KOCAELI, Turkey, Sept 25 (Reuters) - France forward Kylian Mbappe is leaving the squad after being forced off with a knee injury shortly after scoring the winner against Turkey in their Nations League clash on Friday.
The captain received treatment immediately after scoring and briefly returned to the pitch but went down again about a minute later and was unable to continue, forcing Zinedine Zidane into a 58th-minute substitution in his first match in charge.
"Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good. I think he’ll have to go back. We’re not going to take any risks. He has swelling in the knee. It’s not encouraging, so we’re not going to take any risks," Zidane said of the 27-year-old Real Madrid player.
The French federation said Mbappe was suffering from a "knee tendon injury" and was returning to Madrid.
France won 1-0 in their first Group A1 match.
(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
