Here’s a great stat, courtesy of Opta: before tonight’s victory in Georgia, Northern Ireland were the only one of 55 nations to play in the Nations League and have never won an away match.

Consider that one ticked off then: Georgia 0-1 Northern Ireland.

“For all the quality in attack and defence, France seems to lack options in midfield,” emails Kári Tulinius. “Deschamps tried to fix that problem by overloading up front, but that didn’t work against Spain. It’ll be interesting to see how Zidane solves that problem.”

France’s away fans, bouncing away in delight high in the stands, look happy enough, it should be noted. Lacroix played well for France, which tells you all you need to know about how dominant France were (or weren’t).

86 min: Barcola is sent clean through and touches the ball around the onrushing Ugurcan Cakir, who advances out of his area and blocks the ball from going past! Was that with his arm?! It was close to his shoulder, but I think it looks like a handball, the ball ‘saved’ with his upper arm but outside the Turkey box. Initially, the referee waves play but after going to the monitor to check, dismisses Ugurcan Cakir. Turkey protest, as is their wont, but it’s the correct decision.

Altay Bayindir, the Manchester United keeper on loan at Celta Vigo, comes on for 10-man Turkey.

70 min: Turkey 0-1 France

“Here’s something weird,” emails Boring Ink. “On regular TV (DAZN), France is playing right to left. But on French TV (TF1), they are playing left to right. It seems like the French have set up cameras on the opposite side, just to show French advertising hoardings. With the big dug-outs, it looks less ‘professional’.”

56 min: Turkey 0-1 France

Is Mbappé injured?! It looks that way, with the Real Madrid superstar wincing as he wheeled away in celebration of that goal. Mbappé is going to leave the field for treatment, which leaves France with 10 men, temporarily.

Mbappé comes back on, but almost immediately collapses to the turf. He’s not going to be able to continue. A terrible blow for France, and Real Madrid, of course!

48 min: Turkey 0-0 France

Güler wriggles out of one tackle before an outrageous drag and flick sees the Madrid man pivot around Cherki, who brings him down. A very promising free-kick for Turkey, right on the edge of France’s area. Güler over it … but the ball deflects off the wall and squirts juuuuuust wide. Maignan was stranded, if the shot/deflection was on target. Credit to Lacroix in the wall, he got a crucial head on it.

France have been the better team but have certainly not been faultless. Turkey are in the game and look dangerous on the counter-attack. France’s substitutes could be crucial here, to inject new life into Zidane’s attack. He has Barcola and Doué lurking on the bench.

Italy grew into that half, the better side for the final 10 minutes. But Belgium were the dominant side and should really be two or three up. But for Donnarumma, they would be. A very exciting half, if you are Belgian. Van Bommel has got them ticking.

30 min: Italy 0-1 Belgium

Italy are all at sea, and Donnarumma is the only one keeping them in the game. Castagne crosses for Godts, completely unmarked at the back post. Godts heads back across goal but Donnarumma makes a WORLD CLASS SAVE to deny Belgium. Woof! Double woof! Crazy save.

Belgium have now had 12 attempts to Italy’s one. Roberto Mancini, impossibly tanned these days, looks miserable in the Italy dugout. His side are being battered.

Two new managers here but both Italy and Belgium have put out established sides with few shocks. Given his form for Brentford, it is a surprise that Michael Kayode is not given his debut at right back, veteran Di Lorenzo is preferred by Mancini. One eye-catching selection is Alessandro Romano, who makes his debut in the middle alongside Barella and Tonali, while Cambiaghi returns to the side after a year in the cold. Arsenal fans will be hoping for an injury-free night for Calafiori, especially with Kai Havertz limping off last night for Germany.

Belgium under Van Bommel are pretty much as expected. Doku is injured but that means the hugely exciting Godts (of PSG) gets a chance on the left, with the in-form Milan winger Moreira on the opposite flank. De Bruyne is still there in the No 10 position, while De Ketelaere keeps Lukaku on the bench.

Italy 4-3-3: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Coppola, Calafiori; Barella, Romano, Tonali; Cambiaghi, Esposito, Kean.
Subs: Ahanor, Carnesecchi, Doumbia, Frattesi, Kayode, Maldini, Mandragora, Raspadori, Scalvini, Scamacca, Vicario, Zoma.

Belgium 4-2-3-1: Lammens; Castagne, Ngoy, Mechele, De Cuyper; Tielemans, Raskin; Moreira, De Bruyne, Godts; De Ketelaere.
Subs: De Busser, Debast, Fernandez-Pardo, Keita, Lavia, Lukaku, Lukébakio, Openda, Seys, Theate, Vanaken, Vandevoordt.

Only six minutes of additional time were awarded in Tbilisi, but after more than eight additional minutes, Northern Ireland hurled a long throw into the Georgia box, and after an initial clearance, Charles pounced on a loose ball to poke the ball into the roof of the net. There was a VAR check for offside but the goal stood!

It should be said that Shea Charles’ younger brother, Pierce, played a blinder in net for Northern Ireland. Pierce Charles has been in fine form for QPR this season and saved a penalty against Georgia to keep the game at 0-0.

