Football essentials, October 6: Zidane’s France up and running, Messi’s farewell tonight

The international break ends tonight with the most emotional send-off of the year: Lionel Messi’s last match for Argentina, at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. Zidane closed his first gathering as France coach with a 4-1 win over Belgium on Monday, and governance filled the rest of the day: supervision for the Italian federation, a UEFA investigation, complaints to FIFA.

Three wins from four for Zidane’s France

The first gathering of the Zidane era finished with a 4-1 win over Belgium on Monday, a third victory in four matches. Michael Olise closed the game with two goals in three minutes, after setting up Rayan Cherki: four goals in his last three matches, more decisive than anyone since the coach took over. Camavinga and Doué leave the camp with their stock rising, while Akliouche and Lepaul went home without a point scored. Zidane names his next squad in a month.

Messi plays his last match at 1am in Buenos Aires

Arrived in Argentina on Sunday, Lionel Messi plays his final international against Benin tonight (midnight UK time). The country has spent a week getting ready: a 4-0 win over Bolivia opened the post-Messi era, a 7-0 over Burkina Faso followed on Saturday, Cristian Romero is the new captain, and FIFA rules forbid retiring the number 10. The Monumental will not be big enough: five stadiums could have been filled for the night. We set out what the post-Messi era looks like.

Mbappé, a tense return ahead on Saturday

Injured against Turkey, Kylian Mbappé missed the end of the gathering and stacked the outings that annoy Madrid: a night out in a Paris club, a bike ride in the Swiss Alps, and Instagram stories read in Spain as digs at José Mourinho. “He is losing the affection of Real supporters,” RMC Sport summarises, and the Bernabéu is reportedly preparing a hostile reception. Still outside the group, he targets Villarreal on Saturday for his comeback.

Italian federation under supervision, president stays

The Italian Olympic committee (CONI) placed the Italian football federation (FIGC) under supervision on Tuesday, punishing a procedural flaw in the election of Giovanni Malago as its president. The elected president stays in office: supervision without eviction, for a federation that had just changed its leadership.

Alleged spit: UEFA opens an investigation

After Ireland and Israel drew 1-1 in Backa Topola on Sunday, UEFA opened an investigation on Tuesday into an alleged spit by a member of the Irish staff in the tunnel at half-time. Both meetings between the two nations produced incidents, and the Irish head coach had already asked the body not to pair his team with Israel again. The facts are reported here.

World Cup 2026: DR Congo should not have been there

Le Monde and the New York Times published coordinated investigations on Tuesday: goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi was ineligible and FIFA, informed, is said to have looked the other way. Knocked out by England in the round of 16, DR Congo had finished third in their group behind Portugal and Colombia. We covered the case this afternoon.

Norway files two complaints against Infantino

The Norwegian federation filed two complaints with FIFA on Tuesday targeting the governance of Gianni Infantino. The first asks the body’s ethics committee to examine the president.