Desire Doue completed a moment of magic by whipping a shot against the crossbar as France took on Belgium in the Nations League at Brussels’ King Baudouin Stadium on Monday.
Paris Saint-Germain winger Doue showed sensational control and quick feet to dance his way through Belgium’s defence and fire a shot over Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens and against the woodwork.
France are seeking consecutive wins to start their campaign following their 1-0 victory in Turkey on Friday, although the injury Kylian Mbappe sustained while scoring in that game has ruled their captain out of the first four matches of their campaign.
Belgium team vs France
Belgium made two changes from their win in Rome, bringing in Joaquin Seys and Romeo Lavia – the latter making his full debut – for Maxim De Cuyper and Nicolas Raskin.
Belgium: Senne Lammens, Brandon Mechele, Romeo Lavia, Kevin De Bruyne, Youri Tielemans, Mika Godts, Nathan Ngoy, Charles De Ketelaere, Joaquin Seys, Diego Moreira, Timothy Castagne
Substitutes: Maarten Vandevoordt, Zeno Debast, Koni De Winter, Maxim De Cuyper, Romelu Lukaku, Lois Openda, Jari De Busser, Dodi Lukebakio, Mandela Keita, Hans Vanaken, Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Nicolas Raskin
France team vs Belgium in Nations League
Goalkeeper Mike Maignan and defender Maxence Lacroix were the only France players retained in the starting line-up from the win in Turkey.
France: Mike Maignan, Pierre Kalulu, Eduardo Camavinga, Bradley Barcola, Andy Diouf, Maxence Lacroix, Maghnes Akliouche, Esteban Lepaul, Desire Doue, Lucas Da Cunha, Jeremy Jacquet
Substitutes: Guillaume Restes, Adrien Truffert, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Kounde, Ousmane Dembele, Manu Kone, Rayan Cherki, Michael Olise, Adrien Rabiot, Leny Yoro, Jean Butez
Where to watch Belgium vs France: TV channel, live online stream
Kick-off on Monday was at 19:45 BST (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Amazon Prime PPV, which charges £2.49 for the game.
For coverage around the world, visit UEFA’s Nations League international broadcaster list.
Belgium vs France Nations League stats
- Belgium are targeting their first home win over France since a 2-0 victory in World Cup qualifying 45 years ago this month
- They last beat France in June 2015, winning a friendly 4–3 in Paris with current midfielder Youri Tielemans in their squad
- Of the 78 encounters between the teams, Belgium have 30 wins to 29 for France, with 19 draws and an aggregate lead for the Red Devils of 163-136
- Robert de Veen, who played for Belgium between 1906 and 1913, is the 13-goal top scorer in the history of the fixture, giving the Brugge striker four more than any other player ever to have featured
- In 38 visits from France, Belgium’s record is W20 D8 L10 with an aggregate scoreline advantage of 91-51, with that defeat in 2024 their first competitive home defeat in the fixture (W3 D1)
- France have won the last five editions of the fixture by an aggregate scoreline of 9-3, although only the most recent of those – a 2-1 victory in Brussels in the Nations League in October 2024 – was in Belgium
- This will be France’s 945th match since 1904, amassing 481 wins, 195 draws and 268 defeats while scoring 1,711 goal and conceding 1,272
- Mbappe is France’s all-time top scorer with 67 goals and became their eighth most-capped player by featuring against Turkey, moving level with Patrick Vieira and one behind Zidane’s total
- Each of France’s last 10 goals have come after the 47th minute, with five scored by Mbappe and two by Ousmane Dembele, who scored each of his after the 65th minute
- Les Bleus have scored at least twice in five of their last seven Nations League matches outside of France, failing to do so in Turkey and in a 2-0 defeat to Croatia in Split in March 2025, although they won the return match 2-0 and advanced to the semi-finals on penalties
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
