France, who lost to Italy on penalties in the final game of the World Cup last year, are in charge of Group B 19 points, one ahead of second-placed Scotland, who beat Lithuania 3-0.

The World champions are third with 17 points.

The home crowd whistled during France's national anthem, in reply to the bizarre comments made by Les Bleus manager Raymond Domenech and defender Lassana Diarra before the match.

Domenech accused Italy of bribing the referee of an Under-21 qualifying match for the 2000 Olympics between France and the Azzurri. He was consequently ordered to watch the encounter from the stands.

Arsenal newly-signed defender Diarra said Italy have a reputation of cheats and provokers.

The comments were enough to raise the tensions and the rivalry between both sides.

The first-half witnessed a far from entertaining football as both teams deployed a cautious strategy.

Fabio Cannavaro had the first chance for Italy after 14 minutes when he slipped in front of Eric Abidal to receive Andrea Pirlo's corner at the far post but his poor shot from an uncomfortable position hit the side netting.

Alessandro Del Piero was released by Mauro Camoranesi's through pass in the 33rd minute but his weak shot was easily handled by France keeper Mickael Landreau.

One minute later, Filippo Inzaghi's powerful shot from inside the area was denied by the bar.

Two minutes before the break, Nicolas Anelka laid off the ball to Florent Malouda on the edge of the area but the Chelsea man's shot was within the reach of Gianluigi Buffon.

Camoranesi dribbled past three defenders five minutes after re-start and unleashed a powerful drive that was tipped over by Landreau.

France's best chance came in the 52nd minute when Anelka went clear on goal but Buffon rushed out to block his effort.

Simone Perrotta and Cristiano Lucarelli were introduced instead of Camoranesi and Inzaghi respectively but weren't effective in helping Italy score a precious goal.