Nations League: Kylian Mbappe Returns To France Squad As Captain For QF Against Croatia

Following his absence from the last two international windows, Kylian Mbappe has been reinstated to France’s team for their Nations League quarterfinal match against Croatia. Further Football News (More)

An injury worry caused Didier Deschamps to leave out Kylian Mbappe for the team’s victories over Israel and Belgium in October. The following month, despite being fit enough to play club football, Mbappe was kept out once more for their last matches in the Nations League Group A2 competition.

The Real Madrid forward is now included in the squad for the two-leg match against Croatia that will take place this month, according to Deschamps, who stated that the latter absence was a “one-off.”

Mbappe, who has scored 48 goals for France in 86 matches, is nine goals behind Olivier Giroud, the country’s all-time leading scorer. Mbappe will also serve as the captain of his country for those matches.

According to what I heard from him, he will be the captain of the team. During a press conference that took place on Thursday, Deschamps stated that it is not in his style to elaborate further on the subject matter of the talks.

After that, Deschamps was questioned about the rumours that Mbappe was suffering from a minor injury after playing 120 minutes in Madrid’s Champions League penalty shootout triumph over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. However, he is certain that the 26-year-old is ready to play.

As of today, I do not have any evidence; he played for a total of 120 minutes. According to Deschamps, there are instances when I actually like it when a player does not train since it gives him the opportunity to play thereafter.

I have high hopes that the selected guys will have a successful weekend if they are able to compete. In my opinion, there is no evidence to suggest that he is experiencing a difficulty.

Additionally, Deschamps has presented Desire Doue with his first senior call-up, and he is contemplating the idea of utilising Ousmane Dembele, who is a teammate of his at Paris Saint-Germain, in the central position. Dembele has been in incredible form since the beginning of the year, with 21 goals, which is at least six more than any other player from Europe’s top five leagues has managed in all competitions in 2025 (Mbappe is in second place with 16 goals).

During the current season, he has spent 43 percent of his time at centre forward for Paris Saint-Germain, and Deschamps is willing to use him in that position if it enables France’s assault to be more flexible.

Ousmane has always possessed exceptionally high levels of competence in every position. It is now easier to navigate as a result of the efforts that he put out,” he stated. He is self-assured, and he does a really good job of getting things done.

Although Mbappe prefers to play on the left side of the field, he is a central striker who enjoys having space. Every one of my assailants enjoys having their freedom.

Due to the fact that the objective is to produce an attacking animation that is as harmful as possible for the opponent, it is not that it has been fixed.

“We would like to put all of the players in their best positions, but unfortunately, this is not a set situation. In addition to this, we need to be as unpredictable as we possibly can.

France squad: Mike Maignan (AC Milan), Brice Samba (Lens), Lucas Chevalier (Lille); Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), William Saliba (Arsenal), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Jonathan Clauss (Nice), Benjamin Pavard (Inter), Jules Kounde (Barcelona); Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Matteo Guendouzi (Lazio), Adrien Rabiot (Marseille), Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain), Manu Kone (Roma); Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan), Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain), Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain) Randal Kolo Muani (Juventus), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Michael Olise (Bayern Munich), Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan), Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain).