Cesc Fabregas says Kylian Mbappe will have NO excuses despite requiring a mask after suffering a broken nose in France's opening game at Euro 2024

Cesc Fabregas has said he doesn't expect Kylian Mbappe's performances at Euro 2024 to be impacted despite the France captain suffering a broken nose.

Mbappe was forced off with the brutal injury during the latter stages of Les Bleus' 1-0 victory over Austria in their opening group game of the tournament on Monday night.

It came after a nasty collision with Austrian defender Kevin Danso, leading to genuine fears from medics that Mbappe's participation in Germany was in doubt.

The French Football Federation (FFF) later revealed that Mbappe did not require surgery and would have a mask made for him to ensure he could play, but it is not yet clear when the 25-year-old will be able to return to action.

However, Fabregas insisted that despite the fact wearing a mask would be new for Mbappe, he would have no excuses for a dip in his performances.

'I think he will be fine,' he told BBC Sport. 'I cannot say it's a wonderful thing but also it will not make you play bad. It will not be an excuse.

'These types of players, they are too special to be confronted by these little things.

'He should be (able to play). We are talking about a player with great ability and personality.'

Fabregas has experience of playing with a mask after breaking his nose in a clash for Chelsea against Stoke in April 2015.

And the former Spain midfielder opened up on what Mbappe is set to go through over the coming weeks.

'From my memory I played a couple of months with it,' he added. 'And even at Chelsea I remember Diego Costa, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, we went through a phase when we were breaking noses and everything was fine so it should be OK.

'It doesn't help that's for sure and it's a bit uncomfortable but once you start training  a bit with it and play a few games with it, it's fine.'

Fabregas continued: 'When it happened against Stoke we had a game three days later. 

'So I had to fly to Milan with the doctor. But yeah it was very fast, they did the fitting, the measurements of my face and after a few hours I tried it and it fitted well. 

'I had a couple of training sessions and then went straight into playing. It was very fast.'

France are next in action on Friday when they face the Netherlands in Leipzig, before they take on Poland on Tuesday, with Didier Deschamps' side aiming to win the European Championship for the first time since 2000.