France geared up for their Nations League games with a 2-0 friendly home defeat to Finland as their 12-match unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end on Wednesday.
Marcus Forss and Onni Valakari scored in the first half to give the Finns their first win against Les Bleus, having lost all their previous eight going into the game at the Stade de France.
France dominated possession and had the first clear chance when Marcus Thuram’s header crashed on to the crossbar but Didier Deschamps’ side, without the injured Kylian Mbappé, lacked inspiration throughout.
France, whose last defeat was in June 2019, face Portugal away on Saturday and Sweden at home on Tuesday in the Nations League.
Forss put the visiting side ahead against the run of play, beating the goalkeeper Steve Mandanda from close range with Finland’s first attempt of the game in the 28th minute. Valakari doubled the tally three minutes later with a superb 20-metre curled shot.
Deschamps replaced Olivier Giroud with Anthony Martial in the 57th minute and thedisappointing Paul Pogba with Ngolo Kanté, but the changes had little effect.
Michy Batshuayi scored twice in the second half as Belgium came from behind to beat Switzerland 2-1, a confidence-boosting win before their Nations League match against England on Sunday.
Batshuayi made it 13 goals in his past 13 internationals to maintain Belgium’s four-year unbeaten run at home.
Admir Mehmedi put Switzerland ahead early before Batshuayi equalised from a possible offside position early in the second half as both sides fielded makeshift lineups with an eye on the Nations League games.
After 12 minutes, the Belgian defender Sebastiaan Bornauw’s attempt at a clearing header served only to allow Mehmedi to score past Simon Mignolet.
Four minutes into the second half, Belgium equalised after a Swiss pass was snapped up by Youri Tielemans, who quickly played it to Batshuayi and he finished with aplomb. He appeared offside when the pass was played to him but with no VAR the goal stood.
Switzerland might have restored their lead had it not been for Mignolet and a timely block from Bornauw.
Yet Belgium claimed victory when Dodi Lukebakio set up a chance from the left which was played back into the centre by the debutant Thomas Foket for Batshuayi, who was given space to thump home.
The match was a first for Belgium at OH Leuven’s Den Dreef stadium, where they host England and then Denmark next Wednesday. The match was moved from Brussels owing to a curfew imposed as part of the Covid-19 lockdown in Belgium.
The Netherlands drew 1-1 at home to Spain after Donny van de Beek cancelled out an earlier goal from Sergio Canales.
The Netherlands defender Nathan Aké, of Manchester City, was forced off early in the game with a muscle injury.
Canales struck his first goal for Spain in the 19th minute, latching on to a pass from Álvaro Morata and firing low into the net. Van de Beek levelled early in the second half, beating Spain’s debutant keeper Unai Simón at the near post.
Luis Enrique’s side had dominated the first half but the Netherlands controlled the second and missed two clear chances to win. Simón thwarted the captain Memphis Depay from close range with a low dive but the forward should have put the chance away, and Luuk de Jong spurned a late foray into the area, losing control of the ball and allowing Spain’s defenders to get back.
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