France, one of the tournament favourites, claimed an important but underwhelming 1-0 win on Monday night in Dusseldorf.
The winner came late in the first-half when Mbappe’s fierce cross was headed into the back of the net by unfortunate Austrian defender Maximilian Wober.
But there were worrying and concerning scenes in the final few minutes of the match when Mbappe collided with Kevin Danso.
The incident left Les Bleus captain in visible agony, with a broken nose and blood all over his shirt.
Manager Didier Deschamps instantly made the call to sub the forward off but in bizarre scenes referee Jesus Gil Manzano did not allow the change to be made, even though Austria were also making subs at the same time.
Mbappe was escorted off the pitch by medical staff as the game continues with France down to 10-men, with Deschamps furiously protesting to the fourth official.
As Mbappe arrived at the dugout, his manager instructed him to walk back onto the pitch and sit down to get the game stopped and allow the subs to happen.
The match was stopped but Mazano booked the player for his antics before he was eventually brought off with Olivier Giroud taking his place.
‘Kylian Mbappe has gone back on the pitch without permission – the referee is going to book him and rightly so. You cannot do that!’ former England defender Matthew Upson said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
‘Was he advised to go back on? He just walked back on holding his nose and sat down on the pitch. It looks like he has badly damaged his nose.’
Post-match, Deschamps offered an update on Mbappe, considered by many to be the best player in the world, to French broadcaster TF1.
‘Apparently the nose is not good at all. So we’ll see.
‘It’s obviously the negative point of the evening. Even if it’s just his nose it’s annoying for us.’
More to follow…
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