Zidane shifts Mbappé to the left and adopts 4-3-3 for France debut

Zinedine Zidane is set to make his mark from his first starting eleven as France manager, with tactical choices that mark a clear departure from the Didier Deschamps era. According to Foot Mercato, the manager should field a 4-3-3 for the trip to Turkey on Friday, September 25, in the Ligue des Nations.

The most striking change concerns Kylian Mbappé, who would return to the left flank of the attack. Under Deschamps, the France captain operated more centrally or in a false nine position. In this new system, Ousmane Dembélé would start as the central striker — a role he regularly occupies at PSG — and Michael Olise would take the right side, his usual position at Bayern Munich.

In midfield, Zidane would test a defensive midfielder, with Manu Koné or Lucas Da Cunha competing for this role, both players having been evaluated at this position during the first training sessions. Adrien Rabiot would be deployed as the left-sided midfielder and Rayan Cherki as the right-sided midfielder.

This 4-3-3 system is far from coincidental: it is precisely with this formation that Zidane built his legend on the Real Madrid bench, winning three consecutive Ligues des Champions between 2016 and 2018. His predecessor as France manager had ended his tenure in a 4-2-3-1.

France will play four Ligue des Nations matches in eleven days during this gathering: after Turkey, the Blues will travel to Belgium on September 28, before hosting Italy on October 2 and then facing the Red Devils again on October 5 at Stade de France.