Zidane announces several changes for France-Belgium without injured Mbappé

Zinedine Zidane confirmed on Sunday several changes to his starting lineup for France’s trip to Belgium on Tuesday evening in Brussels in the Nations League. The match will take place without Kylian Mbappé, who suffered a left knee injury during the victory in Turkey on Friday (0-1) and has already returned to Madrid.

To replace the France captain, Zidane could turn to Désiré Doué, who came on as his substitute in Istanbul. But the changes will not stop there. “Yes, there will be changes,” the manager assured. “There are eight or nine players who can come in at any time. Precisely, what I want is to be able to use them. My idea was clearly to do that with these four matches, to see everyone.”

Estéban Lepaul, who made his first appearance for France in Turkey as a substitute, could earn his first start against the Red Devils. The new additions to the squad, Lucas Da Cunha and Jérémy Jacquet, are also candidates for a place in the starting lineup in Brussels.

Zidane also gave his analysis of tonight’s opponent. “It’s a very athletic team, physically very strong, that plays the second balls and crosses a lot,” he said. “So it will be really completely different from the match we had against Turkey. We’re going to try to do things differently this time with the characteristics of a different team.”

In his first match as manager, Zidane saw his players win thanks to a goal from Mbappé in the first day of the Nations League. Squad management over this four-match gathering already seems central to his philosophy.