A suspected ‘diplomatic injury’ for Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé | OneFootball

Kylian Mbappé (26) played a key role in securing France’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup. The captain netted a brace in Les Bleus’ 4-0 win over Ukraine on Thursday night, which confirmed their place at next summer’s finals. 

After a barren run, the Real Madrid forward has been prolific in recent months for the national team, as well as for his club. However, he will play no role at all for France against Azerbaijan on Sunday evening. It is a dead rubber for Les Bleus, who have already qualified for the World Cup. As a result, Didier Deschamps is expected to name a completely different XI to the one that started at the Parc des Princes on Thursday.

Mbappé has not even travelled to Azerbaijan. In the wake of France’s win, it was confirmed by the FFF that the former AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain forward would return to Real Madrid due to ankle inflammation, not thought to be serious. 

So unserious, in fact, that reports in Spain suggest that he won’t even undergo tests on the “injury” and will certainly feature against Elche next weekend. Sources around the France national team have told RMC Sport that it is a “diplomatic injury”. 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle