Italy bounced back from their opening loss with a 4-1 demolition of Turkey in Bursa, while France secured a late 1-0 win in Belgium to maintain their Group A1 lead.
In Brussels, both sides squandered opportunities before Michael Olise burst through the home defense in the 88th minute and fired a shot inside the post.
That gave Zinedine Zidane a second win in his long-awaited debut as France coach.
Roberto Mancini’s comeback to manage Italy had ended in Roman jeers on Friday when Italy lost their opener at home to Belgium.
His team dazzled in the downpour during the first half in Turkey.
“The players all put in an excellent performance today. It was a tough match and we approached it in the right way, staying high up the pitch and playing aggressively throughout the game,” Mancini told Italian television after the final whistle.
The hosts quickly fell three goals behind due to errors in their muddy goalmouth.
Twice Altay Bayindir failed to reach low cross-shots from the right.
After nine minutes, Celta Vigo goalkeeper Bayindir scooped a drive from Pio Esposito around the post.
From a corner, Bursa-born fullback Zeki Celik (Juventus) swung wildly at a low near-post cross, deflecting the ball to Alessandro Bastoni. The Inter Milan centre-back lunged to fire it into the roof of the net.
After 23 minutes, Bayindir flapped at an identical cross-shot from Michael Kayode into the path of Lazio’s Davide Frattesi, who tucked the ball home.
Intricate Italian passing around the penalty area repeatedly found a player free on the right side of the box.
When Brentford’s Kayode again found himself in that space, his shot for the near post eluded the plunging Bayindir.
Turkey gave the restless crowd hope in the 47th minute when Gianluigi Donnarumma was drawn beyond the far post by Oguz Aydin. Aydin found Baris Yilmaz, who drilled into an empty net.
The comeback lasted five minutes. Tottenham’s Sandro Tonali, in space, hit the post but Pio Esposito dived to nod home the rebound.
After the game, the Inter Milan striker’s thoughts turned to family.
“I dedicate today’s goal to my grandmother, who is going through a difficult time,” said Pio Esposito, who played alongside older brother Sebastiano of Sassuolo, making his Italy debut.
“Sharing the pitch with him was incredibly moving; I tried to support him before the match without putting too much pressure on him. Let’s hope we get to wear these colours together many more times.”
Galatasaray attacker Yilmaz then curled a shot home but Aydin of Besiktas, bouncing up and down in front of Man City’s Donnarumma, was offside.
Monday’s slick display may ease the pressure on Mancini, while piling it on his former Sampdoria club-mate and fellow ex-Italian international Vincenzo Montella.
Montella led Turkey to the quarter-finals at Euro 2024 but his side finished bottom of their group at the summer’s World Cup.
Fresh and ready
For their next match, Italy will visit the Stade de France on Friday.
“We’ll try to recover our strength and be ready for the match in Paris,” Mancini told Italian media. “I’m confident. We’ve got plenty of young players who are fresh and ready.”
In League B, Sweden won for the second time in Group 4, beating Poland 3-1 in Solna. Benjamin Nygren of Celtic pounced at the far post after eight minutes to give the hosts the lead.
Sebastian Szymanski of Rennes levelled for Poland with a shot that hit both posts before going in.
Brighton’s Yasin Ayari restored the home lead when he finished neatly despite losing his footing. Arsenal’s Victor Gyokeres added the coup de grâce.
Bosnia and Herzegovina are second after winning 4-2 against Romania in Bucharest.
In Group 2, Northern Ireland remained top after a 0-0 draw at home against Hungary, while Georgia and Ukraine also ended goalless in Tbilisi.
