Kylian Mbappe injured his knee scoring the goal that earned Zinedine Zidane victory in his first match in charge of France.
Former Real Madrid manager Zidane saw his team defeat Turkey 1-0 in their Uefa Nations League Group A1 opener at the Kocaeli Stadium when Mbappe starting on the left of a front three alongside Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise.
And the Madrid forward fired home a low finish in the 55th minute after being set up by Bayern Munich's Olise making it 67 goals for France, but he immediately looked in pain and was left rubbing his left knee. Mbappe limped off the pitch minutes later and was replaced by Paris Saint-Germain attacker Desire Doue.
“It’s not great. Unfortunately I think he [Mbappée] is going to have to go home. We don’t want to take any risks,” Zidane told French broadcaster TF1. “He overextended his knee while shooting. He has swelling … It’s not very encouraging.”
The French Football Federation issued a statement confirming the injury and the end of his international window: “Kylian Mbappe has injured his knee. He is suffering from a tendon tear and is out for the rest of the training camp. Kylian, hope for a good recovery.”
While Mbappe's injury overshadowed Zidane's big day, Didier Deschamps' replacement was pleased with how his team played. “It's very emotional. It's a successful debut,” he said. “It's not easy to come and play in Turkey, 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.”
His Turkey counterpart, Vincenzo Montella, was also happy with his team's efforts when they matched France with attempts on goal (12) while conceding 64 per cent of possession to Zidane's side.
“I am proud; it's a shame we were unable to leave the field with a positive result,” said the Italian. “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.”
France's next match is away to Belgium while Turkey travel to Italy, both on Monday.
Mancini on Italy return
Roberto Mancini's first game back as Italy manager ended in boos and jeers after a 2-0 loss against Belgium in Rome.
After a chaotic selection process to replace Gennaro Gattuso that had seen Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and Andrea Pirlo all sounded out but not given the job for various reasons, before Mancini was eventually appointed for his second spell in charge.
But goals from PSG's Mika Godts and Dodi Lukebakio of Benfica meant Mancini's second reign would start with a defeat in the Group A1 clash at Stadio Olimpico with the manager dismissing the jeers by home fans as “part of the game”.
It was former Netherlands captain Mark van Bommel's first game as Belgium manager after taking over from Rudi Garcia, who left following their World Cup quarter-final defeat to eventual winners Spain.
When asked whether the team was still suffering from Italy's World Cup play-off defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina in March, Mancini replied: “It weighs on us a bit. But we’ve got to let it go. We can’t think about what has been. We need to think positive rather than about what happened, because you can’t change it.”
Isak maintains scoring touch
Alexander Isak maintained his early season goals touch by scoring Sweden's opening goal in their 2-1 home win over Romania in Group B4.
The Liverpool striker, who has four goals in five Premier League games so far this season, scored in the 20th minute at the Strawberry Arena making it 19 goals in 63 caps for his country.
Romania's Dennis Man levelled for Romania nine minutes later only for Viktor Gyokeres to restore Sweden's advantage just before the break. The goal will be a welcome relief for Gyokeres who has only appeared twice from the bench in Arsenal's opening five league games.
There was an injury scare for Isak who was left limping with a damaged toe following the game after being stamped on.
