Mbappe out of France squad after scoring winner
Zinedine Zidane got off to a winning start as France coach, with Kylian Mbappe securing him a 1-0 win over Turkiye in its UEFA Nations League opener, but the Real Madrid star limped off immediately after scoring and will return to his club as a result.
Mbappe found the breakthrough in the 54th minute but clutched at his left knee in obvious pain as he wheeled away, curtailing his celebrations.
"Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good. I think he’ll have to go back. We’re not going to take any risks. He has swelling in the knee. It’s not encouraging, so we’re not going to take any risks," Zidane said of his 27-year-old star.
The France Football Federation released a statement in which it revealed Mbappe was suffering from a "knee tendon injury" and was returning to Madrid immediately.
France could not add to his goal despite Turkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir being shown an 87th-minute red card for a handball outside his box.
Turkiye almost stunned France just four minutes in as Baris Alper Yilmaz latched on to a long ball, only to be denied by Mike Maignan, who also sprang back up to deny Can Uzun before a belated offside flag went up.
Mbappe then scuffed an effort wide at the other end, while Rayan Cherki saw a low shot blocked by Merih Demiral as France struggled to break through Turkiye's defence.
Michael Olise forced a stretching save out of Cakir in France's best chance of the first half, and Adrien Rabiot then blazed over from the resulting corner.
Les Bleus made a sluggish start to the second half, though, and could have been behind in the 50th minute, but Maignan reacted brilliantly to push the unmarked Ismail Yuksek's diving header over the crossbar.
Four minutes later, Mbappe broke the deadlock. Turkiye lost possession deep in its own half, and Olise immediately switched it to the France captain, who drilled past Cakir from the left of the box.
However, he hurt himself in the process, immediately pulling up, and he lasted just five more minutes before he was taken off.
Mbappe's replacement, Desire Doue, saw a long-range curler pushed away while Jules Kounde hit the foot of the left post after sitting Uzun down in the box.
Turkiye kept pushing for an equaliser, with Maignan standing tall at his near post to keep out Guler, but France finished with all the momentum after Cakir was sent off when he rushed out of his box to smother Bradley Barcola's run and the ball hit his outstretched arm.
France sits second in Group A1, only behind its next opponent, Belgium, on goal difference after the Red Devils dispatched Italy 2-0.
But Zidane was thrilled to get off the mark with three points.
"It's very emotional. It's a successful debut," he said.
"It's not easy to come and play in Turkiye, with such a complicated atmosphere. We played the game we needed to.
"We played well; we pressed them high up the pitch. I saw a lot of interesting things even though we've only had three and a half training sessions.
"It's encouraging. I'm happy with what they did. It was good to see everyone."
As for Turkiye, it was in the game throughout and had its chances to score, and coach Vincenzo Montella expressed his pride in the performance.
"I am proud; it's a shame we were unable to leave the field with a positive result," he said.
"It was an incredible performance, one of our best, especially considering who we were up against.
"We knew that you cannot afford even half a mistake against sides like this, but I thought we had our chances too, and it was a very even game.
"I saw a great team spirit, and that is something we need to carry with us into the next matches. It won't be easy to recover physically and mentally so quickly, so we need that spirit first and foremost.
"I feel sorry for my lads, because they really did give it their all."
Kylian Mbappé Lottin
France
