Why did Kylian Mbappé not play for France against the Netherlands in Euro 2024?

Kylian Mbappé missed out on France’s second Euro 2024 game in Group D against the Netherlands.

The player, who broke his nose in a challenge in Les Bleus tournament opener against Austria, has been training with a mask in the days leading up to the game. The player did not make it back in time and started on the bench as manager Didier Deschamps was forced to rotate his attacking line.

‘Kylian is feeling better’, says Deschamps

The crunching incident occurred towards the end of the game against Austria, which France won 0-1 thanks to an own goal from Max Wöber in the first half. As for his recovery, Mbappé did not require surgery and after a session of no-contact training on Wednesday, the player was allowed to return the following day and took part in the complete session with the rest of the group.

“I can confirm that Kylian is feeling better,” Deschamps admitted at his pre-match press conference ahead of the game in Leipzig. “Everything is going in the right direction after this major shock he had, with the consequences, of course. Yesterday [Wednesday] he was able to go out and do some activities. It is the same case tonight [Thursday]. It has evolved in the right direction to ensure that he can be available tomorrow.”

“Kylian will be wearing a mask, yes” he added when asked about the protective equipment, “we don’t really need to know the details about this mask … I think you have enough moles to find out where the mask is coming from anyway.”

Will Kylian Mbappé play any minutes against Poland?

This is the million dollar question. While the information spread that the Real Madrid forward would start on the bench against the Netherlands, it is not yet known as to whether the forward will be fit enough to have any minutes on the pitch at all in their final game

As mentioned, Deschamps was positive ahead of the second game regarding Mbappé's fitness.

These sentiments were reflecting in the words from Antoine Griezmann, who said that “Kylian is doing well, the swelling has gone down on his nose. We’ll see in the last minutes how he is feeling. We are in the competition now and we are ready to continue. We want to win the trophy.”