Kylian Mbappe scores in France win before major knee injury sparks Real Madrid concern

Kylian Mbappe scored France's only goal in Zinedine Zidane's first match as head coach, but the victory was overshadowed by a knee injury that forced the Real Madrid star off shortly afterwards.

Mbappe opened the scoring in the 54th minute against Turkiye, finishing low at the near post after being played in by Michael Olise. The goal was his 67th for France and extended his record as the national team's leading scorer.

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The celebrations quickly turned into concern, though. Mbappe received treatment after the goal and initially tried to continue before going down again and being substituted for Desire Doue in the 58th minute.

Mbappe injury leaves France and Real Madrid waiting for answers

Mbappe was seen prodding the outside of his left knee before leaving the pitch, with Zidane admitting afterwards that the situation was not encouraging.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't look good. I think he'll have to go back. We're not going to take any risks," Zidane said.

The French Football Federation later described the problem as a knee tendon injury and confirmed that Mbappe would leave the France camp and return to Madrid for further assessment.

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No recovery timeline has been announced, leaving both France and Real Madrid waiting for more information.

The timing is particularly significant for France, who have three more Nations League matches over the next 10 days. Mbappe is now expected to miss Monday's meeting with Belgium in Brussels.

Zidane's first game in charge nevertheless ended with France claiming a 1-0 victory. Turkiye were reduced to 10 men late on when goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir was sent off after handling outside his area while attempting to stop Bradley Barcola.

France will now prepare for Belgium without their captain, while Real Madrid will wait for the results of Mbappe's further assessment before his club schedule becomes clearer.

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