Zidane turned down every club offer after Real Madrid, and his first France game is in Izmit tonight
France start their Nations League campaign against Turkey with three uncapped defenders in the squad and Zidane on the bench for the first time since 2021.
Sep 25, 2026
“Zizou is Zizou,” Zinedine Zidane said on the day France appointed him. Now he has to show what that means. France open their Nations League campaign against Turkey at the Kocaeli Stadium in Izmit tonight, kick-off 12.15am IST on Saturday, and it is Zidane’s first match as a coach since he left Real Madrid in 2021.
He has waited a long time for this one. When the French federation named him on 28 July, on a four-year deal that runs to the 2030 World Cup, Zidane said he had turned down every club offer in the previous four or five years. “This job is the only job I wanted to do after my career with Real Madrid,” he said.
Five new faces, then a sixth
Zidane’s first squad, named on 18 September, had 23 players and five of them were uncapped: goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, defenders Andy Diouf and Jeremy Jacquet, Como captain Lucas Da Cunha and Rennes striker Esteban Lepaul, who finished last season as Ligue 1’s top scorer with 21 goals. Eduardo Camavinga is back. Aurelien Tchouameni and Marcus Thuram are not.
Then Ibrahima Konate sprained his right knee in training on Wednesday and pulled out. His replacement is Leny Yoro, called up from the under-21 camp for his first senior squad. With William Saliba still out with the back injury he picked up at the World Cup, three of the defenders in Izmit have never played for France.
The attack is a different story. Kylian Mbappe stays as captain, and Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola and Rayan Cherki are all in the squad.
The summer still hangs over this group. France lost 2-0 to Spain in the World Cup semi-final and then 6-4 to England in the third-place play-off in Miami on 18 July, after trailing 4-0 at half-time. That was Didier Deschamps’ last game in charge.
Turkey without their captain
Vincenzo Montella’s side are in League A for the first time, and they come into it off a bad summer of their own. The World Cup was Turkey’s first since 2002, and they went out in the group stage. “I did not fall into negative thoughts after the World Cup. On the contrary, I wanted to rise,” Montella said on the eve of the game.
He is without captain Hakan Calhanoglu and Kenan Yildiz, both injured, along with Mert Muldur. Arda Guler is available, and Zidane has noticed. “Arda is a very, very good player. I like him,” he said.
Turkey have a habit of making this fixture awkward for France. The last two meetings came in qualifying for Euro 2020, and France won neither. Turkey won 2-0 in Konya in June 2019, their first win over France, and the return at the Stade de France that October finished 1-1.
Four games in 11 days
France, Turkey, Italy and Belgium make up Group 1 of League A, and the top two reach the quarter-finals. Italy host Belgium in Rome at the same time tonight.
After Izmit, France play Belgium in Brussels on 28 September, then Italy on 2 October and Belgium again on 5 October, both at the Stade de France. Zidane says the plan is simple: win, and finish first. He gets very little time on the training ground to make it happen.