France's Kylian Mbappe holds his face after sustaining a facial injury.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Düsseldorf: 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 Düsseldorf 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.