Paris has lost its captain for the opening stretch of Zinedine Zidane’s France tenure, with Kylian Mbappé returning to Madrid after suffering a right knee tendon injury.
The news from the club
France will not call up a replacement for the Real Madrid forward, leaving Zidane to continue with the rest of his original squad for the next three Nations League matches.
Mbappé was injured after scoring the only goal in France’s victory over Turkey, a result that marked Zidane’s first match in charge of Les Bleus. The forward left the national-team camp on Saturday and travelled back to Madrid, where he will undergo examination by Real Madrid’s medical staff.
The club’s doctors had already been in contact with their French federation counterparts during the night. Zidane described the issue as “a small problem”, but said there was no reason to take a risk with the national captain.
The Nations League calendar
Without Mbappé, France face Belgium on Monday before meeting Italy on Friday, 2 October. A second encounter with Belgium follows on 5 October.
