De Bruyne and Lewandowski lead Nations League wins as Zidane draws in home debut

Belgium sweeps Turkey in Liège

Kevin De Bruyne scored twice to guide Belgium to a 3-0 win against Turkey in their UEFA Nations League Group A1 fixture at Stade Sclessin in Liège. The 35-year-old midfielder opened the scoring in the tenth minute following a one-two with Dodi Lukébakio, before curling a second shot into the corner on the hour mark to reach 40 international goals in 127 caps. Turkey generated chances through Real Madrid midfielder Arda Güler, but Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens stopped all three of his attempts on target during a fast-paced first half that produced ten Belgian attempts to Turkey's eight. Substitute striker Romelu Lukaku sealed the victory in the 76th minute, recording his 94th goal in 134 appearances for his national team after replacing Charles De Ketelaere.

Van Bommel assesses performance ahead of Paris trip

The victory moved Belgium to six points from three matches under manager Mark van Bommel, following an earlier 2-0 win in Italy and a 1-0 defeat to France in Brussels. Van Bommel started Hans Vanaken alongside De Bruyne and Youri Tielemans in midfield, while leaving Zeno Debast, Arthur Theate, and Kyriani Sabbe on the bench. Both De Bruyne and captain Tielemans received their second yellow cards of the campaign, which rules them out of Monday's fixture against France at the Stade de France. Speaking after the final whistle, Van Bommel reflected on the open tempo of the contest against Vincenzo Montella's squad.

It is true that it looked like a ping-pong match. They also created quite a few opportunities. We could have lost. We mainly tried to control the match.

France held by Italy in Zidane home debut

In the other Group A1 match, France drew 1-1 against Italy at the Stade de France in manager Zinédine Zidane's first home game in charge. Michael Olise put the hosts ahead in the 55th minute with a 20-meter curling effort that went in off the crossbar. Italy equalized midway through the second half when central defender Alessandro Bastoni ran through the French defense to clip a low shot inside the right post. The result keeps France top of the group with seven points, followed by Belgium with six, Italy with four, and Turkey in fourth place with zero points after three consecutive defeats.

Lewandowski hits three while Džeko finishes international career

Action across League B saw Robert Lewandowski score a hat trick during Poland's 6-0 victory over Romania. The 38-year-old Chicago Fire striker converted a 24th-minute penalty after Romanian defender Radu Dragusin received a straight red card for a foul inside the penalty area. Lewandowski added a second goal in the 47th minute from a Nicola Zalewski pass before completing his treble late in the match. Elsewhere in League B, Bosnia and Herzegovina captain Edin Džeko ended his 19-year international career during a 1-1 draw against Sweden. The 40-year-old forward, who debuted in June 2007, departed in the 63rd minute through an honor guard holding national records of 152 caps and 73 goals.