Kylian Mbappe broke his nose in France’s win against Austria on Monday night and will undergo surgery in Dusseldorf.
France produced an uninspiring performance but secured a 1-0 win thanks to a first half own goal from Maximilian Wober.
The biggest concern for Didier Deschamps though will be the fitness of Mbappe who suffered a broken nose after a collision with Kevin Danso.
Mbappe to undergo surgery on broken nose
The Real Madrid star had to leave the pitch as he was covered in blood and got booked for re-entering and trying to get substituted, before he was eventually replaced by Olivier Giroud in the closing stages.
Deschamps said after the game that Mbappe’s nose injury didn’t look good and the forward wasn’t doing well.
“He’s not doing well,” Deschamps said.
““He’s with the medical staff, and I had a lot of media questions before coming here, so I cannot tell you anything else.
“But his nose got badly hit, that’s for sure.
“We need to check that out, but it seems quite complicated, which is really very unfortunate for us tonight.”
It was then confirmed by the French Football Federation that Mbappe had broken his nose and would undergo surgery in Dusseldorf.
This means that the 25-year-old will likely have to wear a mask for the rest of France’s campaign depending on the extent of the injury, and Deschamps insisted the French side will always be stronger with Mbappe in it.
“I’m not going to go into hypotheses, but I’ll say what I’ve always said, the French team with Kylian will always be stronger, the national squad will always be stronger with him,” Deschamps added.
“But if, and I use your ‘if’, the news doesn’t go along these lines, we’ll have to be without him.
“But Kylian is Kylian, and any team he’s in, the squad is always much stronger.”
France will be hoping Mbappe will be able to take part in their next group game against The Netherlands on Friday before they round out the group stage against Poland.
