Mbappé leaves France camp in under an hour and sparks controversy

Kylian Mbappé left the France team camp in less than an hour after suffering a left knee injury during the victory against Turkey (0-1) on September 25, without undergoing a thorough examination by the FFF medical staff on site.

The Real Madrid striker, who scored the winning goal, had suffered a left knee hyperextension accompanied by a tendon injury. An unavailability of three weeks to a month had been mentioned at the time. Yet Mbappé returned to action with his Madrid club just two weeks later, a gap that has fueled questions about the true severity of the injury and the circumstances of his swift release by the French Football Federation.

This discrepancy between the initial prognosis and the rapid return to competition is prompting some observers to wonder: was the injury overestimated, or did the France captain seize the opportunity to cut short his time with the national team? Commentator Gilles Verdez, on RTL radio, did not mince words.

“It’s very concerning for me, he’s making far too many mistakes,” he said. “He’s injured and he should stay with the squad, that’s a real mistake. He leaves because he’s upset with Dembélé, because Mbappé knows he won’t win the Ballon d’Or so he can’t handle it.”

Verdez also pointed to the player’s off-field behavior: “Even at Real they wonder what he’s doing going to Paris all the time. The socios, we won’t even talk about that… It’s a real mistake to have left the France camp. A captain doesn’t leave.”

The episode comes in an already tense context for Mbappé, whose relations with certain teammates and Real Madrid’s management are regularly the subject of speculation. The FFF, for its part, has not provided a public explanation for the speed of the medical procedure that led to his release.