France star Kylian Mbappé is set to be prevented from wearing a face mask he showcased Thursday, which features the three colours of the French flag, when he returns to action in Euro 2024.
Mbappé broke his nose in France’s opening 1-0 win over Austria on Monday when his face collided with Austria defender Kevin Danso‘s shoulder.
As he looks to make a quick return to the pitch, the Real Madrid forward joined in light training with his teammates Thursday wearing a mask with the famous French tricolore.
However, the rules of European football’s governing body UEFA mean Mbappé will only be allowed to wear a single-colour mask, unless a special exemption is obtained.
“Medical equipment worn on the field of play must be a single colour and free of team and manufacturer identification,” reads a portion of UEFA’s regulations.
France coach Didier Deschamps said Thursday that he was hopeful Mbappé could feature against the Netherlands. However, a source told ESPN that he will only be named on the bench and is unlikely to feature until France’s final group game against Poland on Tuesday.
“Everything is going well, after the shock we had. He was able to take part in some light exercises yesterday, and that will be the same this evening. Everything is evolving in the right direction,” Deschamps said. “We’ll do all we can to ensure that he’ll be available tomorrow.”
France and the Netherlands are level on three points in Group D. The Dutch came from behind to beat Poland 2-1, and France needed an own goal to beat Austria.
France have won seven of the teams’ past eight meetings, including home and away victories in qualifying.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
