Kylian Mbappe was injured while scoring the winner as former champions France started their Nations League campaign by beating Turkey at the Turka Arac Muayene Kocaeli Stadyumu in Zinedine Zidane’s first game as Bleus manager.
Real Madrid striker Mbappe collected Michael Olise’s pass inside the box and drilled in after 54 minutes, only to grimace as the ball hit the net and make way for Desire Doue shortly afterwards.
⚽️ BUUUUUUT DE MBAPPÉ ! 🇫🇷🔥
Le capitaine des Bleus ouvre le score et délivre la France ! 🤩
🇹🇷 Turquie 0-1 France 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/QU1KfUv345— TF1 (@TF1) September 25, 2026
The visitors bossed possession and did much of the attacking, although Turkey would have gone ahead five minutes after the restart but for Mike Maignan’s excellent save to tip Ismail Yuksek’s header over the crossbar, emulating Ugurcan Cakir’s acrobatic stop shortly before the interval to push Michael Olise’s short behind.
Cakir was shown a straight red card three minutes from time, having been adjudged to have halted Bradley Barcola’s run by handling the ball outside the box following a Video Assistant Referee check.
Turkey vs France: Kylian Mbappe injury
With Madrid faltering in recent weeks, Jose Mourinho now has an extra concern that his side could be without last season’s Liga top scorer when they next play on October 10.
Los Blancos’ defeat at Atletico Madrid last Sunday was their second in five games and has left them six points shy of leaders Barcelona.
Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella had plenty of injuries to deal with before this game and can take some satisfaction with his side’s performance in an absorbing contest following their promotion to League A.
Montella’s team were playing for the first time since their underwhelming World Cup campaign ended in the group stage.
What’s next? France, Turkey Nations League fixtures
Both teams are next in action on Monday.
| Date | Fixture | BST start time | ET | PT |
| Sept 28 | Turkey vs Italy | 19:45 | 14:45 | 11:45 |
| Sept 28 | Belgium vs France | 19:45 | 14:45 | 11:45 |
For live coverage details around the world, visit UEFA’s Nations League international broadcaster list.
Turkey team vs France
Turkey made four changes from their closing 3-2 win over the USA at the World Cup 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 team vs Turkey in Nations League
France made four alterations from their 6-4 defeat to England in the third-placed match at the World Cup, introducing Adrien Truffert and Jules Kounde in defence, Manu Kone in midfield and Ousmane Dembele in attack.
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
Turkey vs France Nations League stats
- This was Turkey’s 655th match of all time across a record spanning 260 wins and 244 defeats, including a 4-1 victory over Georgia in World Cup qualifying last year in their only previous game at the Kocaeli Stadyumu
- They had 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, prevailing 2-0 in EURO qualifying in June 2019 courtesy of goals from Cengiz Under and Kaan Ayhan
- Including friendlies, Turkey had lost one of their preceding 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 five of the seven meetings between these teams, who shared their only draw in their most recent previous meeting in 2019, scoring a goal apiece in EURO qualifying at the Stade de France
- This was France’s 944th match since 1904, amassing 481 wins, 195 draws and 268 defeats while scoring 1,712 goals and conceding 1,272
- Mbappe is France’s ninth most-capped player, level with Patrick Vieira and one behind Zidane’s total
- Each of France’s last 10 goals have come after the 47th minute, with five scored by Mbappe and two by Ousmane Dembele, who scored each of his after the 65th minute
- They had scored at least twice in five of their preceding 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
