The availability of Kylian Mbappe for France’s final Group D match against Poland in the European Championship remains a topic of intense discussion. Mbappe suffered a broken nose in France’s opening 1-0 victory over Austria and was absent from the 0-0 draw against the Netherlands on Friday. Despite France coach Didier Deschamps expressing optimism about Mbappe’s potential return while wearing a face mask, his status for the Poland clash remains unclear.
Mbappe has participated in a behind-closed-doors match against a local team, suggesting a possible comeback. However, Deschamps maintained a coy demeanor about the situation during his pre-match press conference on Monday. France, undefeated in their eight group matches under Deschamps at the European Championships, will aim to extend their winning streak against the Poles.
“We analyse every game. Every opponent is different. It was only four days ago, so a lot of focus has been on recuperation. But the objective is to obtain the best position possible in this group,” Deschamps stated.
France has scored only one goal in the tournament, an own goal by Austrian defender Maximilian Wober, making them the sole team yet to register a goal from one of their own players. In contrast, Poland, already eliminated from the tournament, has struggled in recent European Championship appearances, failing to advance from the group stage in four of their last five participations.
“We will play against France with our best possible lineup. This game will be good for us as part of our preparations for the UEFA Nations League in the autumn,” said Poland coach Michal Probierz.
The match is scheduled for a 6 p.m. local time kickoff (9:30 p.m. IST) in Dortmund.
“The mood is calm, I think we’ve played two good games. Now the third one is upon us, so we’ll try and secure qualification and first place in the group. We’re well rested and focused on putting on a good display tomorrow.”
“I hope we will play our best match of the tournament. Although we have only pride to play for, I hope we will play good football, create opportunities and score goals. We know we cannot fall apart even if things get tough. We need to have a plan and stick to it from start to finish regardless of the outcome.”
