Kylian Mbappe has been ruled out of France’s World Cup qualifier against Iceland on Monday after aggravating a sore right ankle during his side’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in Paris. The French Football Federation (FFF) confirmed the news, stating that the Real Madrid forward has returned to his club and will not be replaced in the squad.
The France captain had been managing a minor ankle problem sustained while playing for Real Madrid before joining up with the national team. During Friday’s qualifier, Mbappe opened the scoring but suffered two further knocks to the same ankle and was substituted before the final whistle.
Following the match, Mbappe returned to the Clairefontaine training base, where he spoke with head coach Didier Deschamps. The FFF said Deschamps accepted that the 25-year-old would not be fit to face Iceland and agreed to release him from international duty. Mbappe had already been rested from training earlier in the week due to the same issue.
Mbappe’s absence adds to a growing list of unavailable forwards for France’s October fixtures, including Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Marcus Thuram and Bradley Barcola. Despite the depleted attack, Deschamps’s team remains unbeaten in World Cup qualifying and currently tops Group D.
In Friday’s match at the Stade de France, Adrien Rabiot and substitute Florian Thauvin also found the net as Les Bleus secured a comfortable victory. Mbappe scored just before half-time but was later fouled by Azerbaijan’s Rustam Ahmedzade before taking another hit to his ankle late in the game.
“He has a sore ankle and he took a knock there. He preferred to come off; the pain was quite significant,” Deschamps said after the match.
France could secure qualification for the 2026 World Cup which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, if they defeat Iceland in Reykjavik on Monday and Ukraine fail to beat Azerbaijan.
