Zidane says his first game in charge may mean more than his France debut. Mbappé will be ready for Türkiye

Zinedine Zidane takes charge of France for the first time on Friday, when Les Bleus open their Nations League campaign against Türkiye (Turkey) at Kocaeli Stadium in İzmit. Kick-off is at 20:45 CEST, 19:45 UK time and 21:45 locally. It is the first of four games in this window: Belgium in Brussels on Monday, then Italy and Belgium at the Stade de France on 2 and 5 October.

Zidane was appointed on 28 July, succeeding Didier Deschamps, whose 14 years in charge ended after France finished fourth at the World Cup. On Thursday he was asked whether his first game as coach felt as special as his first as a player, which came in 1994 with two goals off the bench against the Czech Republic in Bordeaux. “Even more so, maybe,” he said.

I feel an immense emotion being at the head of this France team.

Zinedine Zidane, pre-match press conference, Thursday

Mbappé is ready

Kylian Mbappé missed Tuesday's session at Clairefontaine with flu and trained normally on Wednesday. It was Adrien Rabiot, not the captain, who sat beside Zidane on Thursday, and Zidane was asked why. He said the requirement is one player and the coach, and that Mbappé is fine and will be ready to play.

Mbappé stays captain, with Rabiot, Ousmane Dembélé and Jules Koundé as vice-captains. The Real Madrid forward arrives as France's record scorer, and this summer he passed Lionel Messi to hold the World Cup scoring record outright, on 22 goals.

The shape L'Équipe reports

When he named the squad, Zidane said Mbappé could play in all three forward positions and that he really liked him on the left. According to L'Équipe, that is where Mbappé lined up in Wednesday's training, in a 4-3-3 with Dembélé through the middle, as he plays for PSG, and Michael Olise on the right, as he does for Bayern Munich.

The paper had Manu Koné at the base of the midfield, with Rabiot and Rayan Cherki either side. Koné comes into the window having scored twice against Inter for Roma last Saturday. On Thursday evening L'Équipe added that Andy Diouf, a wing-back at Inter, is expected at left-back. That is a reported training shape, not a confirmed line-up.

Seven uncapped players

Zidane named 23 players on 18 September, five of them uncapped, and left out Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is still working his way back from injury, and Marcus Thuram. Three players have withdrawn since. Robin Risser, who has a rib injury, was replaced by the Como goalkeeper Jean Butez. Maghnes Akliouche was added to the squad in place of Warren Zaïre-Emery, who has an adductor problem. Leny Yoro, already at Clairefontaine with the under-21s, replaced Ibrahima Konaté, who has a slight sprain of the right knee. Butez and Yoro take the number of uncapped players to seven.

Zidane's France squad

Goalkeepers: Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Guillaume Restes (Toulouse)*, Jean Butez (Como)*

Defenders: Andy Diouf (Inter)*, Jérémy Jacquet (Liverpool)*, Pierre Kalulu (Juventus), Jules Koundé (Barcelona), Maxence Lacroix (Chelsea), Adrien Truffert (Bournemouth), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Leny Yoro (Manchester United)*

Midfielders: Maghnes Akliouche (Paris Saint-Germain), Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City), Lucas Da Cunha (Como)*, Manu Koné (Roma), Adrien Rabiot (AC Milan)

Forwards: Bradley Barcola (Liverpool), Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain), Désiré Doué (Paris Saint-Germain), Esteban Lepaul (Rennes)*, Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)

* Uncapped. Withdrawn since the squad was named: Robin Risser, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Ibrahima Konaté.

Türkiye without their captain

Vincenzo Montella is without Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Kenan Yıldız, both injured. Orkun Kökçü has been dealing with a toe problem and missed training in the build-up. Montella said on Thursday that it is a minor injury and that Kökçü has stayed with the squad to try to recover in time. Arda Güler is available and has not been reported by the Türkiye federation as carrying an injury.

Zidane expects a difficult evening. According to Le JDD, he said Türkiye were certain to cause France problems and had not deserved to go out of the World Cup as early as they did.

France's last visit ended in defeat. Türkiye won 2-0 in Konya in June 2019, their first win over France, with Kaan Ayhan and Cengiz Ünder scoring. Mbappé started that night, and Merih Demiral, part of Türkiye's centre-back pairing then, is in Montella's squad again.