French football journalist, Daniel Riolo, has claimed that France‘s national team coach, Didier Deschamps, dropped Kylian Mbappe from his squad as a punishment.
Mbappe had, since breaking into the France first team, in March 2017, played 86 games for Les Bleus, scoring 48 goals and providing 35 assists.
He won the World Cup with France in 2018 and reached the final in 2022.
However, despite earning the captain’s armband, his regular presence in the national team squad has taken a hit.
Mbappe was not named in France’s squad in October and it was widely expected that he would return to the squad for the November games but Deschamps did not call him up.
The manager then told reporters that it was a “one-off” decision and also had nothing to do with Mbappe being accused of rape in Sweden.
However, Riolo said Deschamps has dropped Mbappe, especially as a punishment.
He said via Tribal Football, “It’s a punishment, it’s a sanction! He doesn’t say it because he doesn’t want to make it clear and break the relationship too much.
“We were sure he would come. There was no one in his entourage. For now, I think Deschamps’ decision is good and fair.”
