Italy’s 3-1 Nations League victory over France at San Siro has been celebrated by the country’s newspapers as a turning point for the Azzurri, only months after their failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Italy have now missed the last three World Cup finals, making Thursday’s victory particularly significant. They overcame France despite what was viewed as a considerable difference in individual quality between the two teams.
France, fourth at the 2026 World Cup, travelled to San Siro seeking the win that would secure top spot in Group A of Path One. Zinedine Zidane’s side took an early lead, but Italy responded with a striking comeback and moved to the top of the group on 10 points, ahead of France on head-to-head record.
Daniele Manusia, RMC’s correspondent in Italy, said: “For Italy, this is an extraordinary achievement and almost difficult to believe. From our point of view, France are the best team in the world in terms of their players. Italy are not in the same world as France when it comes to individual ability, but they achieved victory through their style of play.”
‘San Siro believed in a new Mancini era’
La Gazzetta dello Sport welcomed what it described as a fresh beginning under manager Roberto Mancini, using the headline “Italy shakes” on its front page.
The newspaper also highlighted the difficult conditions during the match, asking: “Have you ever tried playing football in a swimming pool?”
It described Italy’s opening 10 minutes as a period in which “water was everywhere”, with heavy rain and sustained pressure from France. “They drowned and suffocated us,” it wrote, while noting that France eventually eased off and Italy regained their balance.
The paper identified Sebastiano Esposito’s missed penalty in the 59th minute as the match’s decisive moment. “Everyone thought the same thing: it’s over, the game is turning,” it said. “And it did turn in Italy’s favour. Italy began to control the match, and San Siro started to believe that we had beaten the best team in the world and that a new Mancini era had officially begun.”
‘Italy regain their greatness’
La Repubblica declared that “Italy regain their greatness”, while Corriere della Sera described the result as the start of the national team’s return to prominence and warned against underestimating its importance.
“Some people in bars, trams and trains will tell you that Italy always win when matches matter least, and that France, with Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele absent, will finish top of the group,” it wrote. “Perhaps that is true, but who cares?”
The newspaper contrasted the result with Italy’s troubles eight months earlier, saying the team had been “stuck in Zenica with no way out”, whereas San Siro was now celebrating in the rain.
It also noted that Italy had beaten France at home for the first time since 1962, when Altafini scored twice.
Corriere della Sera finished by pointing to the potential of a young squad, highlighting Pio, Kayode, Calafiori, Cambiaghi, Scalvini and Vergara. “We are looking at a team with an average age of 25 that is looking to the future,” it said.
