How long is Kylian Mbappe out? Knee injury suffered on France duty sidelines Real Madrid star image
Two-time defending La Liga top goal scorer Kylian Mbappe is of critical importance to the Real Madrid squad.
Jose Mourinho's start to the season has been a mixed bag, as Los Blancos were beaten by Atletico Madrid in their derby before the international break, finding themselves fourth in the La Liga standings through the first seven matches of the season.
Mbappe has scored seven of the club's 18 league goals so far, and remains one of the best players in the world. Thus, when he began limping after opening the scoring for France in Zinedine Zidane's debut on Friday, every Madridista around the world held their collective breath.
The Sporting News brings you a look at what happened to the 27-year-old superstar and how long Mbappe is expected to miss while he recovers.
MORE: La Liga top goal scorers for the 2026/27 season
What is Kylian Mbappe's injury?
Kylian Mbappe was injured while scoring France's only goal in a 1-0 win over Turkey on Friday. He found the back of the net with a right-footed strike in the 54th minute, but instead of celebrating, he began limping.
It was initially feared that he may have suffered a serious injury, as Zinedine Zidane said after the game that "it does not look good" and confirmed Mbappe would be out the rest of the international break, as they "will not take any chances."
However, France and Real Madrid got good news the following day. Real Madrid stated in a medical report on Saturday that Mbappe had suffered a "hyperextension of the posterior capsule of his left knee."
Every joint is encased in a capsule, or protective sac. Mbappe has stretched the capsule surrounding his left knee, but it sounds as though there was not a serious tear or any kind of damage to the knee ligaments themselves, or else they would have used the terms "strain" or "sprain" instead of "hyperextend."
While there was concern that Mbappe had re-injured his left knee, which he suffered complications to last season, it appears he has escaped anything more serious.
How long is Kylian Mbappe out?
According to reports across Spain, Kylian Mbappe will be out 10 to 12 days.
Given Mbappe was injured at the start of the long September-October international break, which extends nearly a full three weeks, he should not miss much time for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid return to action on October 10 against Villarreal, which would be 14 days from today. He theoretically could be back for that match, or take that game off and come back against Roma in the Champions League on October 14.
Will Kylian Mbappe miss El Clasico?
The first meeting of the 2026/27 season between Clasico foes Real Madrid and Barcelona is scheduled to take place on October 25 at the newly renovated Camp Nou.
Given the aforementioned timeline, it's a virtual certainty that Mbappe is fully fit and ready to go for that game, unless there is further damage discovered later, or he suffers a setback in his recovery.