Mbappé Misses Training as Zidane Era Begins

Kylian Mbappé sat out France’s training session on Tuesday, the only absentee from Zinédine Zidane’s 23-man squad just days before the start of their UEFA Nations League campaign.

The Real Madrid forward was on the pitch at Clairefontaine on Monday for Zidane’s first full session in charge of Les Bleus. Twenty-four hours later, he never left the Château.

According to L’Équipe, the France captain is dealing with cold-like symptoms and remained indoors while the rest of the group worked outside in preparation for Friday night’s opener against Turkiye. No other fitness issues were reported in the squad.

For Zidane, it is an early reminder of how central Mbappé is to everything France want to do in this new cycle. For Mbappé, it is an unwanted pause at a moment when he arrives as the undisputed leader of the national team.

He has reason to push the recovery. France face a demanding international window: Turkiye first, then a double-header against Belgium, and a meeting with Italy to close it out. It is the kind of schedule that can set the tone for a season.

Mbappé comes into this break with history already behind him. Last summer at the FIFA World Cup, he overtook Olivier Giroud to become France’s all-time leading scorer, a landmark that underlined his status as the reference point of Zidane’s project.

That status does not guarantee a fixed role on the pitch. RMC Sport report that Zidane is considering shifting Mbappé back to the left side of the attack, a position where he has often been at his most devastating. That tweak would open a central berth for Ousmane Dembélé, hinting at a more fluid, interchangeable front line.

For now, though, the tactical experiments wait. France trained, Zidane observed, and the captain stayed inside, fighting off a cold with Turkiye — and a new era — already looming.