Madrid has welcomed Kylian Mbappé back from the France camp with a fresh concern around his left knee, the joint that has already interrupted long stretches of his early Real Madrid career. The forward was hurt while scoring France’s 1-0 winner against Turkey, tried to continue, then asked to be substituted and left the squad to return to Spain. The precise extent of the problem has yet to be established.
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The initial assessment points towards a tendon injury in Mbappé’s left knee. It is his seventh physical setback since arriving at Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, and it again places attention on the knee issue that troubled him for several months last season.
Across a little more than two campaigns in Madrid, Mbappé has missed 14 matches through injury. That total rises to 17 when the three games he missed with acute gastroenteritis at the Club World Cup are included. Even with those interruptions, he has been available for 88.8% of Real Madrid’s fixtures so far, a figure that could fall depending on the outcome of the latest medical examinations.
His first Madrid injury came early in his debut season. On 24 September 2024, during the seventh league round against Alavés, he damaged the left hamstring. Initial expectations suggested a longer absence, but his recovery was swift and he missed only the following weekend’s derby against Atlético Madrid.
Less than three months later, Mbappé scored away to Atalanta in Bergamo before leaving the pitch in the 36th minute with muscular discomfort on 10 December. He was unavailable for the league meeting with Rayo Vallecano.
A heavy tackle by Carlos Romero in Espanyol’s match against Real Madrid in February 2025 brought a third issue, leaving Mbappé with a calf haematoma. He trained afterwards but was kept out of the Copa fixture against Leganés as a precaution.
The following month he suffered a right-ankle sprain in the Champions League tie against Arsenal. He missed games against Athletic and Getafe, although he was also suspended for the Athletic match following a dismissal.
At the Club World Cup, his absence had a different cause. Acute gastroenteritis ruled him out of matches with Al-Hilal, Pachuca and Salzburg rather than an injury.
The left knee returns to focus
The longest interruption began in December 2025, when discomfort emerged in Mbappé’s left knee. On the final day of the year, Real Madrid confirmed a sprain, and he was unavailable against Betis and Atlético Madrid.
The complaint resurfaced during the opening months of 2026 and continued to affect his schedule until March. Across those two periods, he missed seven games, including fixtures against Benfica, Getafe, Celta, Manchester City and Elche.
Having moved beyond the knee trouble, Mbappé suffered another injury on 25 April, damaging the semitendinosus muscle in his left leg. He spent 17 days out and missed two matches.
Five months on, the France international has been forced to stop again, this time while away with his country. Madrid must now wait for a definitive diagnosis before knowing whether the left knee will produce another short interruption or a more significant absence.
