France opened their 2026/27 UEFA Nations League campaign with a narrow 1-0 away win over Turkey. The Group 1 match in League A, the tournament's top division, was played at Kocaeli Stadium in Izmit, according to infohub.kz.
The only goal came in the 54th minute from France forward and captain Kylian Mbappé. The assist was provided by fellow striker Michael Olise.
Immediately after scoring, Mbappé signalled that he had picked up an injury. He stayed on the pitch for a few more minutes before being substituted.
Late in the match, Turkey were reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır was shown a straight red card in the 87th minute.
The match was France's first since Zinedine Zidane took over as head coach. With three points, France sit second in the group, behind Belgium on the tiebreakers: Belgium beat Italy 2-0 on the opening day of the Nations League.
Full results from September 25 in the Nations League:
League A
Turkey — France. 0-1
Italy — Belgium. 0-2
League B
Georgia — Northern Ireland. 0-1
Poland — Bosnia and Herzegovina. 0-0
Hungary — Ukraine. 0-1
Sweden — Romania. 2-1
League C
Armenia — Latvia. 2-0
Montenegro — Cyprus. 2-1