France captain Kylian Mbappe suffered a broken nose in his team’s win over Austria at Euro 2024 on Monday which could hamper his ability to represent the national team for the remainder of the tournament but not end his participation.
France’s medical team swiftly confirmed to domestic broadcaster TF1 that Mbappe’s nose was indeed broken and although L’Equipe reported that surgery was initially expected at the University of Dusseldorf facilities, the decision was made against operating on the World Cup winner — for now.
“Kylian Mbappe has suffered a broken nose,” confirmed the French Football Federation via a statement issued via the French press overnight on Monday. “He is back in camp with the rest of the squad and will undergo treatment in the coming days without undergoing immediate surgery.
“A mask will be constructed in order to enable the French team’s No. 10 to consider resuming competition after a period of treatment” added the FFF which Mbappe sought to see the bright side of later by asking via social media for ideas for mask designs.
France manager Didier Deschamps was brief with his post-match assessment of Mbappe’s injury but admitted it was one of the low points of the night.
“Kylian’s nose is not fine at all,” head coach Didier Deschamps told TF1 moments after the final whistle. “We will see, but obviously it is the biggest negative to take from this evening.”
However, he added further details on Tuesday in an interview which was published by Les Bleus’ social media accounts which confirmed that eventual surgery will be needed while the FFF recognized that Mbappe “remains uncertain” for Friday’s Netherlands game before adding that “a new update will be made on Wednesday.”
“There will be more tests on Wednesday to see how it is evolving,” said the France boss. “Obviously, it was a significant blow and the medical staff did what they had to in order to reduce the impact as much as possible.
“Although it will not be immediate, he will eventually need to have surgery. He was already doing a bit better on Tuesday morning so we will keep an eye on that and how he is doing each and every day.”
