Euro 2024: Mbappe to wear mask after breaking nose in France win

The French Federation have confirmed that Kylian Mbappe suffered a broken nose in France’s victory over Austria, saying the forward will return to action wearing a mask.

France coach Didier Deschamps said the injury “does not look good at all”.

Mbappe suffered a blow after colliding with Kevin Danso late on in the match. The forward tried to carry on with the injury but was forced off on 90 minutes.

France kicked off their Euro 2024 campaign with a 1-0 win over Austria in Group D as a result of Max Wober’s own goal. Mbappe set up the only goal of the game.

It remains unclear if Mbappe will be available for France’s next match, against the Netherlands on Friday night. France’s final group game is on Tuesday, June 25, against Poland.

“His nose is not good at all. We will look at it. It is obviously the black mark against the evening. Even if it is only a nose, it is very annoying for us,” Deschamps said.

After the match, former French national team physio Fabrice Bryand spoke to L’Equipe about how long it would take for these injuries to recover.

Bryand admitted that Mbappe’s competition could be over if his broken nose is more serious, but said the best possible outcome could be ten days out.

That would rule Mbappe out for the rest of the group stages.

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Bryand said: “For sportspeople at the highest level, dealing with it will perhaps be different from normal circumstances. From what we’ve seen, his nose has deviated so there will have to be surgery to redress the partition.

“Then after, player availability in terms of the future? For you and me, we would be banned from doing anything for several weeks. But sportspeople at the highest level can play with protection.

“If surgery is done tonight in Germany for example, it would take a fair bit of time to heal. The next ten to 15 days can be a little bit complicated.

“A complete assessment would need to be done to see if it is only the nasal partition that has been affected or if there are any other parts of the face that were affected, facial nerves for example.

“If that’s the case, then sadly the competition would be over for the player.

“If it’s only the nasal partition that has been affected, and no other area is affected, then it would just need to be realigned and it’s just a question of healing. With high-level sportspeople, one way of dealing with it could be risking it by making them play with face protection.

“In any case, some days or perhaps even a week, you’re not really allowed to move.

“It’s difficult to do any contact sport because you can displace it. But because it’s high level sport and if it’s only a nasal partition, he could – depending on the surgery – appear in the latter stages of the competition.

“But then you have to wait for the surgery, to see if there’s any pain and the type of facial protection that is available.”

The Star