Zinedine Zidane's first match as France manager was goalless at half-time, scrappy for long stretches and settled by the most predictable source available to him. Kylian Mbappe scored on 54 minutes, Michael Olise made it, and France won 1-0 in Kocaeli. France have not had a new head coach in fourteen years, and the first win under this one took about an hour to look inevitable.
The numbers describe a France side doing what France sides do. They had 64 per cent of the ball, played 654 passes to Turkey's 356, and completed 85.6 per cent of them against 74.7. What the numbers do not describe is a comfortable evening. Shots finished level at 12 each. Turkey had 21 touches in the France box against France's 23, and both goalkeepers made three saves. This was a tight game played at the pace Turkey wanted for long periods of it.
Olise to Mbappe, and that was the night
The goal came nine minutes into the second half. Olise, who spent the summer in the number ten role Zidane spoke about so fondly when he took the job, supplied it. Mbappe finished it. Zidane had said in July that he could not explain in a couple of words how his France would win matches and that he needed to meet the players first. Nine minutes into the second half of his first game, the answer turned out to be the one every France manager since 2017 has reached for.
France should have had more. They hit the woodwork once and had five attempts from outside the box, where Turkey managed two. Ousmane Dembele was denied by Altay Bayindir from range in the closing minutes. It stayed 1-0 and it stayed nervous.
Turkey lost a man and the game with it
Whatever chance Turkey had of an equaliser went with Çakır's red card on 87 minutes. They had earned five corners to France's three by then and had been getting into the right areas without finishing anything, and going down to ten with three minutes plus stoppage time left ended the argument.
Fourteen fouls for Turkey, fifteen for France, tells you how the game was refereed and how it was played. Neither side dominated physically. Turkey simply ran out of players and time at the same moment.
Five new faces and a beginning
Zidane named five uncapped players in this squad, which was his first real statement about doing things differently from Didier Deschamps, and he still leaned on the Mbappe-Olise-Dembele attack that scored 20 goals at the World Cup. Continuity and change in the same team sheet. A 1-0 away win in the Nations League opener does not settle which of the two he means to lean on, but it does mean the questions arrive with three points already banked.
Next comes Belgium, twice, and then Italy at the Stade de France on Friday 2 October, which will be the homecoming. Belgium, incidentally, won 2-0 in Italy on the same night and now lead Group 1 on goal difference.
Match facts: Turkey 0-1 France, Uefa Nations League League A Group 1, Turka Arac Muayene Kocaeli Stadyumu, Friday 25 September 2026. Half-time 0-0. Scorer: Kylian Mbappe 54 (assist Michael Olise). Sent off: U. Çakır (Turkey) 87. Possession 35.8% Turkey, 64.2% France. Shots 12-12, on target 3-4, corners 5-3, passes 356-654. Zinedine Zidane's first match in charge of France. Source: BBC Sport match data.
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