France beats Turkey 1-0 in Zidane's coaching debut

Mbappé gives Zidane a winning start

Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal and then left with left-knee pain as France beat Turkey 1-0 in Zinédine Zidane’s first match as national team coach, Krone reported. Mbappé finished Michael Olise’s pass in the 54th minute. Désiré Doué replaced him six minutes later. No further injury diagnosis was immediately announced.

The result gave Zidane three points on his official debut. France also finished the match with 10 players, after Turkey goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır was sent off in the 87th minute for handling the ball outside his penalty area while stopping Bradley Barcola.

France’s new attacking shape

Zidane used a 4-3-3 formation, with Mbappé on the left and Ousmane Dembélé through the middle. Michael Olise moved to the right. The setup differed from the 4-2-3-1 formation used by Didier Deschamps, Zidane’s predecessor, during the 2026 World Cup, 20min reported.

Zidane had indicated that Mbappé could play in all three attacking positions. “I like him a lot on the left,” Zidane said. The position requires Mbappé to contribute more defensively than he did as France’s central striker, according to 20min.

France’s starting lineup also included Mike Maignan, Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano, Maxence Lacroix, Adrien Truffert, Manu Koné, Adrien Rabiot and Rayan Cherki. Turkey started Çakır, Zeki Çelik, Merih Demiral, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Ferdi Kadıoğlu, Salih Özcan, İsmail Yüksek, Can Uzun, Arda Güler, Oğuz Aydın and Barış Alper Yılmaz.

Turkey keeps the game close

Turkey threatened after halftime. İsmail Yüksek headed a corner toward Maignan, but the France goalkeeper made the save. Arda Güler and Oğuz Aydın also tested France without scoring.

The match was even on the shot count, with both teams attempting 12. Turkey had the stronger early spell after halftime, but France took the lead when Olise intercepted a misplaced pass and found Mbappé.

After Mbappé’s departure, France brought on Doué, then Eduardo Camavinga and Bradley Barcola. Turkey removed Barış Alper Yılmaz to bring on goalkeeper Altay Bayındır after Çakır’s red card. France held on through eight minutes of added time, and Zidane’s first result ended 1-0.