Kylian Mbappe’s presence was missed for France in their stalemate with the Netherlands in their Friday night Group D match-up at the Leipzig Stadium and it’s not the first time Les Bleus have found themselves in this scenario.
The 23-year-old sat out of his nation’s second group game having suffered a broken nose when he clattered into the shoulder of Austria centre-back Kevin Danso in his side’s opening-game victory.
There were initial fears that the collision could have been the end of the French talisman’s tournament, but those worries were lifted when France boss Didier Deschamps confirmed the forward’s required surgery was to wait until after Euro 2024.
Mbappe was on the bench as Les Bleus trudged to a single point from the goalless affair, a place the new Real Madrid man rarely finds himself.
In fact, only twice before has the World Cup winner not started a match at a major tournament for France since his debut in 2017.
They can cope without him though, can’t they? It seems not. On both those occasions – against Denmark at the 2018 World Cup and Tunisia at the 2022 World Cup – France failed to score in either game.
Friday night’s 0-0 against the Oranje has just added one more to this tally, with the added element that this is the first time Mbappe has missed the entirety of a major tournament game since his debut.
The records claimed in a fairly forgettable 90 minutes in Leipzig did not end with the French forward, however, as it also interrupted a long-standing run at the European Championship.
There have been 50 Euros games played since the last goalless draw before Friday night, which came in June 2021 when England faced Scotland at Wembley Stadium in Euro 2020.
French fans and neutrals alike will hope to see Mbappe return to the starting XI for their final group game against Poland on Tuesday, or they risk meeting that milestone again far too soon.
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