Turkiye and heavyweights France clash at the Kocaeli Stadium in the opening fixture of the new UEFA Nations League campaign on Friday. These two rivals find themselves drawn in a tricky League A, Group 1, along with Italy and Belgium.
Turkiye disappointed with their poor performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, finishing last in Group D with losses to Australia (2-0) and Paraguay (1-0) before a surprising 3-2 victory over hosts the USA when the result was essentially meaningless.
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The Crescent-Stars will be keen to move on from that underwhelming showing in North America by taking on the next challenge, a UEFA Nations League group that includes powerhouse teams Italy, France, and Belgium.
Vincenzo Montella’s side face a challenging couple of weeks ahead, starting with Les Bleus before taking on Italy at home, Belgium away, and finally Italy away.
Meanwhile, France were many people’s favorites to win the 2026 World Cup, but it wasn’t to be for Didier Deschamps’ side, which seemed unstoppable until they met eventual winners Spain in the semifinal, losing 2-0 to the Furia Roja.
With little left to play for, the French faltered in the third-place playoff, losing 6-4 to England in a wide-open game that the English were clearly hungrier to win.
Les Bleus enjoyed a flawless run to the World Cup semis, topping Group I after beating Senegal (3-1), Iraq (3-0), and Norway (4-1) before further victories over Sweden (3-0) in the round of 32, Paraguay (1-0) in the last 16, and Morocco (2-0) in the quarterfinals.
Deschamps planned to leave the post he held for 14 years regardless of the outcome, and the legendary Zinedine Zidane has since taken charge of the French national team.
Zizou’s task in this international break will be to guide his team through four matches, against Turkiye, Italy, and Belgium, home and away.
Turkiye vs France head-to-head stats and key numbers
- France have enjoyed the upper hand against Turkiye, securing four wins out of their six matches, with one draw in the fixture.
- Turkiye have beaten France once, in the European Championship qualifiers in June 2019, when they won 2-0 in Turkiye.
- The most recent meeting between these teams took place in October 2019, when France and Turkiye shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
- Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for France late in the game in the 76th minute, but Kaan Ayhan equalized with a header in the 82nd minute.
Turkiye vs France prediction
Turkiye are likely to maintain a fluid shape that will allow them to make the most of quick transitions to hurt their opponents, with the creativity of captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu set to cause France a few headaches.
France could have put two or three national teams together full of high-level players for the World Cup; such is the squad depth that they are working with. Les Bleus will likely dominate possession, using their high-intensity play on the wings and pinpoint passing to get the ball to prolific attacking players Mbappé and Ousmane Dembele, who are as clinical as they come.
On paper, the difference between these two nations is clear, and we expect the French to storm to victory.
Prediction: Turkiye 0-2 France
Turkiye vs France betting tips
Tip 1: France to win
Tip 2: France to keep a clean sheet
Tip 3: Under 4.5 cards
Edited by Peter Pedroncelli