Zidane praises team effort from France while calling Olise ‘a pure talent’

Zinedine Zidane praised Michael Olise’s “natural talent” following France’s victory over Belgium on Monday, expressing satisfaction with the contributions of various players after he made significant changes to the lineup.

Zidane implemented nine alterations to the squad that narrowly defeated Turkiye 1-0 in his debut match as coach last Friday, as France ventured just across the border to take on Belgium in the Nations League.

Although captain Kylian Mbappe missed the match due to a minor injury to his left knee, Olise, who came on as a substitute, played a crucial role by scoring the winning goal in the 88th minute.

The Bayern Munich player navigated from his own half before delivering a precise shot into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box, enhancing his tally to 13 goal involvements in his last 14 outings for France (four goals and nine assists).

Zidane commented on Olise, as reported by L’Equipe: “He embodies pure talent—he’s the type of player I admire. He plays to entertain others and possesses a deep understanding of football; he knows when to accelerate and when to pause. I’m delighted to witness his performance.”

13 – Michael Olise has been decisive 13 times in 14 matches for the French national team in 2026:

4 goals
9 assists

Virtuoso. https://t.co/2bFRzzbMjn

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) September 28, 2026

Zidane also lauded several players who stepped into the lineup. Paris Saint-Germain’s Maghnes Akliouche generated three chances and completed a game-high 35 passes into the final third, while his teammate Desire Doue created four chances, took five shots, and executed five successful dribbles.

This marked only the fifth time a French player has created four or more chances, taken five or more shots, and made at least five dribbles in a single game on record, following Nicolas Anelka (vs Faroe Islands in 2009), Franck Ribery (vs Belarus in 2012), and Mbappe on two occasions (vs South Africa in 2022 and Azerbaijan in 2025).

Liverpool defender Jeremy Jacquet also delivered an impressive performance, completing 91.8% of his passes (67 out of 73) and winning six of his nine duels.

“I’m very pleased with the team’s performance, both with and without the ball. Similar to the match against Turkiye, but on a superior pitch, we excelled throughout,” Zidane remarked.

“We executed our strategy effectively against a strong Belgium team that challenged us, but we remained resilient and bravely ventured into their half. That’s what I appreciate; that’s our goal. We might have experienced a slight dip in the second half as we faced some minor challenges, which is understandable given the nine changes we made, but I value that everyone feels included in this team.”

France will face Italy on Friday at Stade de France, followed by another home match against Turkiye next week as they continue their international campaign.