France boss Didier Deschamps says Mbappe is ‘not doing well’ after sustaining a potentially broken nose.
France captain Kylian Mbappe suffered a nasal injury during their first group stage match against Austria in the European Championship 2024. The injury occurred when Mbappe collided with Austrian defender Kevin Danso’s shoulder during the match, which France won 1-0.
Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, reported that Mbappe does “not require an operation,” but the extent of his injury is still uncertain.
The dribbling master was covered in blood and received immediate treatment on the pitch. He was initially planned to be replaced by Olivier Giroud, but Mbappe re-entered the field without informing the officials and was subsequently handed a yellow card.
In the post-match conference, France boss Didier Deschamps mentioned that Mbappe is “not doing well” due to the severity of the injury. “His nose got badly hit. We need to check it out, but it seems quite complicated, which is really very unfortunate for us,” Deschamps said. “The medical staff are checking him out. I saw him on the massage table. He didn’t get off lightly. It’s still to be seen, and I cannot, at this stage, give you a precise answer.”
Mbappe, who has scored 47 goals in 80 appearances for France, helped set up France’s only goal against Austria when his cross was accidentally headed into their own net by Austria’s Maximilian Wöber.
When asked whether Mbappe would play against the Netherlands on Friday, Deschamps said, “I’m not going to go into hypotheses, but the French team with Kylian will always be stronger with him. If the news doesn’t go along these lines, then we will have to fight without him.”
Widely known as the best player in the world, Mbappe is set to join Real Madrid on July 1 from Paris St-Germain this summer.