Zinedine Zidane has made an immediate impact as France coach, beating Turkey 1-0 and ending a remarkable 32-year run without a new Les Bleus manager winning his first match.
Zidane makes history in first France game as 32-year curse finally ends
Zinedine Zidane has made history immediately after taking charge of France, ending a remarkable 32-year run in his very first match as national team coach.
France defeated Turkey 1-0 in their UEFA Nations League opener, with Kylian Mbappe scoring the only goal of the game.
It was an important victory for Les Bleus.
But for Zidane, the result carried an even bigger meaning.
He became the first France coach since Aime Jacquet in 1994 to win his first match in charge.
Zidane ends 32-year France wait
France had gone more than three decades without a new manager winning his opening game.
The last coach to achieve it was Aime Jacquet.
Jacquet began his France career with a:
1-0 WIN OVER ITALY
in Naples on February 16, 1994.
Since then, every France coach before Zidane had failed to win on debut.
Now, 32 years later, Zidane has finally ended that strange run.
Five France coaches failed before Zidane
The statistic becomes even more impressive when looking at the managers who came before him.
Roger Lemerre began with a:
2-2 DRAW AGAINST AUSTRIA
Jacques Santini then drew:
1-1 WITH TUNISIA
Raymond Domenech also started with a:
1-1 DRAW AGAINST BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Laurent Blanc lost his first match:
1-2 AGAINST NORWAY
And Didier Deschamps opened his long France reign with a:
0-0 DRAW AGAINST URUGUAY
Zidane has now succeeded where all five of those coaches failed.
Mbappe gives Zidane the perfect start
The match against Turkey was not easy for France.
Les Bleus had to wait until the second half to find the breakthrough.
Michael Olise created the opportunity before Mbappe finished to put France ahead.
The goal proved enough to give Zidane a 1-0 victory in his first match as France coach.
It was exactly the kind of result Zidane needed at the beginning of a new era.
A special connection with Aime Jacquet
There is also an interesting connection between Zidane and the man whose record he has just matched.
Aime Jacquet was the coach who gave Zidane his France debut in 1994.
Jacquet later led France to their first World Cup title in 1998, with Zidane scoring twice in the final against Brazil.
Now Zidane has become the first France coach since Jacquet to win his opening match.
The link between the two makes the achievement even more symbolic.
Zidane begins a new era for France
The victory also marks the beginning of a major new chapter for Les Bleus.
Zidane entered the job with enormous expectations after his successful coaching career at Real Madrid.
He won three consecutive Champions League titles during his first spell in Spain.
But international management represents a very different challenge.
Winning immediately against Turkey gives Zidane the perfect platform to start building his France team.
Victory comes with Mbappe injury concern
However, the historic night was not completely positive.
Mbappe suffered a left-knee problem while scoring the winning goal.
The France captain tried to continue but was eventually forced off.
France later confirmed that he had suffered a knee tendon injury and would leave the national team camp.
So while Mbappe delivered Zidane’s first victory, his injury quickly became the biggest concern after the match.
Zidane already writes his name into history
Zidane has only managed one match for France.
But he has already achieved something that none of his five predecessors managed.
For 32 years, every new France coach had failed to win his first game.
That run is now over.
Zinedine Zidane has started his France career with a victory and immediately written his name into another piece of national-team history.
From Aime Jacquet in 1994 to Zidane in 2026, France finally have another coach who began his reign with a win.
