France and Turkey 0-0 at Half-Time as Cakir Denies Olise in Zidane’s Debut

France and Turkey were level 0-0 at half-time in their UEFA Nations League opener on Friday, after Turkish goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir made an acrobatic fingertip save to deny Michael Olise late in the first half. The match at Turka Arac Muayene Kocaeli Stadyumu was Zinedine Zidane’s first as France head coach.

France had 66.7% of possession and accounted for 20 of the first half’s 26 attacking sequences. Olise’s curling effort toward the upper corner was the visitors’ clearest chance. Kylian Mbappe, playing on the left flank under Zidane, had few touches early and later sent a shot wide after a pass from Olise.

Mbappe, France’s all-time leading goalscorer with 66 international goals, moved level with Patrick Vieira in ninth place on the country’s all-time appearances list. He was one match short of Zidane’s career total of 108 caps.

Zidane made four changes to the side that lost 6-4 to England in the World Cup third-place match: defenders Adrien Truffert and Jules Kounde, midfielder Manu Kone and forward Ousmane Dembele came into the starting eleven. France’s lineup was Mike Maignan in goal, Truffert, Dayot Upamecano, Kounde, Dembele, Kone, Rayan Cherki, Mbappe, Olise, Adrien Rabiot and Maxence Lacroix. The 12 substitutes named by Zidane were Guillaume Restes, Jean Butez, Pierre Kalulu, Eduardo Camavinga, Bradley Barcola, Andy Diouf, Leny Yoro, Maghnes Akliouche, Esteban Lepaul, Desire Doue, Lucas Da Cunha and Jeremy Jacquet.

Turkey manager Vincenzo Montella also made four changes from his team’s last competitive match, a 3-2 World Cup victory against the United States on June 26. Merih Demiral returned at centre-back, Ferdi Kadioglu started on the left, and Can Uzun and Ismail Yuksek came into midfield. Turkey’s starting squad was Cakir, Zeki Celik, Demiral, Salih Ozcan, Arda Guler, Uzun, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Yuksek, Oguz Aydin, Kadioglu and Baris Alper Yilmaz. Altay Bayindir, Okan Kocuk, Emirhan Topcu, Melih Kabasakal, Kerem Akturkoglu, Deniz Gul, Eren Elmali, Ozan Kabak, Irfan Can Kahveci, Yunus Akgun and Aral Simsir were on the bench.

Turkey had lost once in their previous nine home fixtures under Montella, with seven wins and one draw. The sole defeat was a 6-0 loss to Spain in World Cup qualifying last September. Friday’s game was Turkey’s 655th senior international; their record stood at 260 wins, 152 draws and 243 losses.

The match was Turkey’s second at Turka Arac Muayene Kocaeli Stadyumu, following a 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Georgia last year. The national team had played one other senior international in Kocaeli, beating Chile 1-0 in a 2008 friendly through a goal by Halil Altintop.

France and Turkey were meeting for the seventh time. France had four wins to Turkey’s one, with one draw. Turkey’s only victory came at home in a European Championship qualifier in June 2019, when Cengiz Under and Kaan Ayhan scored in a 2-0 win. The teams drew 1-1 at the Stade de France in October 2019. Ayhan, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord were the fixture’s joint-leading scorers, with two goals each.

Friday’s match was the 944th in France’s history, dating back to 1904. The team’s overall record was 480 wins, 195 draws and 268 defeats, with 1,711 goals scored and 1,272 conceded. France’s previous nine international goals had all come in the second half, after the 47th minute; Mbappe scored four and Dembele two, both of Dembele’s coming after the 65th minute.

In the Nations League, France had scored at least twice in five of their previous six away fixtures. The exception was a 2-0 quarter-final first-leg defeat by Croatia in Split in March 2025; France won the tie on penalties after a 2-0 home victory in the second leg. Kickoff on Friday was at 19:45 BST (14:45 ET). International viewing was coordinated through UEFA’s broadcast partners, with live streaming on Amazon Prime PPV in the United Kingdom.