Italy’s France win highlights Donnarumma record and youthful French line-up

Italy produced a series of notable statistics in their 3-1 victory over France in the fifth round of the Nations League on Thursday.

France took an early lead through Michael Olise in the 10th minute, but Italy recovered to claim victory with two goals from Francesco Pio Esposito, in the 26th and 75th minutes, and one from Davide Frattesi in the 63rd minute.

The result extended Italy’s remarkable record in meetings with France. According to Opta, Italy have now won nine times against France after conceding the opening goal a figure at least five higher than that of any other team against Les Bleus.

The match also added to an unwanted statistic for Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. His misplaced pass allowed Olise to score France’s opener, taking the number of errors that have directly led to an opposition goal during his professional career to 38, Opta said.

Donnarumma has made 31 of those errors at club level and seven while playing for Italy.

France also fielded an unusually youthful starting XI under manager Zinedine Zidane. Seven of their starters were under the age of 25: Malo Gusto, Jeremy Jacquet, Adrien Truffert, Rayan Cherki, Michael Olise, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola.

It was the first time since France’s match against Greece in June 2023 that the team had started a game with seven players aged under 25.

The selection reflected Zidane’s decision to give greater opportunities to a new generation of French players, with several established names unavailable. Kylian Mbappe was among those missing through injury.

France began confidently and created opportunities to extend their lead. Barcola hit the post, while Donnarumma turned away a Cherki effort which then struck the post.

Italy gradually regained control, taking advantage of mistakes from their opponents to secure an important win. The three points lifted them to 10 points, level with France at the top of Group A, although Italy lead on head-to-head record.

The victory was also Italy’s first at home against France since 5 May 1962, when they won 2-1 in Florence.

France opened the scoring in that match through Jean-Claude Piumi in the 28th minute. Italy responded with two goals from Jose Altafini, who struck in the 47th and 51st minutes to complete the comeback.