Zinedine Zidane’s reign as France head coach began with a win. In a tense Türkiye vs France Nations League opener at Kocaeli Stadium on Friday night, Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal early in the second half, and Türkiye’s hopes of a late equaliser ended when goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır was sent off three minutes from time.
The 1-0 result puts France on the board in League A, Group 1, a section that also contains Italy and Belgium.
Mbappé strikes, then makes an early exit
France controlled the ball for long spells, finishing with around two-thirds of possession, but Vincenzo Montella’s Türkiye held firm through a goalless first half. The breakthrough came in the 54th minute, when Michael Olise teed up Mbappé and the France captain finished with his right foot from the centre of the box.
Just five minutes later Mbappé was replaced by Désiré Doué. There was no immediate official explanation for the early change, so France fans will be watching for news on their captain before the next game.
Çakır red card ends Türkiye’s push
Türkiye threw on Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Eren Elmalı in the 76th minute, and Arda Güler, booked in the first half, kept trying to drag his side forward. But on 87 minutes substitute Bradley Barcola broke clear, and Çakır came out of his area and handled the ball to stop him. After a VAR check the goalkeeper was shown a straight red card, and Altay Bayındır came on to finish the game in goal.
Zidane’s first lineup had a new look after France’s fourth-place finish at the 2026 World Cup: Mike Maignan in goal, Rayan Cherki and Olise starting behind Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, and no William Saliba or Ibrahima Konaté, both absent injured. Türkiye were without Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Kenan Yıldız.
What’s next after Türkiye vs France
There is little time to celebrate. France travel to Belgium on Monday, September 28, with kick-off at 8:45pm CEST (2:45pm ET), then host Italy at the Stade de France on Friday, October 2, also at 8:45pm CEST. Türkiye host Italy on Monday, September 28 at 8:45pm CEST, and will have to plan without the suspended Çakır.
For Mbappé, whose Real Madrid lost the Madrid derby 2-1 to Atlético last weekend, the goal was the perfect start to Zidane’s era. The question now is whether he is fit to face Belgium.
