France captain Kylian Mbappe suffered a broken nose late on in his side’s 1-0 victory Euro 2024 victory over Austria on Monday, the French Football Federation confirmed after the game.

The 25-year-old, one of the biggest names at the tournament, suffered the injury when he collided with the shoulder of Austrian defender Kevin Danso while challenging for a header.

He was substituted near the end and left the stadium in an ambulance to undergo X-ray

“Kylian Mbappe suffered a broken nose during the second half of the Austria v France match this Monday in Duesseldorf,” a statement from the federation said.

“The captain of the French team was first taken care of by the medical staff and doctor Franck Le Gall, who diagnosed a broken nose. Diagnosis confirmed during radiological examinations at the Duesseldorf hospital.

“Kylian Mbappe has returned to the base camp of the French team. He will undergo treatment in the coming days, without undergoing surgery immediately.”

France face the Netherlands on Friday and Mbappe is now a doubt for that clash – a huge blow for France.

“A mask will be made so as to allow the number 10 of the French team to consider resuming competition after a period devoted to treatment,” the FFF said.

-Reuters

A bloodied nose, a booking for unsportsmanlike conduct and an unfathomable miss that silenced a stadium – France’s Kylian Mbappe underlined his troubled relationship with the European Championship on Monday amidst uncertainty over his injury.

The France captain, to his credit, was sublime in creating the goal that beat Austria 1-0, but his failure to score at a Euros will weigh heavily on a player who has found the net 12 times at World Cups, including a hat-trick in the 2022 final.

Mbappe’s last match at a European Championship ended in acrimony for France, with his miss in a shootout the trigger for their shock second-round exit to Switzerland at Euro 2020 after his side squandered a two-goal advantage late in the game.

Goal droughts do not come often for Mbappe but France’s opening Group D match on Monday marked his fifth successive Euros game without scoring after a combined 18 goal attempts.

The 25-year-old was impressive and involved in just about every France move, but it just was not his night.

He ended it with a bloodied nose after a nasty collision with the shoulder of Austria’s Kevin Danso while attempting to head home an Antoine Griezmann free kick, which Mbappe had won when he took a blow to the face moments earlier.

After receiving treatment he left the field initially but in a bizarre move Mbappe returned minutes later then sat down on the pitch, prompting boos and jeers from the Austria fans and a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“It’s very bad news for us tonight,” France manager Didier Deschamps said. “If you had Kylian who is in a difficult situation… Obviously, the French team with or without him, this is not the same thing. I hope he can be there.”

Given Mbappe’s performance on Monday France will be hoping it won’t be long before he is firing again and that he recovers in time for France’s next game with Netherlands on Friday.

Mbappe was the standout French player, reeling off perfectly weighted passes, coolly spreading the ball around and injecting bursts of lightning pace to leave his markers for dead.

He threatened to score after nine minutes with a fierce low shot from an angle that tested goalkeeper Patrick Pentz.

Mbappe then created a goal from nothing near halftime with a quick shimmy to skip around three players before delivering a cross that was headed into his own net by Maximilian Wober.

The forward chased everything, starting one move in his own half with a pass before sprinting two-thirds of the way down the field to try to finish off the move.

He stunned the crowd in the 54th minute when he accelerated past an opponent at the halfway line before darting into the area and uncharacteristically firing a shot wide with time, space and only the goalkeeper to beat, prompting a cheeky grin.

-Reuters

Maximilian Woeber’s own goal was enough to give France a winning start to their Euro 2024 campaign on Monday as they edged Austria 1-0 in their opening game but Kylian Mbappe came off late on with a bloodied nose.

Woeber diverted Mbappe’s cutback into his own net seven minutes before half-time in Duesseldorf to allow the French, one of the leading contenders to win the tournament, to come through a stiff test.

Austria have been much-improved under Ralf Rangnick and their pressing game often made life uncomfortable for the 2022 World Cup runners-up, who saw Mbappe leave the field near the end after being hurt in a collision.

He had earlier failed to convert a glorious chance that would have allowed France to win by a wider margin.

While Les Bleus were not at their best, they will be relieved to have emerged victorious from the game after a build-up overshadowed by talk of politics rather than football.

Mbappe and other French players had spent much of their time before the media in recent days answering questions about upcoming elections in the country which could see the far-right National Rally become the biggest party.

Any slip-up here would have led to suggestions their minds had not been fully focused on the competition, as France aim to become European champions for the third time, and first since 2000.

Instead, the result leaves Didier Deschamps’ team level on three points in Group D with the Netherlands, who defeated Poland 2-1 in Hamburg on Sunday.

France and the Netherlands meet next in Leipzig on Friday, while Austria face Poland earlier the same day in Berlin.

Austria had enjoyed some impressive results coming into the tournament on a seven-game unbeaten run and their team is on familiar ground during these Euros — their coach Rangnick is from Germany and eight of their starting line-up played in the German Bundesliga last season.

Difficult night for Mbappe

The French, however, are arguably the most talented team at the tournament, led by their captain Mbappe.

He endured a miserable time at his only previous Euros three years ago, failing to score and missing the decisive penalty in a shoot-out defeat by Switzerland in the last 16.

The new Real Madrid signing will wonder how he did not score in this game, with his first big opportunity arriving inside eight minutes.

Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez combined to release Mbappe, who cut in from the left as he loves to do and shaped to curl a shot into the far corner before instead aiming for the near post.

However, Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz was able to make the save.

The Austrians settled into the contest and passed up a wonderful chance of their own to go ahead on 36 minutes.

Skipper Marcel Sabitzer touched down a Michael Gregoritsch cross from the left for Christoph Baumgartner, but he was foiled by goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

That proved crucial as France went ahead two minutes later.

Ousmane Dembele gave the ball to Mbappe on the right, and he produced a stepover to get to the byline before his cutback was nodded into the far corner of his own net by the unfortunate Woeber.

Mbappe was then thwarted by Pentz as he tried to go around the goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time, but that was nothing compared to the chance he squandered 10 minutes after the restart.

Adrien Rabiot sent Mbappe away, bounding in behind the Austrian defence, but he somehow put his shot wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.

That left the game in the balance, and Austria continued to push for a leveller, but without success.

Their fans were less than impressed by what they perceived as timewasting late on from Mbappe, who needed treatment after colliding with Kevin Danso in the box.

He left the pitch with his shirt stained by blood, only to then come back on and sit down, earning himself a yellow card before being replaced by Olivier Giroud.

-AFP