Zidane had hoped to call on his star man for two decisive Nations League fixtures against Italy and Turkey. Then came word that Mbappé was carrying a muscular problem in his hamstring, ruling him out of the Italy clash according to a report by the newspaper "L'Équipe", with hope remaining that he could feature against Turkey.
Those doubts deepened when Paris Saint-Germain's Senny Mayulu earned an official call-up to the senior squad, his first, to plug a numerical gap left by a string of injuries. All the while, the status of the national team captain stayed under the microscope.
Zidane soon confirmed the worst, announcing Mbappé's absence from the clash with the Azzurri.
But the question now goes beyond the nature of the injury and the length of the absence. Is Mbappé really nursing a fresh physical problem, or does the timing of the crisis reflect a widening gap between him and his coach, at the start of a project meant to usher in a new golden era for the French star?
An injury at a timing that raises questions
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Mbappé's technical and physical state before joining up only sharpens those question marks.
The forward is in rich form with Real Madrid, officially named the best player in the Spanish league for October after scoring 4 goals in 3 matches, among them a brace against Sevilla and a decisive strike in the Clásico against Barcelona.
According to official statistics published by the Spanish league, Mbappé finished the month with 11 goals and two assists in the competition. He had also featured in all 12 of Real Madrid's games in the tournament this season up to that point, racking up more than 1,000 minutes.
The start of the dispute: Dembélé pushes Mbappé out of his preferred position
The roots of the crisis between Mbappé and Zidane, according to "L'Équipe" and relayed by French and Spanish media, trace back to the new coach's first camp with France, when he made a tactical call the captain of Les Bleus did not fully accept.
Zidane opted to deploy Mbappé on the left wing rather than the out-and-out striker role he had grown used to recently, handing Ousmane Dembélé the spearhead job in a bid to exploit the Paris Saint-Germain star's quality in attacking areas.
That decision stung Mbappé, who sees himself as an out-and-out striker, especially after the position became central to his development at Real Madrid, and given his desire to be the pivotal figure in the national team's attacking project.
"L'Équipe" cast the switch as a move that could read as a demotion for one player and a promotion for another, pushing Mbappé out wide in Dembélé's favour.
Dressing room crisis: is Mbappé no longer commanding consensus?
More troubling still, the potential fallout is not confined to Zidane. "L'Équipe" reported a chill in Mbappé's relationship with some of his France teammates, a shift from the atmosphere he had been used to in previous years.
The reports tie part of that mood to the rivalry between Mbappé and Dembélé over the 2026 Ballon d'Or, and the back-and-forth statements through the media that came with it, before the Real star tried to defuse the situation through personal contacts.
Mbappé had insisted in comments to "L'Équipe" on 21 September that there was no dispute with Dembélé, calling his teammate a friend and saying their relationship had not been damaged by the fight for the award.
More recent reports, though, spoke of Mbappé feeling isolated inside the dressing room, and of his attempt to broaden his circle with players such as Rayan Cherki, Marcus Thuram and Michael Olise, overtures that did not necessarily land as hoped with all of his teammates.
Precedents with Deschamps: does Mbappé choose his international battles?
You cannot weigh the current doubts without recalling Mbappé's past relationship with former France coach Didier Deschamps, which had its own spells of controversy over the player's commitment to international camps.
The flashpoints came in the autumn of 2024, when Mbappé missed the October and November camps despite turning out for Real Madrid during that period.
In October, Deschamps left him out after his return from a muscular injury, even though he came off the bench against Lille in the Champions League and then started against Villarreal in the Spanish league.
November brought another surprise. The French coach left him out again despite the player's stated wish to join up, something Deschamps himself confirmed while explaining the call was exceptional and tied to that camp alone.
That episode drew heavy criticism, especially as Mbappé could play for Real Madrid while missing the national team, and some went as far as to question his priorities during international breaks.
It would be wrong to reduce the incident to an accusation of dodging. Deschamps made clear his decisions hinged on readiness and the player's circumstances, and Mbappé returned to the national team in March 2025.
All of this shows the row over Mbappé's commitment to France is nothing new, and that the player has faced similar questions before, even without any evidence he deliberately stayed away.
A previous injury with Zidane: a start that was not ideal
The irony is that Mbappé's relationship with Zidane has already thrown up a similar medical twist at the very start of the coach's reign.
On 25 September, in Zidane's first match in charge of Les Bleus against Turkey, Mbappé scored the only goal, then came off citing pain in his left knee, forced out of the game in the 58th minute.
Zidane said afterwards that the player's condition made continuing too much of a risk, stressing he needed to return to Madrid for treatment, before the French Football Federation confirmed a tendon injury.
Mbappé duly missed the national team's next three matches once his exclusion from the rest of the camp was confirmed.
Will Zidane lose his star?
There is a further irony. Zidane took the France job with strong backing from Mbappé, one of the loudest voices championing the idea of the Real Madrid legend coaching Les Bleus.
That bond was meant to be a pillar of the new project, given the historic standing Zidane holds in Mbappé's eyes and the mutual respect between them.
Yet the opening months showed that respect alone does not guarantee technical harmony, least of all with a player of Mbappé's stature, a man used to being the hub of the attack at every club he represents.
Now Zidane faces an early test, with his captain's injury coinciding with reports of tactical disagreements, tension between the pair and the Real star's unease in the dressing room.
While Zidane waits on Mbappé's return, the biggest question lingers. Can the coach rein in his first star and restore the relationship, or will these early rifts harden into a war that threatens his entire France project?
As for talk of a political injury or Mbappé bowing out on purpose, it stays, for now, in the realm of speculation unsupported by reliable evidence. But the physical problem landing alongside the openly reported disagreements makes the question marks over this relationship hard to ignore.
