Kylian Mbappe of France is injured during the UEFA Euro 2024, Group D, football match between Austria and France, 2024. Photo: AFP
Kylian Mbappe's chances of playing for France against the Netherlands at the European Championship remain unclear, but if he does make it to the pitch in Leipzig, he will wear a protective mask after breaking his nose on Monday.
France's captain suffered the fracture late in the Group D clash with Austria in Duesseldorf on Monday, after jumping for a header and colliding with the shoulder of defender Kevin Danso.
Mbappe was taken to hospital but the French federation said he did not require immediate surgery and will get a mask, prompting social media banter with France rugby skipper Antoine Dupont.
Dupont had surgery after fracturing a cheek bone in the early stages of last year's Rugby World Cup in France -- a more serious injury that Mbappe's nasal septum fracture -- but the scrumhalf was back training within a fortnight and returned to play in the World Cup quarter-final.
He had a specially fitted mask made but in the end wore only a scrum cap in his return match.
"Any ideas for a mask?," Mbappe tweeted Dupont on X on Tuesday.
"Private message me for a promo code. I have some solutions. Above all, good luck," Dupont replied.
Mbappe's obvious replacement would be 37-year-old Olivier Giroud.
He suffered an adductor injury in the Austria match, French media reported, but should resume training on Wednesday.
-Reuters