Italy fell behind after just 12 seconds but came back to beat France 3-1 on Friday in a highly entertaining opening match of the Nations League A Group 2.

Bradley Barcola found the net in the opening minute when he caught Giovanni Di Lorenzo napping and ran into the penalty area himself before curling his shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Italy levelled after half an hour when Federico Dimarco turned in a deft pass from Sandro Tonali with a backheel. After an exciting first half, the teams were level at the break.

Five minutes after the break, France were shocked again by Davide Frattesi who put Italy ahead, and Giacomo Raspadori gave the visitors some breathing space in the 74th minute to calm the crowd in the Parc des Prince.

Both teams went into the match with ambitions to bounce back from their disappointing performance at Euro 2024, but it was Italy who secured a much-needed victory.

The visitors started terribly, with Di Lorenzo taking far too long to deal with a back pass and Barcola bursting out of the blocks to score their first international goal.

The match started hectically and five minutes later Italy had a chance to equalise, but Frattesi headed the ball against the crossbar from close range.

Donnarumma saved shots from Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise to make his debut before Italy equalised, with Tonali’s assist as impressive as the shot that found the net.

Tonali, back in the team after a 10-month suspension for breaching betting rules, played a beautiful one-two with Dimarco, who continued his advance into the penalty area and fired a superb left-footed volley beyond Maignan’s reach.

“Great game. We were afraid he (Tonali) wouldn’t make it through the 90 minutes, but in the end he gave two good bursts. We found another very strong player,” Italy manager Luciano Spalletti told RAI.

Italy started the second half quicker, with Retegui’s perfect cross-field pass teeing up Frattesi. His shot cleared Maignan at the near post, and a few minutes later Maignan came down to save a Frattesi header from a corner.

They found the all-important third goal with two second-half substitutes, Destiny Udogie passing to Raspadori who was running into the box and he rounded William Saliba to fire past the oncoming Maignan.

France put on the pressure and looked for a way out, but Italy held firm and took all three points.

In the other group match on Thursday, Belgium defeated Israel 3-1. In the next round on Monday, France will play Belgium and Italy will play Israel away in Budapest.