Soccer

Too early to say if Kylian Mbappe will continue at Euro 2024 – FFF president

The forward was taken to hospital in Dusseldorf after colliding with opponent Kevin Danso’s shoulder in the victory over Austria.

Kylian Mbappe’s broken nose has raised doubts over his continued participation in Euro 2024
Kylian Mbappe’s broken nose has raised doubts over his continued participation in Euro 2024 (Nick Potts/PA)

France Football Federation president Philippe Diallo insisted it was too early to say whether Kylian Mbappe would feature in the remainder of Euro 2024 after breaking his nose.

The forward was taken to hospital in Dusseldorf after colliding with opponent Kevin Danso’s shoulder in the victory over Austria.

No immediate surgery was required and plans were being made for the 25-year-old to wear a protective mask but Diallo said France were still unsure of a timescale of recovery for Real Madrid’s new signing.

“The first responses were quite positive as there is no surgery planned for the moment,” he told a press conference.

“Now it is too soon to know if he will be able to play for the remainder of the tournament, or to provide a schedule for his situation.

“Obviously there were some medical examinations performed on site to know more about Kylian Mbappe’s nose and they made some conclusions pretty quickly.

“They tried to reduce the aftermath of his fracture, for him to be able to remain in the tournament.

“As I said, there is no surgery planned for the moment and we are still waiting for things to evolve later in order to know more about the conditions of his participation in the remainder of the tournament.”

France coach Didier Deschamps remains optimistic over Mbappe’s recovery, but accepts he will need surgery at some point.

“There will still be exams tomorrow to make sure we see how things evolve,” Deschamps said in a video interview with the France Football Federation posted on social media.

“The medical staff did what was necessary to reduce it as much as possible. Even if it will not be immediately, he will have to undergo surgery.

“Already this morning he was a little better, so we will see that and monitor it closely every day.”