PARIS: Kevin De Bruyne scored twice as Belgium beat Turkiye 3-0, while France were held 1-1 by Italy in the Nations League on Friday.

Napoli midfielder De Bruyne, in his 127th match for the Belgians, scored the opening goal, playing a nice one-two with Dodi Lukebakio before a cool finish from the edge of the box.

While Belgium looked threatening without creating many clear-cut chances, Turkiye posed the greater attacking danger after De Bruyne’s opener.

But they had no reward for their efforts in the Belgian city of Liege.

Instead, De Bruyne claimed a second, curling a ball from the edge of the box past Turkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir into the top corner.

“I try to lead by example for the younger players, and they follow easily,” said De Bruyne. “I feel I can still contribute. I am enjoying myself, and that is the main thing.”

A third came from Romelu Lukaku, Belgium’s record goalscorer, who had replaced Lukebakio.

A low cross from Charles De Ketelaere fell to Lukaku, who managed to skew the ball past Cakir from close range.

“Kevin De Bruyne always wants to play,” Belgium coach Mark van Bommel said.

“Italy, France, today. He is in a really good groove. He is radiating joy, and you can see that in the goals he is scoring.

“I am very pleased with the 3-0 win. We were sloppy in possession now and then and gave the opposition the feeling they could create chances.

“It went back and forth, and we were not controlled enough in those phases. We kept them in the match for a long time, though I never felt we were in danger of losing.”

It was a third defeat in as ma­ny games for Turkiye, while the result left Belgium one point adrift of Group A1 leaders France.

Zinedine Zidane’s French team took the lead through Mic­h­ael Olise in the 55th minute.

But Alessandro Bastoni equalised to deny Zidane victory in his first home game in the dugout for France.

A two-match winning run comes to an end, too, after Les Bleus conceded for the first time under the World Cup winner.

“It was tight, but I’m happy with the performance of my side and what I’ve seen,” insisted Zidane.

“Of course, it’s a slightly frustrating result because we perhaps deserved a little more, but still very happy with what we’ve put in place.”

Veteran striker Robert Lewa­n­dowski scored a hat-trick as Pol­and thrashed Romania 6-0 in Group 4 of League B, which also saw Bosnia-Herzegovina, with Ed­in Dzeko making his 152nd and final appearance for his cou­n­try, and Sweden battle to a 1-1 draw.

Ciaron Brown scored twice as Northern Ireland beat Ukraine 3-0 on neutral territory in Trnava, Slovakia, while Hungary beat Georgia 1-0 in the other Group 2 match.

Earlier in League C, Cyprus beat Armenia 2-0 at home in Group 2, while Montenegro managed a 2-1 win over Latvia in Riga.

In Group 3 action, Moldova pipped Kazakhstan 2-1 in Astana, while the Faroe Islands snagged a 1-1 home draw with Slovakia.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2026