Zinedine Zidane got off to a winning start as France coach, with Kylian Mbappe securing him a 1-0 win over Turkiye in their Nations League opener.
Turkiye 0-1 France: Mbappe secures win on Zidane's debut
Kylian Mbappe continued his scoring run for France, but it remains to be seen if he will be available next time out after going off injured.
Mbappe found the breakthrough in the 54th minute but went off injured shortly after, and France could not add to his goal despite Turkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir being shown an 87th-minute red card for a handball outside his box.
Turkiye almost stunned France just four minutes in as Baris Alper Yilmaz latched onto a long ball, only to be denied by Mike Maignan, who also sprang back up to deny Can Uzun before a belated offside flag went up.
Mbappe then scuffed an effort wide at the other end, while Rayan Cherki saw a low shot blocked by Merih Demiral as France struggled to break through Turkiye's defence.
Michael Olise forced a stretching save out of Cakir in France's best chance of the first half, and Adrien Rabiot then blazed over from the resulting corner.
Les Bleus made a sluggish start to the second half, though, and could have been behind in the 50th minute, but Maignan reacted brilliantly to push the unmarked Ismail Yuksek's diving header over the crossbar.
And just four minutes later, Mbappe broke the deadlock. Turkiye lost possession deep in their own half, and Olise immediately switched it to the France captain, who drilled past Cakir from the left of the box.
However, he hurt himself in the process, immediately pulling up, and he lasted just five more minutes before he was substituted off.
Mbappe's replacement, Desire Doue, saw a long-range curler pushed away while Jules Kounde hit the foot of the left post after sitting Uzun down in the box.
Turkiye kept pushing for an equaliser, with Maignan standing tall at his near post to keep out Guler, but France finished with all the momentum after Cakir was sent off when he rushed out of his box to smother Bradley Barcola's run and the ball hit his outstretched arm.
Mbappe matches his own record but gives Zidane a worry
The last thing France – and Real Madrid fans – wanted to see was Mbappe exiting the pitch after receiving medical attention. While it may have been precautionary, the France captain looked uncomfortable.
He made his mark before he had to go off though, netting the first goal of the Zidane era and getting France off to a perfect start in the competition.
Mbappe scored his 12th goal for France in 2026, equalling the highest total for a Les Bleus player in a single calendar year in the 21st century, matching his own record from 2022.
France were far from their free-flowing best despite having a lot of their big hitters on the pitch as they accumulated 1.21 expected goals (xG) from 12 attempts, only slightly more than Turkiye's 1.14 xG from 12 shots.
Guler tried to work some magic for Turkiye, who are set to come up against it with Italy and Belgium also in their group, having three shots – a game high – while also creating three chances and having 88 touches, more than any of his team-mates.
