France Beats Belgium 4-1 in Halftime as Substitutes Score Four Late Goals

The character of France could be seen in their 4-1 victory over Belgium in an exciting UEFA Nations League Group A1 match played at the Stade de France on Monday, October 5, 2026.

It was Belgium that seemed to have the momentum of the game all through as they were held off for some good time by France before they took the lead in the 35th minute through Dodi Lukébakio, who was assisted by Roméo Lavia.

This was not a good situation for France, as the team would go to the half-time break with Belgium very well organized in defense against a French side that had failed to make any impression in the attack.

But everything changed after the half-time interval due to bench goals for France within 13 minutes of the second half. The French team emerged from the dressing room with more attacking urgency and started applying more pressure to Belgium.

The equalizer for France came in the 57th minute courtesy of Désiré Doué, who found the back of the net from a Lucas Da Cunha pass, drawing the score to 1-1, shortly after Romelu Lukaku received a yellow card for Belgium.

This set France on course, and Doué, who had just been introduced as a substitute, was soon shaping the rest of the goals for the game. The introduction of this player totally altered the attacking approach of the French side.

Rayan Cherki scored the second goal for France in the 77th minute of play. This was from an assist from Michael Olise and resulted in a scoreline of 2-1.

Olise then made his presence felt in the 88th minute when he scored a goal from an assist from Doué, giving the scoreline as 3-1.

He soon followed this up with another goal in the 90+1 minute. This too came from an assist from Doué, resulting in a scoreline of 4-1.

In the end, Doué had scored one goal and made two assists, while Olise had netted two goals. The substitutes, hence, were crucial in turning the game around for France.

It was a remarkable contrast compared With the last match played between the two teams only a week ago, France beat Belgium 1-0 in Brussels owing to an amazing goal in the 89th minute from Olise.

In the previous game, Zidane had made nine substitutions after France won against Türkiye, with Désiré Doué hitting the crossbar, and the French team controlled most of the game without scoring any goals apart from the last-minute goal from Olise.

On Monday, the same trend was repeated; however, this time, France was much more successful in making use of their attacks.

The change in the game lay in the effectiveness of the substitutes made by France, which converted pressure into goals.

While Belgium managed to resist most of the game, the defensive formation started breaking down after the tempo of the game got up. It was after the equalizer was scored that everything went in favor of France.

This win made the French team accumulate 10 points in total for their four matches in Group A1, thereby giving them an edge of three points over Belgium, who still have six points despite this loss.

So far, France has been able to make three wins and one loss in their group matches, while Belgium has not managed to make any draws in their group matches yet; they have managed to make two wins and two losses.

The significance of this win is that it will make things easier for the French team in terms of getting ahead in the group standings. As the competition progresses, each point gets increasingly significant.

In addition, the game is another string of successes of the French side under Zidane, who has recently been put in charge of the team and has proved capable of leading a side that will not give up even when it is playing badly.

One of the major issues that was highlighted after the game was the depth of the French side.

It did not manage to score throughout the first half, but the introduction of some players, like Doué, and the effect of Olise have completely altered the game.

It becomes clear that squad depth plays a crucial role in the Nations League tournament.

It is not necessary for the side to dominate the match from the first minute as long as there are players who can turn the tide later on.

It will be disappointing for Belgium to lose this match because they managed to restrict France until the early stages. But after France got their equalizer, Belgium was not able to take control over the match anymore.