France Stage Stunning Comeback Against Belgium, Olise Scores Twice

France produced a remarkable comeback in the UEFA Nations League, overturning a 1-0 deficit after 76 minutes to beat Belgium 4-1 with a late four-goal burst.

Michael Olise was the star of the show, scoring twice for France. Rayan Cherki and Désiré Doué also found the net as the French side completed a dramatic turnaround in the final stages of the match.

Olise also created a piece of French football history under new coach Zinedine Zidane. He became the first French player to register either a goal or an assist in each of his first four matches under a new national-team coach. Across those four games under Zidane, Olise has recorded four goals and two assists.

The Bayern Munich midfielder has now scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists in his first 29 appearances for France, giving him a direct contribution to 22 goals. According to Stats Foot, no French player had produced as many goal contributions in their first 29 international appearances since Youri Djorkaeff in 1997. Djorkaeff had contributed to 23 goals during that period, scoring 15 and assisting eight.

Olise has also been effective against teams ranked among FIFA’s top 10. His four goals against such opponents put him level with former France striker David Trezeguet, while Ousmane Dembélé has three.

Dembélé, meanwhile, is going through a quieter spell for the national team. He has failed to score or provide an assist in four consecutive France matches. It is his longest such run since a nine-match spell without a goal contribution between November 2023 and September 2024.