PARIS: France’s sensational striker, Kylian Mbappe, has been confirmed to be out of the 2026 World Cup qualifier against Iceland on Monday after suffering a right ankle injury.
According to an official statement from the French Football Federation (FFF), Mbappe — who is currently with Real Madrid — had previously suffered a minor injury to his right ankle and had to be taken off early during France’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in Paris yesterday.
In the match, Mbappe scored the opening goal before being fouled twice by the opposing defense, including a hard tackle by Rustam Ahmedzade, which caused an injury to the same part.
“His ankle is sore and he got hit in the area again. He asked to be taken off because the pain was quite serious,” said France coach Didier Deschamps after the match.
The FFF explained that after returning to the Clairefontaine training center, Mbappe spoke with Deschamps who then agreed to release him back to Real Madrid without a replacement.
Mbappe’s absence adds to a long list of strikers who have been ruled out this month, including Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Marcus Thuram and Bradley Barcola.
France remain top of Group D after three matches without defeat.
Les Bleus will confirm their ticket to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico if they win over Iceland and Ukraine fail to beat Azerbaijan.
In the victory over Azerbaijan, besides Mbappe, Adrien Rabiot and Florian Thauvin also scored.