Mbappé's Flu Disrupts Zidane's Early Days with France
The first real bump of the Zidane era arrived not on a matchday, but on a grey training morning outside Paris.
Kylian Mbappé, captain, talisman and France’s all-time leading World Cup goalscorer with 22 goals, was forced to sit out Tuesday’s pitch session at Clairefontaine due to flu. Instead of joining his teammates on the grass, he was kept indoors, restricted to light work as the medical staff moved quickly to manage what the camp insist is a minor illness.
Minor or not, the timing is awkward. At 27, Mbappé is preparing to front what has been billed as an important new chapter for Les Bleus, and this camp is the first major audition for Zinedine Zidane since he took charge after the 2026 World Cup. Every session counts. Every tactical tweak matters. Losing the captain from full training, even briefly, cuts into that precious time.
Outside, the rest of the squad pressed on. Cones, rondos, tactical shapes: players drilled under Zidane’s watch as they tried to absorb his demands and rhythm. The picture on the grass looked sharp and intense, but the absence of the No 10 left a clear gap in the attacking patterns the staff had planned to rehearse.
This is not a gentle easing-in period for Zidane. France are staring at a congested, high-stakes fortnight that will test both his ideas and the depth of his squad. It begins with a tricky trip to Turkey on Friday, September 25, then a journey to Belgium just three days later. After that, Italy arrive in France on October 2, before another clash with Belgium on October 5 closes out a demanding four-game burst.
Four matches in 11 days. Rotations will be unavoidable. So will risk management.
That is where the medical team at Clairefontaine come in. Their priority is clear: get Mbappé back to full training as soon as his flu symptoms subside, without rushing him into a setback. With the schedule packed so tightly, the margin for error is thin. One wrong call early in the window could ripple through the entire run of fixtures.
Inside the camp, attention has already shifted from the missed session to the recovery timeline. Flu is a routine seasonal issue, and the expectation is that Mbappé will be able to rejoin the group once the fever and fatigue pass. The question is not if he returns during this window, but when — and in what capacity.
Zidane and his staff will leave the final call as late as they can. A decision on whether the captain starts in Turkey or is held back for later in the sequence will be made closer to kick-off. With Belgium looming twice and Italy squeezed in between, France must decide: do they throw their star straight back into the fire, or play the long game in this crowded opening chapter of a new regime?
