Zinedine Zidane welcomes Italy to Stade de France for first home match as France coach

France faced Italy at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis in the UEFA Nations League, with Zinedine Zidane in charge for his first home match as France coach.

The evening had extra weight for Zidane. French supporters greeted him loudly before kick-off, and a banner reading “Zizou, welcome home” appeared in the stands. The match also came 28 years after he scored his first international goals at the same stadium.

France came in with two away wins, both 1-0, against Turkey and Belgium. Italy arrived after beating Turkey 4-1, following an opening loss to Belgium.

France were without captain Kylian Mbappé, who left the camp because of a knee injury. Warren Zaire-Emery was also unavailable with a thigh injury. Zidane turned to Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise and Désiré Doué in attack, with Adrien Rabiot and Rayan Cherki in midfield.

Before the match, Zidane said he had no regrets about his headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final, while adding that he was not proud of it. Italy were led by Roberto Mancini, and the game was set as another reunion between the two teams at a stadium linked to Zidane’s career.