Zidane Wins France Debut as Mbappe Suffers Knee Injury After Scoring

Zinedine Zidane began his reign as France head coach with a winning start, a 1-0 victory away to Turkiye in the Nations League, though the occasion was overshadowed by a serious knee injury to captain Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe broke the deadlock in the 54th minute at the Kocaeli Stadium, latching onto a pass from Michael Olise to fire a low shot past goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir for his 67th international goal. He appeared to hyperextend his left knee in the act of shooting, and was replaced by Desire Doue soon after. "It's not good, unfortunately," Zidane told French television after the match, adding that France "will not take risks" with the injury.

The French Football Federation has since confirmed Mbappe suffered a knee tendon injury and has been ruled out for the remainder of the international break, with the forward returning to Madrid for further examinations and treatment. It leaves Zidane without his captain for France's remaining fixtures in this window: away to Belgium on Monday, then home games against Italy and Belgium again in early October. The federation said no replacement would be called up.

France held on for the win despite the setback, with Turkiye reduced to 10 men late on after goalkeeper Cakir was sent off for handling the ball outside his area. Zidane became the first France coach to win his opening match in over three decades, since Aime Jacquet in 1994.