Striker Randal Kolo Muani scored a goal as France took a giant step towards the Nations League quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over hosts Belgium in a League A Group 2 match in Brussels on Monday.

Kolo Muani scored his opener from the penalty spot after a handball from Wout Faes, but Lois Openda equalized in first-half stoppage time after Belgian captain Youri Tielemans had earlier missed a penalty.

Kolo Muani headed in a second just past the hour mark and France managed to hold on for the win despite losing midfielder Aurelien Tchouaméni to a second yellow card with 14 minutes remaining.

Italy leads the group with ten points from four games, followed by France on nine. Belgium has four points and Israel zero. The two best teams will qualify for the quarter-finals to be played in March next year.

Belgium had hoped to end their 43-year wait for a competitive victory over France and create enough chances to have earned more from the match, but squandered a goal up front, an all too familiar theme for the side.

They were without playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and striker Romelu Lukaku, both of whom requested waivers, while France were without their talisman Kylian Mbappe as he also did not make himself available for selection in this international window.

Openda won a penalty when he drove clear and his clever change of direction saw him fouled in the penalty area by a slipping William Saliba. However, Tielemans shot his penalty over the bar.

France then earned a penalty of their own when Faes used his arm to strike the ball as he fell to the ground in the penalty area and this time Kolo Muani converted easily.

Openda turned Belgian pressure into a goal late in the first half when he headed Timothy Castagne’s cross into the net, a well-constructed move that timed his run to perfection.

Ousmane Dembele flashed a shot wide from the edge of the box and Manu Kone had the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed due to a handball from Kolo Muani in the build-up.

France took the lead again in the 62nd minute when Kolo Muani headed in Lucas Digne’s cross from the left, although Belgian goalkeeper Koen Casteels will think he should have made the save.