Zinedine Zidane Secures Victory Over Turkey in France Debut

Zinedine Zidane secured a historic 1-0 victory over Turkey in his managerial debut for France on Friday night, breaking a 32-year drought for Les Bleus managers in their opening matches.

Zidane Ends 32-Year Opening Match Curse for Les Bleus

With this hard-fought result, Zidane became the first France national team manager to win his inaugural match since Aimé Jacquet guided the team to a 1-0 victory over Italy in Naples on Feb. 16, 1994, courtesy of a goal by Youri Djorkaeff, as reported by goal.com. The decades between Jacquet and Zidane saw five successive managers fail to claim victory in their first games at the helm. Roger Lemerre managed a 2-2 draw against Austria in 1998, Jacques Santini drew 1-1 with Tunisia in 2002, and Raymond Domenech recorded an identical 1-1 stalemate against Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004. Laurent Blanc suffered a 2-1 defeat to Norway in 2010, while Didier Deschamps opened his tenure with a scoreless draw against Uruguay in 2012.

An intriguing irony shapes the start of Zidane’s managerial career on the international stage. Jacquet was the exact manager who handed Zidane his senior international debut as a player against the Czech Republic in August 1994, connecting the historic eras of French football.

Control and Clinical Finishing at Kocaeli Stadyumu

The fixture took place on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, at the Kocaeli Stadyumu in Izmit, matching up teams from League A Group 1. AFU.id reported that Zidane’s squad dictated the tempo against Vincenzo Montella’s side in front of a partisan crowd, controlling 64 percent of possession while limiting the hosts to just 36 percent. France deployed a lineup featuring Mike Maignan in goal, backed by a defensive four of Jules Koundé, Maxence Lacroix, Dayot Upamecano, and Adrien Truffert. Despite dominating the ball, France struggled to break through a resilient Turkish defensive block marshaled by Merih Demiral. The breakthrough finally arrived when Mbappé converted past goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır in the 54th minute.

The jubilation surrounding the opening goal proved short-lived. AFU.id noted that Mbappé had to leave the pitch just five minutes after scoring due to a suspected knee problem. Turkey finished the contest with 10 men after Çakır received a straight red card in the 87th minute for handling the ball outside the penalty area during a desperate diving clearance.

Ground-Level Changes at Clairefontaine

Beyond the final scoreline in Izmit, egindo.com detailed that the most visible shifts of the managerial transition occurred well before kickoff. Replacing Didier Deschamps—who held the post for 14 years—Zidane immediately imprinted his personal training routines, staff structure, and a hands-on tactical philosophy upon the squad at the Clairefontaine national football center.

During his opening media-accessible training sessions, the former Ballon d’Or winner stepped onto the pitch carrying his own boots and joined assistant David Bettoni in demonstrating technical drills, even feeding passes to players during shooting exercises. Before joining Bettoni, Zidane had observed from a distance as goalkeeping coach Fabien Barthez joked with Jean Butez and Guillaume Restes while delivering close-range shots toward them. Opting for the Michel Platini pitch rather than the Pierre Pibarot field favored during the Deschamps era, Zidane signaled a distinct new chapter for the national setup.

France Wins as Belgium Defeats Italy

The 1-0 away victory places France firmly in motion within UEFA Nations League League A Group 1. While Les Bleus captured the crucial three points in Izmit, fellow group members also opened their campaigns. egindo.com noted that Roberto Mancini began his second stint as Italy manager with a 2-0 home defeat against Belgium in the same group, where Mark van Bommel secured a winning start thanks to a debut international goal from Mika Godts and a curling strike by Dodi Lukebakio.

European Nations League Updates

Northern Ireland claimed their first victory in League B at the eleventh attempt by defeating Georgia 1-0, featuring a second-half penalty save by Pierce Charles against Khvicha Kvaratskhelia before his brother Shea scored in the ninth minute of stoppage time.

Questions remain regarding the extent of Mbappé’s knee injury following his 59th-minute substitution, with medical staff yet to issue a definitive recovery timeline ahead of France’s upcoming fixtures in the tournament.