France manager Zinedine Zidane followed through on his promise to shake up his lineup, making ten alterations from the side that drew with Italy as his team welcomed Belgium to Paris in a high-profile Nations League fixture on Tuesday evening.
Among the headline changes, Guillaume Restes was handed his debut in goal in place of Mike Maignan, while Leny Yoro also earned his first cap, stepping in at centre-back for the injured Jeremy Jacquet. Jules Koundé, Andy Diouf, Maxence Lacroix, Manu Koné, Maghnes Akliouche, Bradley Barcola and Esteban Lepaul all came into the starting eleven, with the likes of Pierre Kalulu, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez's understudy Lucas Digne, Adrien Rabiot, Christopher Nkunku's rival Kingsley Coman and others such as Hugo Ekitike's teammate Warren Zaire-Emery left among the substitutes. The only player retaining his place from the draw with Italy was captain Ousmane Dembele, underlining his importance to the side regardless of experimentation elsewhere.
The wholesale changes were seen as a chance for Zidane to assess fringe players who have spent time with the squad without regular game time, while also maintaining harmony within the camp by rewarding patience with opportunity.
Belgium, under new coach Mark van Bommel, arrived in good form having beaten Italy away and defeated Turkey at home, sitting just a point behind France with a superior goal difference heading into the contest. Van Bommel also rotated his squad, most notably handing Maarten Vandevoordt his debut in goal in place of Senne Lammens, who had impressed while deputising for the injured Thibaut Courtois.
Elsewhere in defence, Joaquin Seys replaced Maxim De Cuyper. In midfield, with both Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne suspended, Romeo Lavia and Nicolas Raskin were drafted into the side. Lavia's recall was a welcome sight given his well-documented struggles with injuries in recent seasons. Up front, Romelu Lukaku and Diego Moreira were preferred to Mika Godts and Charles De Ketelaere, with the promising young Godts left on the bench for a potential second-half introduction.
The France lineup read: Restes; Koundé, Yoro, Lacroix, Diouf; Akliouche, Camavinga, M. Koné; Dembélé, Lepaul, Barcola, with Belgium responding with: Vandevoordt; Castagne, Mechele, Ngoy, Seys; Vanaken, Lavia, Raskin; Moreira, Lukaku, Lukébakio.
The fixture formed part of a broader round of Nations League matches played simultaneously across the continent. In the same group, Turkey travelled to face Italy, who also made changes to their starting side, including a first start for Francesco Camarda-linked prospect and others, with Gianluigi Donnarumma marshalling the defence in front of him. Turkey lined up with Uğurcan Çakır in goal behind a settled back four.
Away from that group, Northern Ireland hosted Georgia in Belfast, with Michael O'Neill's side setting up in a 4-3-3 formation against a Georgian team built around the attacking talents of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, the latter named among the substitutes.
All matches kicked off at 8pm BST, with the France-Belgium meeting in Paris widely regarded as the standout fixture of the evening, given the quality of both squads and the context of the standings, with France looking to consolidate top spot and Belgium eager to close the gap under their new manager.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football.