France's opening Euro 2024 victory over Group D rivals Austria came at quite the cost for Kylian Mbappe, who suffered a gruesome injury in Monday's 1-0 triumph at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
The Real Madrid new boy was pivotal to the game-defining goal in Dusseldorf, breaking to the byline with a magnificent burst of pace and delivering the cross that Maximilian Wober headed into his own net.
Didier Deschamps's side failed to bag the insurance goal, though, and Mbappe himself was guilty of an uncharacteristic one-on-one miss, somehow curling wide with most of the goal at his mercy in the second half.
However, after celebrating coming out on top in that battle with the 25-year-old, Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz screamed for medical attention for Mbappe in the dying embers following a clash with Kevin Danso.
The former Paris Saint-Germain attacker and Lens centre-back both challenged for a high ball, but in the process, Mbappe smashed his face into the defender's shoulder and immediately dropped to the turf in agony.
A worried Pentz quickly called for the medical staff to attend to Mbappe, who sported a bloodied - and potentially broken - nose and shirt after the collision and was down for a few minutes while the France doctors sought to stem the bleeding.
Mbappe busted open before substitution farce
Kylian Mbappe is left covered in blood after a painful collision with Kevin Danso 😬 pic.twitter.com/gpsR2kuVMk
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) June 17, 2024
As is customary, Mbappe trudged off to the sidelines and would seemingly try to carry on with a new shirt, although Deschamps had already readied Olivier Giroud and Youssouf Fofana to come on.
However, as France played for a short period of time with 10 men, on-field referee Jesus Gil Manzano did not stop the game and allow Les Bleus to make their changes, leading to a farcical situation unfolding.
Mbappe briefly jogged back onto the field before immediately sitting down on the turf to get the game stopped, incurring a yellow card in the process as Austria fans boomed out a cacophony of boos.
The attacker's move did eventually give Deschamps a window to send on his substitutes and take off Mbappe, who made a quick bee-line for the tunnel to have his injury assessed amid fears over his availability for future matches.
France only have three full days to recover before taking on the Netherlands at the Red Bull Arena on June 21, and they sit behind Oranje in second place due to an inferior goals scored record.
Deschamps's men then conclude Group D against Poland at the Signal Iduna Park on June 25, which Mbappe would also be at risk of missing if he is forced to undergo concussion protocol.
Ben Knapton
![France's Aurelien Tchouameni and Ibrahima Konate pictured in June 2024 [IMAGO]](https://sm.imgix.net/11/29/1x1.gif?w=1&h=1 "France's Aurelien Tchouameni and Ibrahima Konate pictured in June 2024 [IMAGO]")
