A late goal from Theo Hernandez helped Les Bleus upstage Belgium and book their place in the Nations League final opposite Spain (October 10). The World Cup winners conceded twice before the break but staged a comeback in the second half, thanks to masterful performances from forwards Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema.
Belgium were in the ascendancy early on in Turin and nearly took the lead in the 4th minute after the ball fell to Kevin De Bruyne, whose close-range volley was saved superbly by Hugo Lloris. At the other end, Benjamin Pavard improvised a shot mid-air from a Mbappe cross but failed to trouble Thibaut Courtois in goal.
Yannick Carrasco put the Red Devils in front in the 37th minute with a well-taken goal. The attacker collected a pass from De Bruyne on the wing and ran at Pavard before cutting outside and beating Lloris with a shot at his near post. Three minutes later, the French goalkeeper was beaten at his near post again by Romelu Lukaku, whose fierce shot from a tight angle flew past him into the roof of the net.
Benzema pulled a goal back for Les Bleus in the 62nd minute; the striker collected a pass inside the box from Mbappe, made space for himself, and shot across Courtois into the bottom corner. Seven minutes later, the World champions made it 2-2 as Mbappe scored from the spot after Antoine Griezmann was fouled inside the box by Youri Tielemans.
Belgium thought they had retaken the lead in the 87th minute when Lukaku tapped in a cross from Carrasco – only for the goal to be ruled out due to an offside. To make matters worse for the Red Devils, left-back Hernandez beat Courtois with a superb strike from outside the box at the other end three minutes later, effectively winning the game for the French.
