France started the latest edition of the Nations League with two potentially tricky away trips against Turkiye and Belgium, but managed to take maximum points from both encounters.
Italy didn't make the most of their home advantage on matchday one, as they went down 2-0 against Belgium. However, a much improved performance away against Turkiye saw Gli Azzurri secure all three points with an impressive 4-1 victory.
The recent history between these two nations favours France, who have picked up three wins and suffered one defeat in the four matches against Italy since 2016. Each of those four games has ended with both teams scoring; in fact, the final scoreline of each game has been 3-1.
Whilst they are under new leadership now, France have only failed to score in one of their last 18 matches since qualifying for the 2026 World Cup began, and that run has been extended to 20 matches since Zinédine Zidane took charge.
Despite their failure to qualify for the most recent World Cup, Italy have scored in 12 of their last 14 matches since the World Cup qualifiers started back in June 2025, so you can see why we've backed both teams to score on Friday night in the Stade de France.
In terms of a potential goalscorer for the hosts in the absence of Kylian Mbappe, we can't look any further than Michael Olise.
The Bayern Munich star has scored six goals in five appearances in league and cup for the German giants, and after scoring the winning goal against Belgium last time out, the former Crystal Palace forward has now scored 10 goals in 27 caps for his country.
France 2-1 Italy
