France Boss Zidane Issues Kylian Mbappe Knee Injury Update: ‘He’s Not Good’

Ousmane Dembele took over from Mbappe as captain.

New France manager Zinedine Zidane indicated he expects Kylian Mbappe to leave the Nations League squad due to a knee injury. The country's all-time top scorer sustained the injury during Friday's opening victory in Turkey.

Mbappe, the Real Madrid striker, scored the game's only goal in the 54th minute after receiving a pass from Michael Olise. He grimaced as the ball entered the net and was substituted shortly after for Desire Doue.

“He’s not good,” Zidane told TF1, as reported by L’Equipe, following his first match in charge. France have four more Nations League games scheduled until October 5.

“He hyperextended his knee when shooting. He had to come off. We won’t take any risks. It’s not very encouraging for him to be able to continue [with the squad].”

With Real Madrid facing recent struggles, manager Jose Mourinho now has an added concern about potentially being without last season's Liga top scorer for their next match on October 10.

Madrid's loss to Atleti last Sunday was their second in five games, placing them six points behind leaders Barcelona at the beginning of Mourinho’s second tenure.

Last season, Mbappe missed seven of nine Madrid games due to knee issues, having already been sidelined for six weeks in 2026.

France Nations League Fixtures

France's next match is on Monday.

Date	Fixture	BST start time	ET	PT
Sept 28	Belgium vs France	19:45	14:45	11:45

For live coverage details worldwide, consult UEFA’s Nations League international broadcaster list.

Turkey vs France Nations League Stats

• This marked Turkey’s 655th match, with 260 wins and 244 defeats. Their only previous game at Kocaeli Stadyumu was a 4-1 win over Georgia in World Cup qualifying last year.
• They had played in Kocaeli previously, defeating Chile 1-0 in a 2008 friendly thanks to Halil Altıntop's second-half goal.
• Turkey's sole victory against France occurred in their only competitive home fixture for this matchup, a 2-0 win in EURO qualifying in June 2019, with goals from Cengiz Under and Kaan Ayhan.
• Including friendlies, Turkey had lost only one of their previous nine home matches in Turkey (W7 D1), with the exception being a 6-0 defeat to Spain in World Cup qualifying last September.
• France has won five of the seven encounters between these two teams. Their only draw came in their most recent meeting in 2019, a 1-1 tie in EURO qualifying at the Stade de France.
• This was France's 944th match since 1904, recording 481 wins, 195 draws, and 268 defeats, scoring 1,712 goals and conceding 1,272.
• Mbappe is France's record scorer with 67 goals and ranks ninth in appearances, level with Patrick Vieira and one behind Zidane.
• Each of France’s last 10 goals have been scored after the 47th minute, with Mbappe netting five and Ousmane Dembele two, both of his after the 65th minute.
• They had scored at least twice in five of their previous six Nations League matches away from France, failing to do so in a 2-0 loss to Croatia in Split in March 2025, though they won the return leg 2-0 and advanced to the semi-finals on penalties.