Mbappé
France defeated Turkey 1-0 on Friday, with Mbappé scoring the decisive goal in the 54th minute.
Zidane’s first major decision came before kick-off, when he moved Mbappé back to the left side of France’s attack, with Michael Olise on the right and Ousmane Dembélé operating centrally.
It was a change from the central role Mbappé had occupied for much of his final period under Didier Deschamps, and it quickly gave France another dimension in attack.
The breakthrough came nine minutes after half-time.
Turkey struggled to play out from the back and a loose pass from Abdülkerim Bardakcı was intercepted by Olise, who immediately found Mbappé.
The France captain took one touch before firing past Uğurcan Çakır to give the visitors the lead.
The goal also took Mbappé to 67 goals in 107 appearances for France, extending his record as the country’s all-time leading scorer.
But the celebration was quickly interrupted.
Mbappé grabbed his left knee after scoring and received treatment on the pitch before attempting to continue. He lasted only a few more minutes before Zidane replaced him with Désiré Doué in the 59th minute.
Mbappé left the pitch limping, raising concerns for both France and Real Madrid with the new season already underway.
France then had to protect their narrow lead after Turkey were reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute. Çakır was shown a straight red card for handling outside his penalty area to deny Bradley Barcola.
Mike Maignan had also played his part in keeping France level earlier in the match, making important saves from Ferdi Kadıoğlu and İsmail Yüksek.
France eventually held on for the win, giving Zidane a winning start to his tenure.
The result also offered an early indication of what could change under the new manager. Zidane moved Mbappé back to the left, and the decision produced the only goal of the game.
The bigger concern now is the captain’s knee, with Mbappé set to undergo further assessment to determine the seriousness of the injury.
For Zidane, a night that began with a tactical success and a record for his captain ended with questions over how long he will be without France’s leading goalscorer.
