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Kylian Mbappé
France went from conceding next to nothing to conceding eight goals in two matches, and that collapse is the thing hanging over Turkey vs France on Friday, 25 September 2026. Between June and early July at the World Cup, France won seven straight - Northern Ireland, Senegal, Iraq, Norway, Sweden, Paraguay, Morocco - shipping only three goals across the lot. Then they lost 0-2 to Spain and 4-6 to England back to back, and the tournament was over.
Ten goals in one match doesn't happen by accident. France had built the run on a defence that barely got tested, then ran into two sides good enough to pull it apart inside a fortnight. The Spain and England games are the only real look anyone has had at how this squad copes under pressure, and both ended in defeat.
This is also Zinedine Zidane's first competitive match in charge of France, following Didier Deschamps' departure after fourteen years. Zidane has named Kylian Mbappé as his captain. Aurélien Tchouaméni is left out as a precaution after his own recent injury, and William Saliba, Marcus Thuram and Jean-Philippe Mateta are all unavailable. Mbappé himself missed a training session in midweek with flu-like symptoms, which puts a slight question mark over the one player France can least afford to lose.
Turkey's World Cup ran the other way round. They lost 2-0 to Australia and then 0-1 to Paraguay without scoring a single goal in either match, before finding three in a 3-2 win over the USA in their final group game. That win came from Arda Güler and Can Uzun, the two players Vincenzo Montella is leaning on again here.
Turkey
France
