Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe had another brilliant individual performance as part of the entire collective, which is the most important thing, scoring and assisting against Morocco in the second half of a 2-0 quarterfinal win in the 2026 World Cup to become the first player in history to reach 10 goal contributions at two separate World Cups.
KM10's double goal contributions redeemed a first half penalty miss after a dubious and incredibly lengthy VAR review. But while Mbappe scored another world class goal with another quality assist to Ousmane Dembele that showed leadership and football IQ, there is a more negative storyline Madridistas must now monitor after the game.
Mbappe appeared in visible pain after taking cheap blows from Morocco at the end of the match, and so Didier Deschamps took no risks before the semifinal against either Marc Cucurella's Spain or Thibaut Courtois's Belgium, subbing out the captain for striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Kylian Mbappe's ankle remains a topic
After the game, Kylian Mbappe reassured reporters that the injury was nothing serious, but it appears France have reason to worry a bit about the injury - and Real Madrid will now have to watch it even more closely when he returns to the Valdebebas after the World Cup.
According to top French insider Fabrice Hawkins of RMC Sport, the French medical team are going to be monitoring Mbappe's right ankle closely. Hawkins says that Mbappe is still 100 percent going to play in the World Cup semifinal, but France are a bit worried since it is the same ankle he injured badly back in 2020 during the French Cup Final in which PSG defeated Saint Etienne when the Greens' star defender Loic Perrin brutalized him. Hawkins says that since then, Mbappe's ankle has remained "fragile" to this day.
Real Madrid fans will be happy to see that France are taking Mbappe's injury seriously and keeping a close eye on it, which is more than what can be said about other national teams over the years (Argentina with Angel Di Maria, the Netherlands with Arjen Robben, and Canada with Alphonso Davies all come to mind).
But long term, Madridistas will be wary. This is not a club with a great track record of dealing with injuries, and they even just overhauled their medical staff this summer in response to issues. Mbappe already missed a few chunks of time with lingering injuries in the second half of a difficult 2025/26 season, and the last thing they need are any ankle issues hereafter.
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