London: Kylian Mbappe has been ruled out for the remainder of the international window after suffering a knee injury during France’s 1-0 Nations League victory over Turkey in Zinedine Zidane’s first match as head coach.
Mbappe scored the only goal of the game to give Zidane a winning start, converting a pass from Michael Olise to take his international tally to a record-extending 67 goals for France.
However, the Real Madrid forward appeared to pick up the injury soon after scoring. Mbappe was seen limping and was substituted just five minutes after finding the net.
Zidane expressed concern over the injury after the match and confirmed that France would not take any unnecessary risks with their captain.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good. I think he’ll have to go back,” Zidane said.
“We’re not going to take any risks. He has swelling in the knee. It’s not encouraging.”
The injury means Mbappe will miss the rest of France’s international fixtures during the current window, with the French medical team expected to assess the extent of the problem.
Despite Mbappe’s early departure, France held on for a narrow victory in Turkey, giving Zidane an encouraging beginning to his tenure.
Turkey were reduced to 10 men late in the match when goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir was shown a red card for handling the ball outside his penalty area.
Zidane Starts France Era With Victory
The match marked Zidane’s first game in charge of the France senior national team. The former France international was appointed after Didier Deschamps stepped down following the World Cup this summer.
Zidane returns to international management after building a highly successful club career with Real Madrid. Across two spells as Real Madrid manager, from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2021, he guided the Spanish giants to three UEFA Champions League titles and two La Liga championships.
A world champion with France as a player, Zidane now begins his first senior managerial assignment outside Real Madrid with a victory, although Mbappe’s injury has taken some of the gloss off the result.
France will now closely monitor Mbappe’s knee ahead of Real Madrid’s upcoming fixtures, with further medical assessments expected to determine the seriousness of the injury.
