New France coach Zinedine Zidane has strongly suggested he expects Kylian Mbappe to leave his UEFA Nations League squad due to a knee injury suffered by the country’s all-time top scorer during their opening win in Turkey on Friday.
Real Madrid striker Mbappe He collected Michael Olise’s pass inside the box and scored the only goal of the game in the 54th minute, looking grim as the ball hit the net and made way for Desire Doue shortly afterwards.
⚽️ BUUUUUUT from MBAPPÉ! 🇫🇷🔥
The Blues captain opens the scoring and saves France! 🤩
🇹🇷 Türkiye 0-1 France 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/QU1KfUv345
– TF1 (@TF1) September 25, 2026
“It’s not good,” Real Madrid legend Zidane told TF1. team) after his first match with the team, which was the first of four Nations League matches for the former champions until 5 October.
“He hyperextended his knee after the shot. He had to come off. We won’t take any risks. It’s not very encouraging for him to be able to continue (with the team).”
Türkiye vs France: Kylian Mbappe injured
With Madrid struggling in recent weeks, Blancos coach Jose Mourinho now has the added worry that his side could be without last season’s top scorer in La Liga when they next play on October 10.
Real Madrid’s defeat against Atletico last Sunday was its second in five matches, leaving it six points behind leaders Barcelona at the start of Mourinho’s second period.
Seven of the nine Madrid matches that Mbappe missed last season were due to knee problems, with him missing six weeks already during 2026.
What’s next? France matches in the Nations League
France will then play on Monday.
| date | Combinations | Start time is GMT | at | Pt |
| September 28 | Belgium vs France | 19:45 | 14:45 | 11:45 |
For details of live coverage around the world, visit the UEFA website International broadcast list of the League of Nations.
Statistics of the match between Türkiye and France in the European Nations League
- It was Turkey’s 655th match ever, with the team on a record of 260 wins and 244 defeats, including a 4-1 win over Georgia in last year’s World Cup qualifier in their only previous match at Kocaeli Stadium.
- They have played in Kocaeli before, beating Chile 1-0 in a friendly in 2008 thanks to Halil Altintop’s second-half goal.
- Türkiye’s only win over France came in its only competitive match at home, a 2-0 win in a European Nations Cup qualifier in June 2019 thanks to goals from Cengiz Önder and Can Ayhan.
- Including friendlies, Turkey has lost one of their previous nine matches in Turkey (W7 D1), excluding a 6-0 defeat to current world champions Spain in a World Cup qualifier last September.
- France have won five of the seven meetings between these teams, who shared the only draw in their last previous meeting in 2019, with each scoring a goal in a European Nations Cup qualifier at Stade de France.
- This was the 944th match for France since 1904, with 481 wins, 195 draws and 268 defeats, scoring 1,712 goals and conceding 1,272 goals.
- Mbappe is France’s all-time top scorer with 67 goals and the ninth-most capped player, equal with Patrick Vieira and one goal behind Zidane’s total.
- All of France’s last ten goals came after the 47th minute, five of which were scored by Mbappe and two by Ousmane Dembélé, who scored each goal after the 65th minute.
- They have scored at least two goals in five of their previous six Nations League matches outside France, failing to do so in a 2-0 defeat to Croatia in Split in March 2025, despite winning the second leg 2-0 and progressing to the semi-finals on penalties.
