DUSSELDORF, Germany—Kylian Mbappé was due to have tests on his broken nose on Wednesday as France tried to assess what part he could play in the European Championship.
The World Cup winner sustained the injury during his team’s 1–0 win against Austria on Monday and will have to wear a face mask if he plays on at the tournament.
“There will be more tests tomorrow to see how things are developing. Obviously it was a big collision,“ France coach Didier Deschamps said Tuesday. ”The medical staff have done what they needed to reduce it as much as possible. This morning he was a bit better, so we will see that and we will follow it closely each day.”
France plays the Netherlands in its second game of Euro 2024 on Friday. It was not known if Mbappé would be able to play after his face collided with the shoulder Austria’s Kevin Danso as he attempted a header late in the Group D match at Dusseldorf Arena.
The French Football Federation said it had received “positive” news about Mbappé’s chances of continuing at the tournament as he will not need immediate surgery. But it did not specify how long it would be before he is able to play again.
“The news is rather reassuring so far as there are no operations planned for the immediate future. As for his participation in the rest of the tournament, it’s a bit too early to give a timetable,” federation president Philippe Diallo said.
Mbappé stayed on the ground after the aerial collision with Danso. His nose was badly swollen and blood poured, turning parts of his white jersey red.
Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz signaled for urgent medical assistance.
Mbappé tried to play on against Austria, but quickly fell to the ground again, holding his face and prompting whistles and jeers from the opposition fans, who seemed to believe he was time-wasting as France held on for the win.
He was then booked by referee Jesus Gil Manzano and replaced by Olivier Giroud.
Mbappé was treated by team doctor Franck Le Gall and then went to Dusseldorf hospital.
“They tried to reduce the aftermath of his fracture, for him to be able to stay in the tournament,” Diallo said. “We’ll wait until the end of the day to see how things develop. But all in all, I’d say the information was pretty positive.”
The federation said a mask would be made to allow Mbappé to “consider resuming competition after a period devoted to treatment.”
Mbappé’s injury is a big deal for France, as the country’s captain, its best player and one of the biggest stars of the tournament. It’s a concern for Real Madrid, too, after he left Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent to join the Spanish club in the offseason.
Mbappé is widely regarded as the heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world and led his country to the World Cup title in 2018 at the age of 19.
He became only the second player in history to score a hat trick in a World Cup final four years later in Qatar as France was runner-up to Messi’s Argentina.
Champions League winner Madrid ended its years-long pursuit of Mbappé earlier this month and he will join its roster of superstars, which includes Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
France’s priority will be to get him back on the field and leading its bid to win a record-equalling third Euros. Madrid will want him in peak condition for the start of the season and Mbappé already indicated this week that his new club did not want him to take part in the Paris Olympics, where the men’s final is Aug. 9.
If Mbappé is to play on at the Euros, he will need to wear the type of protective face mask worn by Son Heung-min and Josko Gvardiol at the World Cup in 2022.
But the speed of his return will depend on the level of discomfort he feels.
A broken nose can take weeks to heal and the National Health Service in the UK says sport should be avoided for “at least six weeks if there’s a chance your face might be hit.”
Mbappe returned to the team’s training camp to join up with the rest of the squad and appeared to see the lighter side of his injury.
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Mbappé produced a mixed performance before the injury but still showed his importance to France’s hopes of winning the championship.It was his moment of inspiration that led to Maximilian Wober scoring an own goal in the 38th minute that handed Deschamps his 100th win as France coach.
With a flash of close-ball control, Mbappé beat Phillipp Mwene in the box and crossed in search of a teammate. In Wober’s desperation to cut out the danger, he inadvertently diverted the ball into his own net.
Mbappé was then guilty of a remarkable miss 10 minutes into the second half when failing to hit the target from close range with only the keeper to beat.
Bursting through on goal, he was too fast for Wober and had time to steady himself in the box before picking his spot. With France fans behind the goal just waiting for the net to bulge, Mbappe’s shot instead curled past the post to the relief of the Austrians.
He has yet to score in the European Championship, having failed to at the last Euros three years ago.
Deschamps, however, does not want to consider worst-case scenarios.
“I’m not going to go into hypothesis,” he said. “The French team with Kylian would always be stronger. If the news doesn’t go along these lines then we’ll have to fight without him, but Kylian is Kylian and any team with him in the squad is obviously a lot stronger.”
Earlier on Monday Belgium suffered a shock 1–0 loss against Slovakia in Group E when Romelu Lukaku had two goals ruled out by VAR. Ivan Schranz’s scored in the seventh minute and Slovakia held out to produce the biggest surprise of the tournament so far.
Romania tops the group after beating Ukraine 3–0—its first Euros win in 24 years.
