France set to host Italy in Zidane’s first home match

France were scheduled to host Italy at the Stade de France on October 2 in a UEFA Nations League Group A1 match, marking Zinedine Zidane’s first home game as France coach. The pre-match reports placed kickoff at 8:45 p.m. local time, or 6:45 p.m. GMT. They were published before the match and do not establish whether it took place or what the result was. France entered the fixture with six points from two matches, following 1-0 wins over Türkiye and Belgium, according to one match preview. Italy had three points: they lost 2-0 to Belgium before defeating Türkiye 4-1. Those results put France at the top of the group and Italy second-to-last at that stage of the campaign. The match offered Zidane his first opportunity to lead France on home soil since taking over from Didier Deschamps in late July, the preview reported. He had guided the team to two away wins in his first matches in charge. Zidane, a former France captain, was returning to the Stade de France, where he last appeared as a player in a 2006 friendly against Mexico, according to the same report.