A difficult evening for the France Under-21 team. Despite a 2-0 victory over Estonia, Les Bleuets lost two players to injury in the first half: Ethan Mbappé, who hurt his right ankle, and Senny Mayulu, who suffered pain in his left thigh. The two early exits understandably caused concern for Gérald Baticle.
The first setback came very early. Starting for the Under-21s, Ethan Mbappé was involved in a heavy challenge and had to leave the pitch in the 12th minute. The former PSG player, who injured his right ankle, was replaced by Jean-Mattéo Bahoya. “As I speak to you, I’m worried,” Baticle said, according to L’Equipe. “I hope I’m worrying for nothing, but I am because I saw the incident in midfield and I don’t like seeing challenges like that. I don’t like seeing my players in those situations. Now I’m waiting for the full results of the examinations.” Mbappé is due to undergo initial medical tests in Estonia before returning to France on Wednesday.
Concern over Mbappé, caution with Mayulu
The evening then became more complicated for Senny Mayulu. Shortly before half-time, the PSG midfielder also asked to come off after feeling pain in his left thigh and was replaced by Noé Lebreton in the 41st minute. After the match, Baticle explained that the France staff had preferred not to take any risks with Mayulu. While initial reports had mentioned the adductor area, the coach spoke of pain in the left thigh. No immediate examination was planned, with the staff first wanting to see how the pain develops once the player has cooled down.
PSG will now be closely monitoring Mayulu’s condition, while Lille will be awaiting the results of Ethan Mbappé’s ankle examinations. The double injury setback inevitably took some of the shine off the victory, particularly with uncertainty remaining over the severity of Mbappé’s problem.
Despite losing both players prematurely, France Under-21s secured a 2-0 win in Estonia thanks to goals from Steve Ngoura and Jean-Mattéo Bahoya. Les Bleuets therefore moved closer to qualifying for the 2027 European Under-21 Championship, although the evening may have come at a cost.
