France Boss Zidane on Kylian Mbappe's Knee Injury: 'He's not good'

New France manager Zinedine Zidane indicated that Kylian Mbappe is likely to exit the Nations League squad due to a knee injury. The team's leading scorer sustained the injury during their opening victory in Turkey on Friday.

Mbappe, a Real Madrid striker, scored the game's sole goal in the 54th minute after receiving a pass from Michael Olise. He appeared to be in pain as the ball crossed the line 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. "He hyperextended his knee when shooting. He had to come off. We won't take any risks. It doesn't look encouraging for him to continue with the squad."

This injury raises concerns for Real Madrid, potentially leaving them without their top scorer from the previous Liga season for their next match on October 10. Madrid has faltered recently, currently sitting six points behind league leaders Barcelona.

Last season, Mbappe missed nine Madrid games, with knee issues cited for seven of those absences. He already spent six weeks sidelined during 2026 due to similar problems.

France's Upcoming Nations League Fixtures

France's next match is scheduled for Monday.

Date	Fixture	BST Start Time	ET	PT
Sept 28	Belgium vs France	19:45	14:45	11:45

Turkey vs France Nations League Statistics

• This marked Turkey's 655th official match.
• Turkey had previously played in Kocaeli, defeating Chile 1-0 in a 2008 friendly.
• Their only competitive home win against France was a 2-0 victory in EURO qualifying in June 2019.
• Before this match, Turkey had lost only one of their last nine home games (W7 D1), with the exception being a 6-0 loss to Spain.
• France has won five out of seven encounters with Turkey.
• France's overall record since 1904 includes 481 wins, 195 draws, and 268 defeats.
• Mbappe is France's record scorer with 67 goals and ranks ninth in caps, level with Patrick Vieira.
• France's last 10 goals were all scored after the 47th minute, with Mbappe netting five and Ousmane Dembele two.
• France had scored at least two goals in five of their previous six away Nations League matches, failing to do so in a 2-0 loss to Croatia in March 2025.