The French national team began their UEFA Nations League campaign with a difficult victory over their Turkish counterparts by a score of one goal to nil, in the match that brought them together at the "Kocaeli" stadium, as part of the first round competitions, in the first official appearance of Zinedine Zidane at the helm of the Blues.
The French national team did not perform as expected during most of the match, especially in the first half, after the Turkish national team imposed clear tactical discipline and succeeded in limiting the danger of the Blues' players, maintaining their balance and keeping pace with their guest until the end of the first half of the match.
The first half ended in a goalless draw, before the French national team managed to break the Turkish defense in the second half, when Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring, after receiving a pass from Michael Olise inside the penalty area, successfully placing the ball into the net and giving his country the lead.
However, Mbappé's joy did not last long, as he sustained an injury after scoring the goal, and the medical staff intervened to treat him, before the Real Madrid forward tried to continue playing. However, the player fell again after a few minutes, prompting the technical staff led by Zidane to substitute him, and Désiré Doué came on in his place in the 59th minute.
The Turkish national team received a strong blow in the final minutes, after the referee showed a red card to goalkeeper Çakır in the 87th minute, after resorting to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, due to a handball outside the penalty area, forcing the hosts to complete the match with ten players.
The French national team maintained their lead until the final whistle, thus securing Zidane's first victory at the start of his mission with the Blues, raising the French team's tally to 3 points, while the Turkish team remained without points, level with the Italian team, which lost to Belgium.