As the World Cup looms, France star Kylian Mbappé says his left knee that bothered him for weeks is now fine. The Real Madrid striker was used as a substitute in his team’s last two matches as he works his way back into form and has joined his France teammates ahead of a couple of friendlies in the United States this week. “There was a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, and then also some anxiety at one point,” Mbappé told French media late Monday at a promotional event. “I had reached a stage where I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I didn’t go through that period in the best way. I wasn’t the happiest player in the world. But I’m happy now because it’s truly behind me. It’s all gone.” Mbappé had been in great form until he sprained his knee at the end of last year. The former Paris Saint-Germain player, who joined Madrid in the summer of 2024, played throughout January but was then sidelined for three-and-a-half weeks before making his latest comeback. “I wanted to be very cautious so as not to come back too quickly and risk a relapse or pick up another injury elsewhere,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid of reinjuring my knee, but of getting hurt somewhere else, because after four or five weeks without playing, you have to get all the other muscles going again. That’s why I took my time.” Mbappé also lashed out at the “baseless” information that circulated during his absence. “A lot of people gave a diagnosis, even though until not very long ago I didn’t have one myself,” he said. “From that point on it was easy to say that everything being said was wrong. I heard a lot of things — surgery, that I might not play again, that I wouldn’t be able to play in the World Cup. It was all completely baseless.” Mbappé, who has 38 goals in 35 matches this season across competitions, said he was happy Madrid played well in his absence. The club sits in second place in La Liga and goes up against Bayern Munich next month in the Champions League quarterfinals. He added that he hopes to play with France during the international break as Les Bleus ramp up preparations for the summer World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Although he has yet to win the Champions League, Mbappé has already achieved great success with France, scoring a hat trick in the epic loss to Lionel Messi and Argentina in the 2022 final, and becoming the second teenager after Pelé to score in a World Cup final in 2018. France plays Brazil on Thursday in Foxborough and Colombia on March 29 in Landover. Reporting by The Associated Press
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