Now that Kylian Mbappé’s World Cup is over — it ended with a 6-4 loss to England in Saturday's third-place match with him taking the lead for the World Cup's top scorer — he finally gets a break after a long club season with Real Madrid and a deep tournament campaign with France. Mbappé now heads back to Real Madrid, where José Mourinho has returned as manager and will be tasked with turning things around for a club coming off a disappointing campaign. Real Madrid’s next game against Deportivo La Coruña will come in a friendly on Wednesday, August 12.
But Madrid’s competitive debut in La Liga is set for Saturday, August 22, when it faces Espanyol at RCDE Stadium. It is unclear how quickly Mbappé will be available for Madrid after France’s World Cup run ended. That gives him a little more than a month before Real Madrid’s La Liga opener, though his exact return will likely depend on rest, recovery and Mourinho’s preseason plan.
France’s next games will come during the September international window, when Les Bleus open their UEFA Nations League campaign in League A Group A1. France will take on Türkiye on Sept. 25 before facing Belgium on Sept.
28. Those matches are also expected to begin a new era for France, with Zinedine Zidane widely expected to take charge after Didier Deschamps’ final match as manager at the World Cup. Zidane, one of the greatest players in French football history, helped lead France to the 1998 World Cup as a player before later building a brilliant managerial résumé at Real Madrid, where he won three straight Champions League titles.
For Mbappé, that means the next few months will bring two fresh starts: a new season at Real Madrid under Mourinho, and a new international chapter with France under Zidane.
