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• Tedesco 'still hurt' by France defeat at Euro 2024

  Domenico Tedesco says Belgium are still hurting after their Euro 2024 exit to France as they prepare to meet them in the Nations League on Monday.

  Belgium suffered a 1-0 defeat to France in the round of 16 at the Euros, conceding an 85th-minute Jan Vertonghen own goal to send them crashing out after a poor tournament.

  It was a tight affair when the sides met in July, with both only managing two shots on target, though France's came from 19 overall attempts compared to Belgium's five.

  And Tedesco would rather forget about that meeting as he targets a more positive result this time around.

  "At the European Championship, it was a close one against France. We could have won too,” Tedesco told reporters.

  "France were a bit better, they deserved to win, but we also had our chances. It would be a lie if I said that match is forgotten. It still hurts. I often think about the European Championship, but you also must look ahead.

  "Looking back is not always the best solution. We have to be ambitious; it's been a long time since we beat France in a competitive match with commitment. Let us perform well, and then the rest will follow."

  Tedesco also admitted that Belgium over-prepared for that meeting with France, with their adjustments to the game plan proving detrimental.

  "The last match at the European Championship was different from the one now, it was a knockout match," he added.

  "We learned that we adjusted our own plans a bit too much then. You always have to analyse your opponent, but we adjusted excessively."

• Deschamps 'not changing course' despite Italy defeat

  Didier Deschamps will "not change course" ahead of France's Nations League clash with Belgium despite defeat to Italy in their last match.

  France fell to a shock 3-1 loss in Paris in their opening Group A2 game at the Parc des Princes on Friday.

  Deschamps handed debuts to Bayern Munich's Michael Olise and Roma's Manu Kone, who came on as a substitute.

  The France manager, however, feels he must continue with the rotation against Belgium due to the structure of World Cup qualification.

  "The six Nations League matches must be used to introduce new players and distribute playing time," Deschamps told reporters.

  "If we had a different schedule and were playing World Cup qualifiers, I would not have chosen this course, that's for sure. But I chose it because I believe that we have to go through it. I'm not going to change course."

  Despite Bradley Barcola scoring France's fastest goal ever after just 12 seconds, Italy were able to come back and win comfortably.

  Prior to that meeting, France had not lost to Italy since June 2008. Deschamps will be hoping for an improved performance against Belgium, who his team beat 1-0 in the round of 16 at Euro 2024.

  "I can't be satisfied with the match against Italy, nor can the players. Tomorrow is another game, another context, a different team with the same obligation," he added.

  "The course I have taken is to give as much playing time to as many players as possible. Whatever the playing time, there is always pressure, you have to perform as well as possible."

  France face Belgium in the Nations League on Monday at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon.

• United States mentality issues to blame for Canada loss

  The United States must tackle some concerning mentality issues, which are to blame for their defeat to Canada.

  That is the view of interim coach Mikey Varas, who has few answers for solving the problem.

  USA were beaten 2-1 by Canada in Kansas City on Saturday, in their first game of the post-Gregg Berhalter era.

  It marked Canada's first victory on US soil in 67 years.

  And while Mauricio Pochettino reportedly waits in the wings to take over the Stars and Stripes, Varas hit out at the team's mentality.

  "The mentality is on the players. They know it," he told reporters.

  "We speak the truth to each other. I love those guys. But they know that mentality to fight, to run and to sacrifice, I can't do that for them. That's on them.

  "I'm not a psychologist, so I don't know. I felt that the training [sessions] were intense. They were aggressive.

  "But when the game comes, you gotta get going. And the players are the ones that bring that. Coaches can only get you so far from a mentality perspective."

  Varas did shoulder some of the blame, too, suggesting he may have tried to introduce too many new ideas, too soon.

  "I think on the ball, that's on me," he said.

  "I want to present some ideas to them and you just never know how it's going to translate from training to the game after three training sessions. And I asked a lot of them, you know, and if there's a goal, I mean, that's on me.

  "When you don't have a lot of time to work and you want to play a certain way it creates confusion.

  "Players are going to take responsibility for quality of action. The translation of the ideas wasn't clear enough because you shouldn't be static and you shouldn't pass the ball just to pass the ball. You're trying to be trying to accelerate play as quickly as you can."