Zinédine Zidane will take charge of France for the first time on Friday, with a UEFA Nations League trip to Turkey at 20:45 opening a new chapter for Les Bleus. History offers little certainty: among the eight France managers who made their debuts after Michel Platini in 1988, only Aimé Jacquet began with a victory.
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Zidane becomes the first France coach since Platini to start with a competitive fixture rather than a friendly. Platini’s opening match came away to Yugoslavia in a 1988 World Cup qualifier, while each subsequent new manager began in exhibition action.
The overall record is modest. Since 1988, France’s eight managerial debuts have produced one win, four draws and three defeats. Jacquet’s 1-0 success in Italy remains the exception.
Jacquet’s Naples breakthrough
France travelled to Naples on 16 February 1994, three months after the painful 2-1 defeat to Bulgaria that had ended their World Cup hopes. Jacquet’s side beat Italy 1-0, France’s first win on Italian soil since 1912.
Éric Cantona, captaining the team, had a quiet evening, but France defended strongly and Youri Djorkaeff scored on his first start. The result provided an early foundation for the rebuild that would eventually transform the national side.
Platini’s encouraging defeat
Platini’s first match ended in a 3-2 defeat in Yugoslavia on 19 November 1988. Christian Perez, a surprise selection, scored once and set up Franck Sauzée as France led 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining.
But the visitors dropped deeper and Yugoslavia turned the match around in six minutes. Mehmed Baždarević, Dragan Stojković, Dejan Savićević and Safet Sušić found space as defenders Basile Boli, deployed on the right, and Jean-Michel Kastendeuch struggled. Despite the loss, there was optimism around Platini’s early work and the team’s revived attacking intent.
Early setbacks at home
Gérard Houllier lost 2-0 to Brazil at the Parc des Princes on 26 August 1992, only 15 days before the start of France’s 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign in Bulgaria. Rai’s Brazil handed France their first defeat at the stadium since a 1-0 loss to East Germany in November 1987.
William Prunier made his debut in a defence that came under heavy pressure, with Alain Roche the notable exception. Laurent Blanc’s move into midfield did not convince, while returning forward David Ginola received too little service to make an impact.
Roger Lemerre’s first match, France’s first outing as world champions, finished 2-2 against Austria in Vienna on 19 August 1998. Alain Boghossian equalised with six minutes left after France had been tested for long spells.
Lemerre selected nine members of the World Cup-winning squad, though their fitness levels varied in mid-August. Lilian Laslandes, making only his second international appearance, scored, while Tony Vairelles made a promising debut.
Experimentation without lift
Roger Santini began with a draw against Tunisia on 21 August 2002, following France’s group-stage exit at the World Cup in South Korea. He introduced a 3-5-2 during the first half and paired Sidney Govou with Thierry Henry in attack.
The match is recorded as a 2-2 draw, although France found little attacking momentum. Zidane, then a player, supplied Mikaël Silvestre for a goal in an otherwise subdued performance.
Raymond Domenech drew 1-1 with Bosnia and Herzegovina in Rennes on 18 August 2004. France looked lively for around 20 minutes, with four debutants in the starting line-up: Éric Abidal, Sébastien Squillaci, Rio Mavuba and Patrice Evra.
Peguy Luyindula scored, while Thierry Henry missed a penalty. After the Euro 2004 quarter-final defeat to Greece, France faded badly. Domenech switched from a 3-5-2 to a flat 4-4-2 at half-time, and the side were whistled off amid calls for Zidane’s return.
Laurent Blanc’s youthful France lost 2-1 in Norway on 11 August 2010. Without the players suspended after the Knysna strike at the 2010 World Cup, Blanc named a side whose starting players averaged just over 23 and a half years old and a little more than three caps each.
Hatem Ben Arfa scored France’s goal and, alongside Samir Nasri, was among the brighter performers. The defeat extended France’s winless sequence to six games and marked their first August loss since Houllier’s opening match 18 years earlier. The Knysna players returned the following month.
Didier Deschamps’ first night was a goalless draw with Uruguay at Le Havre on 15 August 2012. The Ligue 2 crowd greeted the final whistle with whistles after a slow contest against an Uruguay side difficult to break down even in a friendly.
Deschamps spent an hour using a 4-4-2, with Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud together up front, but the experiment did not click. Mavuba’s return, five and a half years after his previous cap, was the principal positive.
The next appointment in Turkey
Zidane’s first test comes in Turkey in the Nations League, a competitive opening unlike the friendly debuts endured by most of his predecessors. France will seek to avoid adding another difficult first night to a record in which initial optimism has rarely translated immediately into victory.
