The France national football team will face Italy on Friday, October 2, in a UEFA Nations League Matchday 3 fixture at the Stade de France in Paris.
Head coach Zinedine Zidane leads the French squad into the encounter following a 1-0 road victory against Belgium. The host nation is seeking its third victory in the group stage of the European competition.
Italy travel to the French capital after securing their first win of the campaign, a 4-1 victory against Turkey away from home.
The fixture brings together two of the most decorated national teams in international football history. France, known as Les Bleus, are two-time World Cup winners, while Italy, known as the Azzurri, have won four World Cup titles and two European Championships.
Recent form and head-to-head record
France enter the match with a dominant recent record against their Italian rivals. Over the last five head-to-head meetings between the two sides, France have won four times, while Italy have claimed victory once.
That single Italian victory in the recent series came while playing away on French soil. Italy will look to replicate that result when they step onto the field in Saint-Denis, just north of Paris.
French manager Zinedine Zidane took charge of the national team after a celebrated club management tenure at Real Madrid, where he won three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles. As a player, Zidane won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France.
The Stade de France, which serves as the host venue for Friday's match, is France's national stadium. Opened in 1998 for the FIFA World Cup, the venue features a seating capacity of more than 81,000 spectators for major international sporting events.
The UEFA Nations League is UEFA's biennial international football tournament for European men's national teams. The competition was created to replace international friendly matches with competitive, meaningful fixtures across different league tiers.
Kickoff times and broadcast options
The match will kick off at 1:45 p.m. Peru time on Friday. Television coverage across Latin America will be broadcast live on ESPN, while La República Deportes will provide minute-by-minute text coverage of the game.
For supporters watching in other time zones across the Americas, the game kicks off at 12:45 p.m. in Costa Rica and Mexico.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
In the United States, fans in Miami, Washington D.C., and New York can watch the game starting at 2:45 p.m., which is also the kickoff time in Bolivia and Venezuela.
Viewers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay can tune in at 3:45 p.m., while the match kicks off at 8:45 p.m. local time in Spain.
Betting odds for France against Italy
Major sports betting operators consider France to be heavy favorites to win the Matchday 3 encounter on home turf.
On Betsson, France are priced at 1.43 to win, with a draw at 4.55 and an Italy victory at 6.80. Betano offers odds of 1.47 for a France win, 4.75 for a draw, and 6.40 for an Italian victory.
Bet365 lists France at 1.45 to win, a draw at 4.75, and Italy at 6.00. Meanwhile, 1XBet sets France at 1.46, a draw at 5.10, and an Italy win at 6.72.
Caliente prices a home victory for France at 1.43, a draw at 4.75, and an Italy win at 6.75. Doradobet offers odds of 1.42 for France to win, 5.00 for a draw, and 6.66 for an Italy victory.
