Turkey and France have named their starting teams for their Nations League opener at the Turka Arac Muayene Kocaeli Stadyumu on Friday.
The hosts are debuting in League A after winning promotion in their last campaign and are attempting to vanquish their underwhelming showing at the World Cup 2026, taking three points on their way to a group stage exit.
Les Bleus, who won the 2020/21 Nations League and finished third last time out, will also feel they underachieved at the World Cup, finishing fourth in their final tournament of Didier Deschamps’ 14-year reign.
That means Zinedine Zidane, who won the 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000 as a France midfielder, is taking charge for the first time.
Prêts pour ce premier défi 👊
🇹🇷🇫🇷 à 20h45 sur TF1 📺 pic.twitter.com/r4ikNrrOQc
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) September 25, 2026
Turkey confirmed starting team vs France
Turkey make four changes from their closing 3-2 win over the USA at the finals on June 26, bringing in Merih Demiral in defence, Can Uzun, and Ismail Yuksek in 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
Substitutes: Altay Bayındır, Okan Kocuk, Emirhan Topcu, Melih Kabasakal, Kerem Akturkoglu, Deniz Gul, Eren Elmali, Ozan Kabak, Irfan Can Kahveci, Yunus Akgun, Aral Simsir
France full line up vs Turkey in Nations League
France: Mike Maignan, Adrien Truffert, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Kounde, Ousmane Dembele, Manu, Kone, Rayan Cherki, Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise, Adrien Rabiot, Maxence Lacroix
Substitutes: Guillaume Restes, Jean Butez, Pierre Kalulu, Eduardo Camavinga, Bradley Barcola, Andy Diouf, Leny Yoro, Maghnes Akliouche, Esteban Lepaul, Desire Doue, Lucas Da Cunha, Jeremy Jacquet
Where to watch Turkey vs France: TV channel, live online stream
Kick-off on Friday is at 19:45 BST (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Amazon Prime PPV, which charges £2.49 for the game.
Turkey vs France Nations League stats
- This will be Turkey’s 655th match of all time across a record spanning 260 wins and 243 defeats, including a 4-1 victory over Georgia in World Cup qualifying last year in their only previous game at the Kocaeli Stadyumu
- They have played in the city of Kocaeli before, beating Chile 1–0 in a friendly in 2008 courtesy of Halil Altıntop’s second-half goal
- Turkey’s only win over France came in their sole competitive home game in the fixture, winning 2-0 in EURO qualifying in June 2019 courtesy of goals from Cengiz Under and Kaan Ayhan
- With two goals each, defender Ayhan and France forwards Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord are the joint scorers in the history of the fixture
- Including friendlies, Vincenzo Montella’s side have lost one of their last nine matches in Turkey (W7 D1), the exception being a 6-0 defeat to current world champions Spain in World Cup qualifying last September
- France have won four of the previous six meetings between these teams, with Turkey winning once and the teams sharing their only draw in their most recent meeting in 2019, scoring a goal apiece in EURO qualifying at the Stade de France
- This will be France’s 944th match since 1904, amassing 480 wins, 195 draws and 268 defeats while scoring 1,711 goal and conceding 1,272
- Kylian Mbappe is France’s all-time top scorer with 66 goals and their ninth most-capped player, needing one more to level with Patrick Vieira and two to match Zidane’s total
- Each of France’s last nine goals have come after the 47th minute, with four scored by Mbappe and two by Ousmane Dembele, who scored each of his after the 65th minute
- They have scored at least twice in five of their last six Nations League matches outside of France, failing to do so in a 2-0 defeat to Croatia in Split in March 2025, although they won the return match 2-0 and advanced to the semi-finals on penalties
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
