Didier Deschamps has intimated France’s desire to secure top spot in Group D could trigger Kylian Mbappé’s return to the starting lineup against Poland on Tuesday. The France manager said his captain was “raring to go”, knowing they must better the Netherlands’ result against Austria to take pole.
Deschamps was able to rest several players for France’s final group-stage match at the World Cup in Qatar, where France finished runners-up, but said he was in no position to take this game lightly. His side and the Netherlands both progressed to the last 16 on Monday night as a result of Albania’s defeat against Spain. Mbappé has not featured since breaking his nose in the Euro 2024 opener against Austria.
“It would be an ideal situation to rest players – in Doha I did it maybe excessively but we knew that we were already getting that top spot for the round of 16 – but this is different because we don’t know that we will finish top,” Deschamps said. “I don’t like looking at the drawing board thinking: ‘If this happens, if this happens.’”
France are unbeaten but are yet to impress and their only goal, in victory against Austria, came courtesy of the opposition defender Max Wöber. “It is a little bit bothersome to not have scored after all of the chances we have had, especially as we tend to control the game a lot more than our opponents do,” Deschamps said.
“We have been able to create five or six chances in the games but we haven’t been able to score them. We have huge support, about 10 million people watching every game and if they don’t like what they see they can channel-hop. If they have tickets to be in the stadium, then they will stay to the very end.”
Mbappé scored twice in a behind-closed-doors game on Saturday and has since trained fully. He is primed to return in place of Ousmane Dembélé, and Antoine Griezmann could be replaced by Edouardo Camavinga. Ferland Mendy could be preferred to Théo Hernández at left-back.
Deschamps said the swelling on Mbappé’s nose had reduced. “The reason he is wearing the mask is because he needs to protect his face in case certain instances occur,” he said. “It is maybe hindering but it’s something you need to get used to. It’s like when you have the 3D glasses, though now we have masks that are quite thin, as thin as possible.”
N’Golo Kanté said Mbappé had been impressive in training. “I forgot he was wearing a mask because he was great, decisive, dangerous. He played really well in the training session and I hope this will translate on to the pitch tomorrow.
“We all know about Kylian’s qualities and one the reasons we weren’t able to hit the back of the net maybe was a lack of efficiency and maybe the fact Kylian will be here will help us score goals and win the game. It is a huge advantage to have him.”
Poland’s captain, Robert Lewandowski, has said the game will not be his last international and hinted that the goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny could also play on. “I’m 36 soon, a lot of people will be wondering how long I will play for but I still have that fire inside of me,” Lewandowski said. “Maybe one day I will think about retiring from international duty but I see the potential in this team.”
