Mbappé breaks the deadlock in Turkey as Zidane begins France reign

France began the Zinédine Zidane era with a 1-0 victory in Turkey on Tuesday night in the opening match of the Nations League. Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal of the game, but the French captain suffered a knee injury and had to leave the field, overshadowing a generally positive outcome.

Set up in a 4-3-3 formation on a difficult pitch and in a hostile atmosphere, the Blues took time to settle. The best chances of the first half came late in the period, through Rayan Cherki (41st), Michael Olise (43rd) and Adrien Rabiot (44th), but none were converted.

The start of the second half proved trickier for the French defence. A deflected free kick from Arda Güler (50th) and a decisive save by Mike Maignan against Yuksek (51st) underlined the difficulty of the task. But it was soon after that Mbappé made the difference: after a high recovery by Cherki and a pass from Olise, the captain finished to open the scoring (54th).

France then had several chances to extend their lead, notably through Jules Koundé (68th) and Olise (72nd), but failed to double their advantage. Arda Güler continued to trouble the French defence (75th), but the closing stages saw the match played out at ten against eleven after the Turkish goalkeeper was sent off for stopping a Bradley Barcola counter-attack with his hand outside his area (86th).

The concern is Mbappé’s knee injury, which casts doubt on his participation in the next match of the international break. France travel to Belgium on Monday for the second Nations League fixture.