Kylian Mbappe suffered an injury while scoring the winning goal as former champions France began their Nations League campaign with a win over Turkey at the Turka Arak Muayene Kocaeli Stadium in Zidane’s first game as Blues manager.
real madrid striker Mbappe After 54 minutes, Michael Ollis received a pass from Michael Ollis in the penalty area and drilled in, but he grimaced as the ball hit the net shortly afterwards, making way for Desire Douai.
⚽️ BUUUUUUT from Mbappe! 🇫🇷🔥
The captain of the Blues opened the scoring and saved France! 🤩
🇹🇷Turkey 0-1 France🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/QU1KfUv345— TF1 (@TF1) September 25, 2026
The visitors dominated possession and launched plenty of attacks, and although Turkey could have taken the lead five minutes after the restart, Mike Maignan’s superb save tipped Ismail Yuksek’s header over the crossbar, mimicking Ugurcan Cakir’s acrobatic stop shortly before the break, pushing Michael Olise behind.
Three minutes later, after a video assistant referee check, Cakir was found to have handled the ball outside the penalty area, preventing Bradley Bakra from running, and was directly shown a red card.
Türkiye vs France: Kylian Mbappe injured
With Madrid slumping in recent weeks, Jose Mourinho is now more concerned that his side could be without last season’s La Liga top scorer in their next game on October 10.
Real Madrid’s defeat to Atletico Madrid on Sunday was their second defeat in five games and leaves them six points behind leaders Barcelona.
Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella, who has a number of injuries to deal with ahead of this game, was pleased with his team’s performance in an intriguing game following their promotion to the First Division.
Montella’s side are competing for the first time since a mediocre performance in the World Cup group stages.
What to do next? France and Türkiye National League Schedule
The two teams will play their next game on Monday.
| date | fixture | Daylight saving time start time | ET | PT |
| September 28 | Türkiye vs Italy | 19:45 | 14:45 | 11:45 |
| September 28 | Belgium vs France | 19:45 | 14:45 | 11:45 |
For details of live coverage around the world, visit UEFA’s List of Nations League International Broadcasters.
Turkey vs France
Turkey made four adjustments from its 3-2 victory over the United States in the final World Cup game on June 26, introducing Merih Demiral in the defense, Can Uzun and Ismail Uksek in the midfield, and Ferdi Kadioglu on the left.
turkey: Ugurcan Cakir, Zeki Celik, Merih Demiral, Salih Ozcan, Arda Guler, Can Uzun, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Ismail Yuksek, Oguz Aydin, Ferdi Kadioglu, Baris Alper Yilmaz
Substitute: Altay Bayındır, Okan Kocuk, Emirhan Topcu, Melih Kabasakal, Kerem Akturkoglu, Deniz Gul, Eren Elmali, Ozan Kabak, Irfan Can Kahveci, Yunus Akgun, Aral Simsir
France vs Turkey in Nations League
In the World Cup third-place match, the French team lost to England 6-4. The team made four adjustments. The defense introduced Adrien Truvert and Jules Kounde, the midfielder had Manu Kone, and the forward had Ousmane Dembélé.
France: Mike Maignan, Adrien Truvert, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Conde, Ousmane Dembélé, Manu Cone, Rayan Cherki, Kylian Mbappe, Michael Aulis, Adrien Rabiot, Maxson Lacroix
Substitute: Guillaume Restes, Jean Butezi, Pierre Carruru, Eduardo Camavinga, Bradley Bakla, Andy Diouf, Lenny Yoro, Magnis Akliusz, Esteban Le Paul, Desir Douai, Lucas da Cunha, Jeremy Jacquet
Türkiye vs France National League Statistics
- It was the 655th game in Turkey’s history, with a record of 260 wins and 244 defeats, including a 4-1 victory over Georgia in last year’s World Cup qualifiers, their only game at the Kocaeli Stadium.
- They have previously played in the city of Kocaeli, beating Chile 1-0 in a friendly in 2008 thanks to Khalil Altintop’s second-half goal
- Turkey’s only win against France came in their only home match, a 2-0 win in the European qualifiers in June 2019 thanks to goals from Cengiz Under and Kaan Ayhan
- Including friendlies, Turkey has lost one of its first nine games (7 wins, 1 draw), with the exception of last September’s 6-0 defeat of current world champions Spain in a World Cup qualifier.
- France have won five of the seven meetings between these two teams and recorded the only draw in their most recent meeting in 2019, with one goal each in a European Cup qualifier at the Stade de France
- This is the 944th game played by the French team since 1904, with 481 wins, 195 draws, 268 losses, 1,712 goals scored, and 1,272 goals conceded.
- Mbappe is France’s ninth-most capped player, level with Patrick Vieira and only one behind Zidane
- The French team’s last 10 goals were all scored after the 47th minute, of which Mbappe scored 5 goals and Dembele scored 2 goals in the 65th minute.
- They have scored at least one goal in five of their first six Nations League games outside France, but failed to achieve that goal in a 2-0 win over Croatia in Split in March 2025, although they won the second game 2-0 and advanced to the semi-finals on penalties.