Football essentials for 4 October: Zidane shuffles his France side, Portugal rallies round Ronaldo

Tomorrow night at the Stade de France, France close their October gathering against Belgium. Sunday was about the men missing from that match, and about a Portugal searching for its footing without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Da Cunha owns his mistake, Zidane will change his side

Lucas Da Cunha’s heavy touch gifted Italy their equaliser on Friday (1-1), and the Como midfielder hid nothing: “I get caught on the ball and everything goes too fast.” Zinedine Zidane backed him (“when there is a mistake, it is everybody’s fault”) and promised rotation for France v Belgium: “There will be a few more changes, yes.”

Belgium without De Bruyne and Tielemans

Twice on the scoresheet in the 3-0 win over Turkey, Kevin De Bruyne will sit out Monday’s game, suspended along with Youri Tielemans, Manchester United’s holding midfielder; Dayot Upamecano, sent off against Italy, will miss it for France. Mark van Bommel has two days to rebuild his midfield. We covered these suspensions on Friday night.

Israel to wear black armbands against Ireland

On neutral ground in Serbia, the Israeli players will wear black armbands on Sunday night, “in memory of those who were murdered” on 7 October 2023, three days before the anniversary. UEFA approved the federation’s request, an answer to the armbands worn by the Irish players in the reverse fixture. The full context is in our report.

Portugal closes ranks around Ronaldo

Portugal won 4-2 in Copenhagen without Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the camp after learning he would not start. Bruno Fernandes defended him: Ronaldo will remain “the greatest symbol” of the national team, and the country should not divide. A minister went further: “Many people only know Portugal because of Cristiano Ronaldo.” Jorge Jesus will speak after the Norway game.

Argentina 7-0: the rout that embarrasses

Burkina Faso lost 7-0 at the Monumental on Saturday night with a squad almost entirely made of Under-23s who reached Buenos Aires five hours before kick-off, after being stuck in Morocco. The Argentine press called it a “shameful match”. Before Lionel Messi’s farewell against Benin on Tuesday, our report looks back at an evening whose score tells bettors nothing: jet-lagged Under-23s measure nobody.

Spain take their run to 41 matches

With a 3-1 win over Czechia, in which Lamine Yamal opened the scoring in the sixth minute, Spain became the first team to string together 16 matches without defeat in the Nations League since the competition was created in 2018. Their overall run now stands at 41 games unbeaten. Yamal and Luis de la Fuente’s words; the next test comes on Monday, in Croatia v Spain in Zagreb.

Ndiaye enjoys his Vélodrome return

Back at the Vélodrome for the first time since leaving Marseille in July 2024, Iliman Ndiaye scored in the fifth minute against Comoros (1-0), set up by Ibrahim Mbaye. A sixth international goal for the Manchester City winger, a third straight match without defeat for Patrick Vieira’s Senegal. Comoros barely threatened going forward.