Zinédine Zidane and Mbappé stood next to each other this week in France colours for the first time as coach and captain, but their history goes back much further than that. On the eve of the Nations League opener away to Türkiye, Zidane returned to a memory that has followed him around for years: a French teenager with a name nobody yet knew, on trial at Real Madrid.
“What I saw in him was his potential when he came for the trial at Real Madrid,” Zidane said of that visit. “We were all excited by the idea of seeing him play here.”
The trial never turned into a signing. Mbappé returned to France, later joined Monaco, and only arrived at Real Madrid as a fully-formed superstar in 2024. Zidane, by then long gone from the club, had already put his own feelings on the record in 2019, before a Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain: “I’ve known him for a long time and I’m in love. He came here for a trial a long time ago.”
The teenager Mbappé remembers being
Mbappé has told the story from his own side. Speaking to Spanish daily AS earlier this week, he recalled being the boy at the other end of that day at Valdebebas.
“He was the first person who picked me up to take me to Real Madrid, to the training complex. I was 13 or 14, so it was a long time ago,” Mbappé told AS.
A new era after Deschamps
The bond only became a working relationship this summer. The French Football Federation confirmed Zidane’s appointment on 28 July, handing him a contract until the 2030 World Cup and ending Didier Deschamps’ 14-year tenure. Deschamps stepped aside after Les Bleus finished fourth at the 2026 World Cup, beaten in the semi-final by eventual winners Spain and then by England in the third-place play-off.
Mbappé is one of the players carrying that turnover most directly. He has known only one France coach in his senior career, and said the change will take some getting used to.
“We’re starting a new process with France. We have two years to prepare for the European Championship and that’s what we’re focused on now,” he told AS.
“It’s going to be new for everyone because all we’ve known is Deschamps. It’s going to be a change for us, but I think everything is going to go very well.”
Zidane confirms Mbappé stays as captain
Whatever debate has surrounded Mbappé at Real Madrid in recent weeks, Zidane closed the door on it in his first France press conference, confirming the forward would keep the armband and refusing to be drawn on the Ballon d’Or or the noise around his club form.
“Kylian is now my new player, and he will be my captain,” Zidane said.
Tactically, the plan is a 4-3-3 with Mbappé on the left, given freedom to drift inside like a second striker. It is the role Zidane has said he prefers for him.
France face Türkiye at Kocaeli Stadium in Izmit on Friday, with kick-off at 9:45pm local time in Zidane’s first competitive match in charge.
