Turkey and France met in the opening round of League A in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday, with the visitors taking all three points thanks to a single goal. Kylian Mbappé scored in the 54th minute and that was enough, the match finishing 1-0 to France. The result settled the first fixture of the new campaign, even if the stats tell a different story about who dominated the ball.
At half-time the score remained 0-0, though Arda Güler had already picked up a yellow card in the 42nd minute. Everything shifted after the interval when Mbappé found the net and was then substituted himself five minutes later, a curious call that raised questions about his fitness. The hosts tried to respond but could only manage two big chances against the French, while the visitors kept knocking on the door without adding to the tally.
We had called for a French win beforehand, and here's the thing — the game played out much as we expected, just tighter than anyone predicted. France controlled the tempo, passing into the final third 121 times compared to Turkey's 82, but the match was decided in those three or four moments that matter, not in the possession figures. By then the Turkish side had already lost their goalkeeper, Uğurcan Çakır, sent off in the 87th minute for what looked like a reckless challenge.
The statistics reveal the unevenness of the contest. Turkey completed 262 passes from 351 attempts — that's a 75 per cent success rate — while France moved the ball with 555 successful passes out of 647. Both sides created two big chances, but France's shots on target came at a higher rate, four to three, and their expected goals figure of 1.21 matched the single goal they scored. The red card changed everything after the 87th minute, leaving Turkey to see the game out with ten men.
Both teams sit at the top of the table after this opening round, though the points gap will only become clear once the second legs are played. France's recent form has been mixed — a heavy defeat to England and a loss to Spain — but they showed enough composure to grind out a result on the road. Turkey's last five games read like a rollercoaster, with wins against North Macedonia and the USA sandwiched between losses to Paraguay, Australia and Venezuela.
What matters most is not the possession percentage or the number of attacks, but the moment Mbappé stepped into the space and finished. The rest was noise, and noise is what fills most of a match. France take the points, Turkey take the lesson, and the league begins.
