Football: Kylian Mbappé replaced – held ice pack to nose

French superstar Kylian Mbappé is forced to play the entire European Championship wearing a protective face mask after breaking his nose in the first group stage match against Austria.

He has previously said that it is “terrible” to play with the mask.

European Championship in soccer

During Friday’s quarter-final against Portugal, Mbappé was suddenly substituted during extra time and was seen pressing an ice pack against his sore nose.

– He was tired. I saw him struggle in the first quarter of overtime so it made no sense to keep him on the field. It was natural to bring in some new blood, France national team captain Didier Deschamps explains the change.

Earlier in the match, in the 55th minute, a header from Bernardo Silva had hit Mbappé square in the face. The Frenchman was then lying on the grass and took off his mask, but then continued to play.

France won the quarter-final against Portugal 5-3 on penalties.

Now Mbappé has a few days to recover before the semi-final against Spain on Tuesday night, 9pm.