Turkey v France: Zidane begins new era with Nations League opener

Zinedine Zidane will take charge of France for the first time when the World Cup semi-finalists visit Turkey in the UEFA Nations League on Friday evening.

The match marks the start of Zidane’s reign after Didier Deschamps, France’s long-serving manager, left his position without winning another World Cup. Les Bleus finished fourth at the 2026 tournament, losing to eventual champions Spain in the semi-finals before a 6-4 defeat by England in the third-place play-off.

France’s recent form means they arrive in Turkey after two successive defeats, although they remain favourites to begin their Nations League campaign with a victory.

Match prediction and recent meetings

The main prediction is for France to win and the game to feature more than 2.5 goals, priced at 1.78. Other suggestions are for Kylian Mbappe to score in a France victory at 1.88, while Michael Olise is listed at 1.65 to score or provide an assist.

Turkey were playing at their first World Cup since 2002 this summer, but were eliminated in the group stage. They lost to Austria and Paraguay before ending the tournament with a win against the United States.

Vincenzo Montella’s side are in League A, Group 1 of the Nations League alongside France, Italy and Belgium. Turkey were in League C in the 2022-23 edition before returning to League B for 2024-25, and have an overall record of 11 wins, six draws and seven defeats in the competition.

Turkey will host France and Italy before the end of the month, then travel to Belgium and face Italy again in October. They have beaten France once in six meetings, a 2-0 victory in a Euro qualifying match in June 2019. Their most recent encounter ended 1-1 in October 2019, while France’s last win in the fixture came in June 2009.

France won the Nations League in 2020-21 by beating Spain in the final, before finishing third in 2024-25, when Portugal lifted the trophy.

Turkey’s recent record is three wins, followed by two defeats and a victory. France’s sequence is four wins and two defeats.

Team news and likely line-ups

Turkey will be without Hakan Calhanoglu and Kenan Yıldız because of injury, but Arda Guler is available and expected to start. Barıs Yılmaz could lead the attack, with Kerem Akturkoglu also tipped to feature in the final third. Salih Ozcan may replace Calhanoglu in midfield, while Merih Demiral is expected to play in defence.

France are missing William Saliba through injury, while Aurelien Tchouameni has been omitted after early-season fitness problems. Ibrahima Konate has withdrawn from the squad and has been replaced by Leny Yoro.

Eduardo Camavinga could start in midfield, with Adrien Truffert potentially making his second international appearance at left-back. Mbappe, who has scored 66 goals for France, is expected to join Olise, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue in attack.

Probable teams

Turkey: Cakır; Celik, Demiral, Bardakcı, Elmalı; Ozcan, Kokcu, Yuksek; Guler, Yılmaz, Akturkoglu.

France: Maignan; Kounde, Upamecano, Lacroix, Truffert; Camavinga, Rabiot; Dembele, Olise, Doue; Mbappe.

France will then travel to Belgium before hosting Italy on 2 October and Belgium on 5 October.