Adrien Rabiot scored two headers as France secured a 3-1 victory over Italy at the San Siro, overtaking the Azzurri to win Nations League Group A2.
The Marseille midfielder opened the scoring by heading in Lucas Digne’s corner, giving Les Bleus an early lead. Aston Villa defender Digne later saw his free-kick hit the crossbar before deflecting in off Italy goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, doubling France’s advantage.
Italy, needing to lose by only one goal to remain top of the group, found a lifeline when Andrea Cambiaso scored with a cushioned volley. However, Rabiot sealed the win with an excellent header into the top corner from Digne’s pinpoint left-wing free-kick.
Both Rabiot and Digne marked their 50th international caps in the match.
Moise Kean nearly salvaged Italy’s top spot in stoppage time, but his effort was denied by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Reflecting on the game, Maignan said: “We were out for revenge. It was about pride after losing at home against them,” referring to Italy’s 3-1 victory at the Parc des Princes in September.
The defeat marked Italy’s biggest home loss in a competitive match since a 3-0 loss to Sweden in 1983.
France coach Didier Deschamps, who notably left Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé out of the squad, praised his team’s performance. “We had a young squad,” he said. “I wanted to see a lot of players, and winning here against an Italian team who were full of confidence is a great performance.”
Both teams had already secured spots in the Nations League quarter-finals in March. France will head into the next stage as a seeded team, while Italy will not, following the group standings.