Zinedine Zidane took charge of the French national team for the first time on Friday, as Les Bleus faced Türkiye in a UEFA Nations League match at the Kocaeli Stadium in Izmit, a city roughly 100 kilometres east of Istanbul. The occasion marked the start of a new chapter in French football, with one of the game's most celebrated figures finally realising a long-held ambition to manage his country.

"I feel an immense emotion being at the head of this France team," Zidane said at a press conference on Thursday. When asked whether the moment rivalled his playing debut for France more than 30 years ago, the 54-year-old smiled and replied: "Even more so, maybe." Nicknamed "Zizou" across the football world, Zidane first burst onto the international scene in 1994, scoring twice as a substitute against the Czech Republic. He went on to score two headers in the 1998 World Cup final, won the Ballon d'Or that same year, and later guided Real Madrid to three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles as a coach between 2016 and 2021 — a record that makes expectations for his national team tenure extraordinarily high.

Zidane replaces Didier Deschamps, who led France for 14 years, winning the 2018 World Cup and reaching the 2022 final. France exited the 2026 World Cup at the semi-final stage, losing 2-0 to eventual champions Spain, leaving a sense of unfinished business. Zidane was appointed in late July and has wasted no time signalling a new direction, shifting from Deschamps's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-3-3 system. "DD is DD, Blanc was Blanc, Zizou is Zizou. I'll do what I know how to do," he said on the day of his appointment. One of the most closely watched changes is the repositioning of captain Kylian Mbappé — France's all-time leading scorer with 66 goals — from centre-forward back to his earlier role on the left wing, where he is expected to interchange with Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise.

For Friday's match, Türkiye were without key players Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Kenan Yıldız through injury, though Real Madrid's Arda Güler was available. France, clear favourites, could call upon six uncapped players in Zidane's first squad. Midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who spoke at Thursday's press conference in place of Mbappé, acknowledged the novelty of the new environment. "There are different ways of doing things, different training sessions, different ideas," he said, adding that Zidane's commanding presence was taking pressure off the players: "His aura means he commands a lot of attention. In a way, it's a good thing that the focus is more on the coach than the players."

The Nations League group stage gives Zidane four matches in ten days — away to Türkiye and Belgium, then home to Italy and Belgium — providing an early but intense opportunity to stamp his identity on the squad. France and Türkiye's only previous meeting in competitive football ended 1-1 in Paris in 2019, a Euro 2020 qualifier. France hold an overall head-to-head advantage with four wins in six meetings. Beyond these opening fixtures, Zidane's mandate is set to run through to the 2030 World Cup, making this week's debut the first step in what promises to be one of international football's most scrutinised coaching tenures.