France vs Italy Lineups October 2026 – Two European football giants will meet again in a duel filled with history. France and Italy, two long-standing rivals, will face each other in the continuation of the UEFA Nations League.

The match is scheduled to take place at Stade de France on Saturday, September 3, 2026 at 1:45 AM WIB, or Friday, September 2, 2026 at 8:45 PM local time.

After both teams secured victories in their second matches earlier this week, the two sides will continue their fight in League A Group 1 at Stade de France.

The match will also mark the return of the home coach as he looks to secure a victory in front of his own supporters.

Now, before the match begins, let’s take a look at Mansion Sports’ predicted France vs Italy lineups for October 2026 below!

Both Teams’ Condition Ahead of the Match

France

With two wins from two away matches so far, the beginning of Zinedine Zidane’s era as France manager has been almost perfect.

First, Les Bleus defeated Turkey 1-0 in Kocaeli thanks to a second-half goal from Kylian Mbappe. After that, they secured another three points with a victory in Brussels on Monday night.

After Zidane made several changes and his new team hit the woodwork twice, Michael Olise came off the bench and secured another victory for France over Belgium.

France have now won seven consecutive matches against their neighboring nation. This result puts them at the top of Group 1 with a maximum of six points.

Now preparing for two consecutive home matches, Zidane is certain to receive a warm welcome in Paris.

He will face Italy on Friday night, a match that feels special because 'Zizou' spent five years of his illustrious playing career with Juventus.

Both teams have previously defeated their opponents 3-1 away from home in the last Nations League.

However, France lead 4-2 in the head-to-head record since Italy secured victory in the 2006 World Cup final, which was also Zidane’s final match as a player.

Italy

While his French counterpart had to wait years before finally earning the top position, Roberto Mancini has been given a second opportunity to lead the Azzurri.

The coach who guided Italy to the Euro 2020 title began his second spell as national team manager with a disappointing 0-2 home defeat to Belgium. However, the team bounced back by thrashing Turkey 4-1 on Monday.

Italy immediately played aggressively in Bursa. Goals from Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Frattesi, and Michael Kayode gave them a three-goal lead before half-time. Kayode also made a major impact on his senior debut.

Continuing an impressive start to his international career, Kayode’s former Under-21 teammate, Pio Esposito, then added another goal. The goal came not long after the hosts managed to reduce the deficit.

After finally securing a victory, Mancini must continue building the team toward the next European Championship through this Nations League campaign, after Italy once again failed to qualify for the World Cup.

After briefly returning to their training center, La Nazionale will travel to the French capital before concluding their busy schedule by hosting Turkey in Bologna just three days later.

France vs Italy Lineups October 2026

France (4-3-3)

Regarding the France squad, amid a run of four competitive matches within 11 days, Zidane is likely to make more changes after only Mike Maignan and Maxence Lacroix retained their places in the previous match.

With Ibrahima Konate and William Saliba unavailable, Jeremy Jacquet partnered Lacroix at center-back.

Meanwhile, two Italy-based players, Andy Diouf and Lucas Da Cunha, also made their national team debuts.

Mbappe suffered an injury while scoring the winning goal in Turkey. As a result, Esteban Lepaul led the attack on Monday. However, the Rennes forward could be replaced by Ousmane Dembele.

Italy (4-3-3)

Meanwhile, for Italy, Inter Milan star Pio Esposito scored his sixth goal in 11 international appearances when he scored Italy’s fourth goal against Turkey. He started alongside his brother, Sebastiano.

Mateo Retegui was not called up, while Giacomo Raspadori has just suffered an injury. As a result, Moise Kean and Gianluca Scamacca will compete with the Esposito brothers for a place in the attack.

Mancini called up 34 players for this training camp, but 10 players were left out on Monday. Now, Nicolo Barella, Honest Ahanor, and Gianluca Mancini are among the players who could return to the competition for a place in the lineup.

The meeting between France and Italy once again brings together two teams with a long history in European football.

With both nations carrying victories from their previous matches, the clash at Stade de France will be an important part of their journey in League A Group 1.