Kylian Mbappé's Fitness Raises Questions for Zidane's France Debut

Kylian Mbappé sat out France training on Tuesday, raising an early fitness question over Zinédine Zidane’s first competitive match in charge of Les Bleus.

The France captain was the only member of the 23-man squad missing from the session at Clairefontaine, according to L’Équipe. He had taken part on Monday, when Zidane led his first workout as national-team manager, but stayed back at the Château de Clairefontaine a day later.

L’Équipe reports that Mbappé is dealing with cold-like symptoms and was kept indoors while the rest of the group stepped up preparations for Friday night’s UEFA Nations League opener against Turkiye. No indication yet of anything more serious, but any absence from the captain this close to kick-off sharpens the focus.

Mbappé will be desperate to shake off the illness in time. The schedule is heavy: after Turkiye, France are due to face Belgium twice, then Italy during this international window. It is the kind of run where a leader’s presence sets the tone for the entire camp.

The Real Madrid forward arrives on this break as the undisputed reference point of the team. Last summer, during the FIFA World Cup, he overtook Olivier Giroud to become France’s all-time leading scorer, a landmark that underlined his status at the heart of the Zidane era.

RMC Sport reports that Zidane is considering a positional tweak once Mbappé is fully fit, pushing him back out to the left of the attack. That shift would open the door for Ousmane Dembélé to operate through the middle, a bold adjustment that could reshape France’s forward line.

For now, though, the picture is simpler: Zidane’s first major decision of this Nations League campaign might be whether to risk his star man on Friday night, or hold him back with a demanding international block still to come.