Mbappe left out by France for Nations League

The 25-year-old will play no part in games against Israel and Belgium.

PARIS:

France captain Kylian Mbappe has been left out of his team's UEFA Nations League matches this month after coach Didier Deschamps on Thursday named his squad.

The Real Madrid star returned from a short spell on the sidelines, with a thigh injury, to appear as a substitute in the surprise 1-0 defeat at Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday.

However, the 25-year-old will play no part in France's games against Israel and Belgium, a decision clearly made in order to allow Mbappe to rest and work on his fitness.

"I had an exchange with Kylian. He has a problem which is not serious. I am not going to take risks, which is why he is not in the squad," Deschamps told reporters in Paris.

France play Israel on Thursday, October 10 in an away fixture moved to Budapest due to the security situation in the Middle East.

Les Bleus, Nations League winners in 2021, will then take on Belgium in Brussels on Monday, October 14.

France have three points after their first two outings in Group A2, which is topped by Italy with six points.

Thursday's squad announcement was the first by Deschamps since vice-captain Antoine Griezmann retired from international football at the beginning of this week.

"He had such an impact that we can't play in the same way," Deschamps said of losing Griezmann, who quit aged 33 after winning 137 caps.

"I am not necessarily going to change the system, but I am not going to look for an equivalent player."

Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku, who won the last of his 10 caps in June last year, returns to the squad, from which midfielder N'Golo Kante is also left out.

Baumann replaces Ter Stegen for Germany

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Thursday named Oliver Baumann to replace injured goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen for two Nations League games.

Serge Gnabry and Antonio Ruediger return for the matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina away on October 11 and the tie against the Netherlands in Munich on October 14.

Nagelsmann handed a first call-up to 29-year-old Borussia Moenchengladbach striker Tim Kleindienst, who comes into the 23-man squad for injured West Ham forward Niclas Fuellkrug.

Ter Stegen injured his knee with club side Barcelona in September. With long-term Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer having retired in August, Hoffenheim's Baumann is in line to play his first game in Germany colours.

Bild reported on Wednesday he could share goalkeeping duties with Stuttgart's Alexander Nuebel in the two fixtures, but the coach rejected the idea, saying Baumann would play both games.

"He's our number one and it'll stay that way," Nagelsmann said.

Baumann, 34, was first called up to the Germany squad in 2020 but is yet to take the pitch at international level.

As he has done since early 2023, Nagelsmann has continued to pick players on form, often from lesser known clubs, rather than on reputation.

Bayern's Leon Goretzka again missed out, as did Borussia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi despite scoring 10 goals in his past seven games.

Real Madrid defender Rudiger returns having been rested after Euro 2024 where Germany exited at the quarter-final stage, while Gnabry returns from an injury which kept him out of the tournament.

Dortmund pair Emre Can and Maximilian Beier also miss out.

Like Fuellkrug, Kleindienst is a late bloomer with an old-school personality rarely seen in modern football.

Like Fuellkrug, who was also called up for the first time aged 29, Kleindienst played a key role in bringing a team up from the second division.