Nations League: France win, Mbappé misses, Switzerland without Embolo

On a cool Friday evening in Turkey, France were seen leaving with a 1-0 victory, while Kylian Mbappé had to leave the field after the only goal with a knee injury. The Red Lions remain unbeaten in the Nations League, but their star misses the upcoming matches against Belgium. The evening also delivered a series of surprising results and controversy.

Results and individual dramas

France won in Ankara with a single goal, scored by Mbappé, who then left the match and will miss the rest of the international break. Zinedine Zidane later stated that the French team “does not want to take risks” with the injured striker. In the same round Belgium topped the group after an impressive victory in Italy, allowing the Red Devils to nurture dreams of the quarter‑finals.

Northern Ireland won in Nations League B with a late goal from Georgia, who earlier missed a penalty. Ukraine and Sweden both secured victories, while Poland and Bosnia‑Herzegovina ended in a 0‑0 draw. In a separate incident the 25‑year‑old Irish midfielder Jason Knight said: “I don’t think this match should continue,” adding extra controversy to the Irish confrontation with Israel.

Broadcast and disciplinary issues

The Irish national broadcaster RTE, contractually obliged to broadcast the match, nevertheless refused advertising, a framing programme and a commentator for the match in Hungary, leaving the future of the broadcast uncertain. In Switzerland forward Breel Embolo was excluded from the upcoming Nations‑League matches because of falsified test certificates, while captain Granit Xhaka was suspended earlier this week for the same reason. The Swiss now have to play without both star holders against North Macedonia, Scotland and Slovenia.

Mika Godts shines, the Red Devils dominate Italy in the first half

In the qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup, Morocco under national coach Mohamed Ouahbi opened their campaign with a 2‑0 victory over Gabon in Rabat. Noussair Mazraoui opened the scoring in the 36th minute, after which Soufiane Rahimi confirmed the final score. Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou had to intervene several times against the dangerous attacks of the “Panthers”.

Also in the African qualifiers, Union midfielder Adem Zorgane played for Algeria, together with former Union striker Mohamed Amoura, in a 3‑1 victory over Zambia. In Cairo Angola secured a 0‑0 draw against Egypt, with Marsoni Sambu – known from RWDM and Seraing – in the starting lineup.

Van Bommel leads Belgium to first triumph over Italy since 1972

Back in the Belgian league, an aggressive confrontation between Marcos Peano and a Leuven attacker resulted in a red card in the final minutes of the match in Den Dreef, after which La Louvière conceded a second equaliser and suffered a costly loss in the battle for survival.