Kylian Mbappe Scores Winner but Suffers Knee Injury in Zinedine Zidane's Winning Debut for France

France secured a 1-0 victory against Turkiye in the UEFA Nations League on Friday during new coach Zinedine Zidane’s first game in charge, though the win was overshadowed by an injury to star player Kylian Mbappe.

Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal of the game before having to come off grimacing with a knee injury at the Kocaeli Stadium in Izmit, about 100km outside Istanbul. The Real Madrid star was deployed on the left wing by his new coach, shifting from his central attacking role under former coach Didier Deschamps at the recent World Cup.

Playing from the left, Kylian Mbappe netted his 67th international goal by controlling and firing a low shot at the near post following an assist from Michael Olise. He winced in pain as his teammates gathered to celebrate, and although he initially attempted to continue after receiving treatment, he eventually slumped to the ground and walked off to be replaced by Desire Doue.

The French national team and Real Madrid will now await further medical assessment to determine the severity of the injury, with Les Bleus scheduled to play three more games over the next 10 days.

The incident dampened the occasion of Zinedine Zidane’s return to elite coaching, his first match since his second stint with Madrid ended in 2021. Competing in Group A1 of the Nations League, France will next travel to Brussels to face Belgium on Monday, after Belgium secured a 2-0 away win against Italy.

Zidane's initial lineup featured Adrien Truffert at left-back and Rayan Cherki in the starting XI alongside Michael Olise. Turkiye, coached by Vincenzo Montella, saw Ugurcan Cakir deny Michael Olise and Abdulkerim Bardakci earlier in the match before Cakir was shown a red card late in the game for handling the ball outside his area to stop Bradley Barcola.