade de France on Monday.

Belgium took the lead in the 35th minute when Dodi Lukébakio finished a counter-attacking move after receiving a long pass from Roméo Lavia, leaving France trailing 1-0 at half-time.

France struggled to find a breakthrough for much of the contest, but manager Zinédine Zidane turned to his substitutes and the changes transformed the match during a remarkable late spell.

Désiré Doué levelled the contest in the 77th minute with a low effort from outside the penalty area after a pass from Lucas Da Cunha.

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Olise then produced his decisive intervention four minutes later when he supplied the assist for Rayan Cherki, who finished to put France ahead for the first time in the match.

The Bayern Munich forward completed the turnaround himself in the 88th minute after receiving a pass from Doué before producing a composed finish to make it 3-1.

Olise struck again in stoppage time, converting another opportunity created by Doué to complete his brace and give France a convincing 4-1 victory.

The four French goals came within 14 minutes of one another, turning a match that had appeared to be slipping away from the hosts into one of their most emphatic victories of the Nations League campaign.

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Olise’s contribution was particularly significant because he was introduced from the bench and finished the match with two goals and an assist, directly contributing to three of France’s four goals.

The victory also maintained France’s unbeaten record in Group A1 and moved them to 10 points after four matches, while Italy followed in second place with seven points and Belgium remained on six.

The result gave Zidane his first home victory as France manager and extended his unbeaten start at the helm of the national team.

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France had also defeated Belgium 1-0 in Brussels in their previous Nations League meeting, with Olise scoring a late solo goal to settle that encounter.

The latest victory therefore gave Olise a decisive role in both meetings between the two nations, as his late goal had already secured France’s narrow victory in Brussels before his three-goal involvement in the return fixture.

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