Kylian Mbappe faces criticism for prioritising Real Madrid over France

Paris: France football team captain Kylian Mbappe is under fire for skipping upcoming national team matches against Israel and Belgium while being available for the Spanish club Real Madrid.

The 25-year-old who was benched last month after a muscle injury made a return to the pitch on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, in a Champions League match against Lille in which Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 defeat.

France coach Didier Deschamps did not include Mbappe in the squad announced on Thursday, citing that he is not prepared and has played very few matches.

Meanwhile, Deschamps said in a video released by the French Football Federation (FFF) on October 7, 2024, “Kylian embodies a lot of things… The interests of the clubs and the interests of the national teams inevitably diverge. We must also remember that the employer is the club, not the federation.”

Moreover, former France international Maxime Bossis told French sports daily L’Equipe on Monday, “Either you’re injured, and you don’t play with your club, and you’re not called up in the national team. But when you come off the bench in the Champions League and you start a league game, it makes things fuzzy. He’s a special player.”

To not, the situation for Mbappe has become intense because he has been recently appointed as the captain of the French team following the retirement of Antoine Griezmann.

France will visit Israel on Thursday in Budapest and then travel to Belgium for a clash on Monday.