Zidane's lackluster debut: France wins, but Mbappé is injured
In Turkish Kocaeli, where the stadium was filled with oppressive heat, the first international match of the new era of Zidane began. France won 1-0, but the decisive goal by Kylian Mbappé in the 54th minute was also the end of his involvement, as he left the pitch shortly afterwards.
Expectations after the Deschamps era
After many years of pragmatic “result football” under Didier Deschamps, France had hoped for more joy in play from the coaching change to Zinédiné Zidane. In the first match under the former world‑footballer, however, this was still missing, and the game strongly recalled the Deschamps era.
The French did dominate the proceedings, but they were not particularly convincing when they turned the 1-0 after a pass from Michael Olise to Mbappé. The goal gave them the lead, but made the overall performance appear rather lackluster.
Line‑up and tactical changes
Zidane placed Rayan Cherki of Manchester City for the first time in the central position behind the attacking trio of Mbappé, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembélé. Cherki, who started only once under Deschamps at the World Cup, thus received a clear signal from the new leadership.
On the left back, Adrien Truffert of AFC Bournemouth started, an area that observers described as a weak spot of the almost top‑class squad.
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Course of the match
Turkey boldly searched for chances in the build‑up, but quickly retreated into a compact five‑man block. The first notable chance for France came after 17 minutes, when Olise played the ball to Mbappé after a hold‑up against three opponents, but he shot low left of the goal.
In the 28th minute, Ismail Yüksek tested the French goalkeeper Mike Maignan with a header, which was well saved. Shortly afterwards, in the 43rd minute, Ugurcan Cakir spectacularly parried a shot from Olise out of the corner.
After the break, Olise managed to get the ball to Mbappé, who scored the 1-0 in the 54th minute. Shortly afterwards Mbappé pulled a knee injury, tried to play briefly, but had to be replaced by Désiré Doué.
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Reaction of Zidane
"Unfortunately it doesn't look good," Zidane said after his debut about the condition of the Real Madrid forward. "I think he will have to travel back," he added when the reporter asked about a possible end to the training. "Yes, because we do not want to take any risk. He overstretched his knee while shooting. That does not look very promising."
The match did not improve through the goal, but became slightly more eventful. In the 68th minute, Joules Koundé missed the 2-0 with a low chip, and in the 86th minute Ugurcan Cakir saw the red card for a handball in front of his own penalty area.