Kylian Mbappe is reportedly set to miss France’s second Euro 2024 group game against the Netherlands after suffering a broken nose in the 1-0 win over Austria.
Mbappe was forced to come off towards the end of the 1-0 win over Austria after colliding with Kevin Danso.
ESPN report that France’s talisman will be allowed time to be in contention to face Poland in the final group game.
The forward does not require surgery on the injury, the French Football Federation confirmed, which would have ruled him out for the remainder of the competition, but will instead wear a custom-made mask when he returns.
On Monday, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) said Mbappe did not require any surgery.
“As you have seen, Kylian had this injury on the nose yesterday,” FFF president Philippe Diallo said in a press conference on Tuesday.
“The latest news is reassuring where there is no short-term operation needed, which was expected.
“Concerning his availability for the rest of the tournament, it’s a little early to give you a schedule and we will wait for the final verdict from the doctors’ tests this morning.
“Everyone came back a bit late last night so we will wait for later in the day to see how it evolves. But I will reiterate, the latest news is positive due to him not needing an operation. Him having his tournament taken away from him is not the case.”
After the match against Austria, former French national team physio Fabrice Bryand spoke to L’Equipe about how long it will take for these injuries to recover.
Bryand admitted that Mbappe’s competition could be over if his broken nose is more serious, but said the best possible outcome could be ten days out.
That would rule Mbappe out for the rest of the group stages.
“For sportspeople at the highest level, dealing with it will perhaps be different from normal circumstances. From what we’ve seen, his nose has deviated so there will have to be surgery to redress the partition,” said Bryand.
“Then after, player availability in terms of the future? For you and me, we would be banned from doing anything for several weeks. But sportspeople at the highest level can play with protection.
“If surgery is done tonight in Germany for example, it would take a fair bit of time to heal. The next ten to 15 days can be a little bit complicated.
“A complete assessment would need to be done to see if it is only the nasal partition that has been affected or if there are any other parts of the face that were affected, facial nerves for example.
“If that’s the case, then sadly the competition would be over for the player.
“If it’s only the nasal partition that has been affected, and no other area is affected, then it would just need to be realigned and it’s just a question of healing. With high-level sportspeople, one way of dealing with it could be risking it by making them play with face protection.
“In any case, some days or a perhaps even a week, you’re not really allowed to move.
“It’s difficult to do any contact sport because you can displace it. But because it’s high level sport and if it’s only a nasal partition, he could – depending on the surgery – appear in the latter stages of the competition.
“But then you have to wait for the surgery, to see if there’s any pain and the type of facial protection that is available.”