Kylian Mbappe could start for France in their huge Euro 2024 clash with the Netherlands on Friday as the superstar’s protective mask is believed to have arrived at the French camp.
The 25-year-old suffered a broken nose in Les Bleus‘ opening game against Austria after a head-to-shoulder clash with Kevin Danso towards the end of the match.
The incident forced Mbappe off the field as the PSG star had blood rushing out of his nose.
Many fans feared the forward’s tournament could be over but that was shut down after it was reported that the France star did not need surgery on his facial injury. Mbappe was in training on Wednesday with bandages on his nose and even more good news has emerged from the French camp since.
There had been an expectation that the 25-year-old could miss Friday’s important Group D match with The Netherlands and his return to the tournament would be discovered at a later date. However, according to a report from RMC Sport, Mbappe is hopeful of featuring against the Dutch as his protective mask is set to arrive this evening.
The report states that the arrival of the mask will allow the France captain to test it out in training today and should all go well, it may lead to the PSG star playing in Friday night’s match, a game that could decide who will finish top of Group D.
Should France take a risk with Kylian Mbappe’s broken nose?
Although the Netherlands game is an important one in deciding who will finish top of Group D, Didier Deschamps should not risk the health of his star man for the clash as it would be very short-term thinking.
It will be only four days since Mbappe suffered his injury by the time kick-off against the Dutch comes about and it certainly needs more time to heal and for the player to get used to playing with a mask.
The French have more than enough talent to replace the 25-year-old for the Netherlands game, with the rest ensuring that the superstar is fully ready to take on the knockout rounds of the competition.