Michael Olise came off the bench in the 77th minute and settled France Vs Belgium in the 88th, guiding a left-foot finish past Courtois for a 0-1 win in Brussels. It was the kind of late strike that turns a flat away night into three points, and it gave France a second straight 0-1 victory under Zidane.
That was the reason people were searching the result now: France had looked short of rhythm for long stretches, Belgium had controlled the midfield when it had the ball, and the game seemed to be drifting until Olise arrived. Zidane had started with Doué, Lepaul, Barcola and Akliouche, then waited until the second half to turn to his biggest names, with Olise replacing Barcola and Camavinga coming on for Koné in midfield.
The decisive move was simple but sharp. Cherki played the quick pass that opened the attack, and Olise did the rest with the finish that Belgium could not stop. Zidane had kept his team conservative from the start, choosing a second-string France lineup for the visit to Brussels, while Van Bommel set Belgium up with the lines kept back, leaving the match tight and cautious rather than open.
That caution made France’s problems harder to hide. The team lacked midfield control because Camavinga, Akliouche and Lepaul did not link up cleanly, and the attack did not really breathe until the bench changed the pace. The contrast with Turkey is hard to miss: there, Olise, Mbappé, Dembélé and Cherki started; in Brussels, Zidane held most of them back and trusted the game to stay alive long enough for the late switch to matter.
The scoreline flatters neither side for long. France won, but only after waiting until the 88th minute to make its superiority count, and Belgium will be left with the sight of a match that was shaped by caution, not control. For Zidane, the cleanest takeaway is also the clearest warning: this group can keep winning without playing well, but it is leaning on Olise to turn hesitation into a result.
