ISTANBUL
Kylian Mbappe scored as France defeated Türkiye 1-0 on Friday to give Zinedine Zidane a winning start in his first match as national team head coach, while Belgium shutout Italy 2-0 in the opening matches of UEFA Nations League A1.
France created several chances in the first half in Kocaeli, but Turkish goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir denied Michael Olise shortly before halftime as the teams went into the break goalless.
Türkiye threatened early in the second half, but Mike Maignan made a diving save to deny Ismail Yuksek’s header.
France broke the deadlock in the 54th minute after Türkiye lost possession while playing out from the back. Olise found Mbappe, who fired a low shot into the bottom corner to make it 1-0.
Türkiye pushed for an equalizer, with Maignan denying Arda Guler in the 75th minute.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute when Cakir was shown a red card following a VAR review after handling the ball outside his penalty area as Bradley Barcola raced toward goal.
France held on for the victory.
Belgium spoil Mancini’s Italy return
Belgium spoiled Roberto Mancini’s return as Italy head coach with a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Mika Godts opened the scoring in the 20th minute after Italy debutant Filippo Romano gave away possession, with the Belgian forward cutting inside before finishing from close range.
Belgium continued to threaten, but Gianluigi Donnarumma made several saves to keep Italy within a goal before halftime.
Dodi Lukebakio doubled Belgium’s advantage in the 69th minute, finishing a counterattack after being released by Charles De Ketelaere.
Italy were unable to respond as Belgium closed out a 2-0 victory.
Friday’s other Nations League results
Georgia 0-1 Northern Ireland
Armenia 2-0 Latvia
Hungary 0-1 Ukraine
Poland 0-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sweden 2-1 Romania
Montenegro 2-1 Greek Cypriot administration
