Euro 2024: What is Kylian Mbappe's record against Belgium?

Mbappe has faced Belgium twice in his career.

Tournament favourites France have not enjoyed the best of Euro 2024 campaigns so far, with a lackluster group stage display that saw them finish second in Group D behind dark horse Austria.

France commenced their tournament with a fortunate 1-0 win against eventual table-toppers Austria, courtesy of an own goal by defender Maximilian Wober. This was followed by a goalless draw against the Netherlands, where attacking midfielder Xavi Simons’ goal was controversially ruled out after a VAR review to give France a point from the game.

Les Bleus dropped further points when they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw against already knocked-out Poland in their final group game. This resulted in Didier Deschamps’ side finishing second in Group D after an underwhelming group stage that saw this star-studded squad score a mere two goal in their three games, which too was a Kylian Mbappe penalty.

The 2018 World Cup winners are set to face Belgium at the Dusseldorf Arena in the round of 16. Belgium had a poor group stage performance where they finished second in Group E, level on points with table-toppers Romania.

Captain Kylian Mbappe endured a rough start to Euro 2024 when he had to be substituted in the opening game against Austria as a head-on collision with defender Kevin Danso resulted in him suffering a broken nose injury.

Despite initially being sidelined for the remaining group-stage games, Mbappe made a miraculous comeback with a protective mask in the very next match against the Netherlands, where he was an unused substitute. He did start the final group-game stalemate against Poland, where he got on the scoresheet through a well-converted penalty.

The 25-year-old forward has enjoyed a successful international career, scoring an impressive 48 goals in 81 caps for France. During this period, he has had a decent record against Belgium, scoring one goal in two appearances against them.

Mbappe first faced Belgium in his career during the high-stakes 2018 World Cup semi-final match between the two sides, where eventual champions France emerged victorious in a narrow 1-0 win courtesy of a second-half Samuel Umtiti goal.

His second appearance against them came when France faced Belgium in the 2021 UEFA Nations League semi-final, where Mbappe converted a penalty in France’s thrilling 3-2 comeback win.

Heading into their decisive Euro 2024 round of 16 fixture, France are favourites to topple Belgium again and progress to the quarterfinal stage. Kylian Mbappe will be hoping to be at his goal-scoring best against the De Rode Duivels to guide Le Bleus towards potentially another international glory.

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