Why France Star Kylian Mbappé Will Wear a Protective Mask to Play the Euro 2024 Tournament

The French forward Kylian Mbappé will have to wear a mask for the remainder of Euro 2024 after his face collided with defender Kevin Danso's shoulder, which saw him fracture his nose. He was taken to a hospital in Düsseldorf directly from the stadium and underwent medical tests. Afterward, it was decided that surgery would not be performed.

The 25-year-old French star, who moved from PSG to Real Madrid this summer as a free agent, was confirmed by the French Football Federation to have sustained the injury after the collision against Austria in the opening round of the Euro 2024 tournament.

“He will undergo treatment in the coming days without undergoing surgery immediately. A mask will be made so as to allow the number 10 of the French team to consider resuming competition after a period devoted to treatment.”

The FFF said in the statement yesterday,

Despite Kylian Mbappé's bleeding after the aerial collision in France's 1-0 victory against Austria, the new Real Madrid player took to social media and asked his millions of followers, "Any ideas for the mask?"

France has confirmed his return to the team's training camp with the rest of the squad.

Kylian Mbappé will join notable football stars in wearing a mask while playing football. Here are some football players who have used this type of protective equipment on the field:

In 2016, England's all-time leading goal-scorer broke his nose and had to sit out the next Europa League match against Fiorentina. Although it took some time to get used to, he later scored a goal against Arsenal in the London derby, giving Spurs a 2-1 lead. After scoring, he celebrated by removing his mask and throwing it to the ground. This sparks the reaction of fans on social media.

Rudiger wore a face mask during Euro 2020 because he had suffered a facial injury while playing for Chelsea against Real Madrid in April. He continued to wear the mask for the rest of the season at Chelsea and during the Euros. Antonio Rudiger also wore a mask courtesy of a horror facial injury he sustained in a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk when playing for Real Madrid. Rudiger collided with Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Trubin in the process, which saw him lose a huge amount of blood through an open wound that ran all down his shirt.

Son Heung-min, the South Korean player, sustained a broken eye socket during a Champions League match for his club, Tottenham, just three weeks before the 2022 World Cup. Following surgery, he wore a mask for all of South Korea's games in Qatar. He led the team to the Round of 16, where they were defeated by Brazil after securing a crucial win against Portugal in the final group stage match. Son spoke about wearing his mask as something that was comfortable to wear: "It's more comfortable than I was expecting.

Gvardiol, the Croatian center-back, had to wear a mask after suffering a broken nose when he collided heads with his then-Leipzig teammate Willi Orban during a match in the German league. Doctors allowed him to play for Croatia as long as he wore the mask. His performance at the World Cup was exceptionally good as a defender.