Belgium vs France: Nations League clash in Brussels without Mbappé
Belgium and France met in Brussels on Monday for the second round of UEFA Nations League Group A1, with France missing injured captain Kylian Mbappé. Both sides arrived off wins from their opening matches.
The match in Brussels
On Monday, 28 September, Brussels hosted the second-round UEFA Nations League Group A1 match between Belgium and France, according to Al Jazeera. The game was played at the King Baudouin Stadium (Stade Roi Baudouin). Al Jazeera reports kick-off was scheduled for 8:45pm local time (18:45 GMT), while other sources (Yahoo Sports/Playmaker) state the match was set to be broadcast at 19:45 — sources do not agree on the exact kick-off time.
Mbappé missing
France had to do without captain Kylian Mbappé, who suffered a knee injury during the previous match against Turkey due to a poor pitch, according to Yahoo Sports. The captain's armband for the game against Belgium passed to Adrien Rabiot. France head coach Zinedine Zidane decided to rotate his squad, handing debuts to Andy Diouf (Inter) and Lucas Da Cunha (Como), while regular starters Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise began the match on the bench.
Belgium's side
The hosts are managed by Mark van Bommel. According to Yahoo Sports, he was without goalkeeper Mike Penders, who has a thigh muscle injury, as well as forward Leandro Trossard. Mika Godts was expected to start. Following a first-round win worth 3 points, Belgium sat top of the group alongside France, who opened their campaign with a 1-0 win over Turkey.
Formations and officials
Belgium lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, France in a 4-3-3, according to the BBC. The match was refereed by Slovenian official Rade Obrenovic, with Matej Jug as VAR, Jure Praprotnik and Matej Zunic as assistant referees, Martin Matosa as fourth official, and Alen Borosak as assistant VAR official.
