Belgium-France: Nations League top spot at stake

Belgium and France meet in Brussels on Monday with first place in Group 1 of the Nations League’s top division at stake. The match is the second round of the campaign and arrives only three days after both teams began with victories. That gives the meeting an early bearing on the group’s hierarchy.

France opened with a 1-0 victory away to Turkey, in the first match of Zinedine Zidane’s tenure as coach. Kylian Mbappe scored the winning goal, but the France captain was taken off injured and is unavailable for the visit to Belgium. Zidane will therefore have to make his first changes to the team that began his reign with a win.

Belgium also collected three points in their opening fixture, defeating Italy in Rome. Mika Godts and Dodi Lukebakio scored for Mark van Bommel’s side. The Belgian team now has home advantage at the King Baudouin Stadium as it seeks to move ahead of France in the early group race.

Kick-off is scheduled for 20:45 Paris time, with Slovenian referee Rade Obrenovic in charge. TF1 will broadcast the entire match free to air in France. The fixture will also be followed live with commentary on the RMC Sport website and app, and on RMC radio. Belgium have won 30 of the 78 previous meetings, compared with 29 victories for France, while 19 encounters ended level.