Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe doesn’t have many worlds left to conquer in football but an injury is affecting him in the first half of a World Cup year and speculation over his prognosis is rife.
Mbappe played a starring role as France won the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and helped them to reach the final against Argentina in Qatar in 2022. Les Bleus will be among the favourites in the summer and a maiden Champions League win is still on the cards with Real Madrid.
Premier League title hopefuls Manchester City lie in wait in the round of 16 after Real Madrid overpowered Benfica in an ill-tempered play-off round tie last month.
Mbappe’s knee injury is causing ‘frustration’ for the 27-year-old
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker missed Real Madrid’s La Liga defeat against Getafe on Sunday after sitting out the second leg against Benfica. It’s an unfortunate development for a player in outstanding goalscoring form and eyeing up the big trophies in May and July.
Mbappe has scored 23 goals in 23 La Liga matches in 2025-26 and has been even more prolific in a stellar Champions League campaign. A trip to France invited questions over the severity of his injury.
“Frustrated by the way his injury has been handled in Madrid, [Mbappe] travelled to Paris to get a clear picture of his condition,” reports Footmercato. “While rumours suggested a possible operation, the striker’s entourage denied any ‘surgical intervention at this stage.’
“[Real Madrid] has set a clear objective for its star player: namely, the Champions League second leg against Manchester City in March 17.
“The Madrid club has scheduled his return for that date and hopes to have its star player available for this crucial European clash.”
Mbappe, who is ranked at no.15 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest finishers in football history, moved from PSG to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024. The former Monaco man watched on as his former club finally achieved their stated goal of winning the Champions League during his first season in the Spanish capital.
He’s set to miss the Madrid giants’ domestic fixtures against Celta Vigo and Elche as well as the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against old foe Pep Guardiola and Man City, which will take place at the Bernabeu next Wednesday.
The winners of the two-legged tie will take on Atalanta or Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Los Blancos reached that stage in Mbappe’s first season at the club, losing twice to Arsenal and missing out on a reunion with PSG.
He is the current top goalscorer in this season’s Champions League with 13 goals in eight appearances.
If his club’s plan is accurate and Mbappe returns in weeks rather than months, he’ll be one of the key players as France compete for a third World Cup crown in the United States, Canada and Mexico in the summer.
