Domenico Tedesco urged his Belgium side to "write history" when the Red Devils host France in Monday's Nations League clash.

Belgium are three points behind Group A2 leaders Italy and trail second-placed France by two, with the top pair securing qualification to the quarter-finals.

Tedesco's men could cut that gap with victory in Brussels, though Belgium have not defeated Les Bleus in competitive action in 43 years.

The Belgium head coach called on his side to change the history books, with their last competitive win against France coming in World Cup qualification in 1981.

"Will the poor results against France from the past discourage us? It can be a motivation. We can actually write history," Tedesco said at Sunday's press conference.

"Of course, we will need a fantastic day. If you see who France can select then it doesn't really matter that [Kylian] Mbappe isn't there."

A home defeat and Italy overcoming Israel could effectively end Belgium's top-two hopes with two games remaining.

Bravery was the key message from Tedesco, who will be without both Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku again after the pair asked to not be considered for international selection in October.

The day before 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗱𝗮𝘆. pic.twitter.com/IfSlXkiyPF

— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) October 13, 2024

"We must be brave against France. We won't get many opportunities and we have to finish the ones we get," Tedesco said.

"We won't be able to put pressure on them for 90 minutes, so it's also important to defend well in our own box. It's going to be a big game."

Belgium shared a 2-2 draw away to Italy on Thursday, having been two goals behind inside 24 minutes.

"We didn't start well [against Italy]," he added. "We wanted to be compact, but we were way too impatient. And that quick [first] goal did not help.

"We are just human. It is in my character to also talk about the bad things. We must not hide that.

"But the match lasted 90 minutes, not half an hour. I want to emphasise that we showed a good response. With this young group, it was anything but a bad result against Italy."