Here’s what Shea Charles had to say after the game:

“To come away with the winner is incredible. Pierce made a few massive saves to keep us in the game and then the penalty as well which I thought was justice really. He was incredible, as were the whole back five. I thought everyone on the pitch deserved the win.

“The win sets us up really well for Belfast which I am really excited for as it feels like I have not been there in ages.”

Let’s unpack those teams a little. Turkey are missing one of their star players, Kenan Yildiz, who is sidelined with a long-term injury. Yildiz normally operates on the left wing for Juventus, but with him out of action, Montella has leaned into this wing-back system, which seems to lean heavily on Kadioglu on the left. The 24-year-old won Brighton’s player of season last year and has quietly turned into one of the best left backs in the Premier League. Much rests of Arda Güler, in the No 10 position. Expect Turkey to have five at the back against France, when they are out of possession.

Zinedine Zidane’s first France XI throws no huge surprises, although notable additions include Bournemouth’s Adrien Truffert, who earns his second cap, four years after making his international debut. Interesting that Zidane also favours Lacroix as the replacement for the injured Saliba at centre-back. Jacquet and Yoro have to make do on the bench. Cherki gets the nod in midfield, alongside Rabiot and Manu Koné, who has been in sublime form for Roma at the start of this season. There is no room for Tchouameni or Kanté in this new-look squad, even if the XI is mostly unchanged. Jean-Phillipe Mateta (Crystal Palace), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan) also miss out.

Turkey 3-4-2-1: Cakir; Celik, Demiral, Bardakci; Aydin, Salih Ozcan, Yuksek, Kadioglu; Güler, Uzun; Baris Yilmaz
Subs: Akgun, Aktürkoglu, Bayindir, Elmali, Gül, Kabak, Kabasakal, Kahveci, Kocuk, Topcu, Simsir.

France 4-3-3: Maignan; Koundé, Upamecano, Lacroix, Truffert; Koné, Rabiot; Cherki; Olise, Mbappé, Dembélé.
Subs: Butz, Barcola, Akliouche, Camavinga, Diouf, Doué, Jacquet, Kalulu, Lepaul, Restes, Yoro, Da Cunha.

Of all the new international appointments, the most eye-catching is probably Jürgen Klopp with Germany, which feels both a radical and a natural fit for the four-time World Cup winners, who are in desperate need of a hard reset. Klopp was denied a win in his first game in charge against the Netherlands – now managed by Xavi – with Cody Gakpo striking in injury-time to earn a 1-1 draw for the Dutch.

The next most exciting appointment is surely France and Zinedine Zidane, who has not stepped into a dugout since leaving Real Madrid (for a second time) five years ago. After winning three consecutive Champions Leagues and a couple of La Liga titles in the Age of Messi, nobody is really sure Zizou is a managerial great, or simply an elite vibesman, who uses his personal aura to instill deference and respect into a talented squad, rather than being a master tactician. Maybe a vibesman is just what France need after the rigidity of Didier Deschamps – Les Bleus are surely the best team on the planet on paper, but have looked clunkier and less cohesive than they should, despite their tournament success in recent years. This opening test for Zidane, away to Turkey, should be enlightening and this is an excellent piece by Jonathan Wilson that expands on those ideas about Zidane. Get stuck in.

Turkey do not have a new manager, which is something of a surprise given they finished bottom of a relatively kind World Cup group that also included USA, Australia and Paraguay. Vincenzo Montella has clung on, with the Turkish federation taking a long-term view of his reign. “I could have been sacked, but the federation looked beyond: to the future,” Montella explained. “When I arrived, we couldn’t qualify for the Euros, and we won the group. They didn’t judge me on those two matches, but on all my work.”

Nobody is expecting a Turkey win over France, but a shock victory would certainly help Montella’s cause, with Italy and Belgium also lurking in Group A of the Nations League. Italy (Roberto Mancini) and Belgium (Mark van Bommel) also have new appointments. Mancini, of course, returns for the Euro 2028 cycle, having steered Italy to European glory at Euro 2020. The pressure, though, is on, after Italy failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup finals earlier this year.

Following their historic failures, many were expecting the Italian federation to break with the establishment and make a bold appointment. Mancini is seen as the continuity candidate, which has frustrated some, but there is no denying his success (38 wins, 12 draws and just eight losses in his previous tenure) or passion for the job. One key reason that Mancini was appointed was his discipline within the camp and his tendency to give youth a chance. It will be very interesting to see the starting XI against Belgium, with Mancini’s 34-man squad including an unprecedented 10 players from outside Serie A, with more expected to join in the future, including Giovanni Leoni and Marco Palestra. Brentford’s Michael Kayode is in line to make his senior debut, while Mohamed Ali Zoma, playing in the second tier in Germany with Nürnberg, has also been called up.

Lots of intrigue, then, to get the juices flowing. We’ll have live updates of six 7.45pm BST kick-offs (below), as well as mopping up the final results of the two early 5pm BST kick-offs: Georgia v Northern Ireland and Armenia v Latvia.

Turkey v France
Italy v Belgium
Hungary v Ukraine
Sweden v Romania
Poland v Bosnia and Herzegovina
Montenegro v Cyprus