At just 26 years old, Kylian Mbappé is only 10 goals away from surpassing Olivier Giroud and becoming the top scorer in the history of the French National Team. However, it’s a reality that he has been going through a serious crisis with the national team, which was once again reflected in France's loss to Croatia in the first leg of the Nations League quarterfinals.

When did Mbappé last score for France?

Absent during the October and November FIFA dates, the last goal of Kylian Mbappé with the French national team dates back to the third matchday of the last European Championship, when he scored from the penalty spot against Skorupski... who couldn’t prevent France from finishing second in their group after Robert Lewandowski's equalizer.

Since then, Mbappé has not been able to score in the following six matches. In fact, his contribution to the team’s offensive generation has been limited, as he has only provided one assist against Spain in the semifinals of the European Championship. This is a problem that is condemning France, as they have only scored 14 goals in 10 matches since Mbappé last found the net.

Deschamps defends Mbappé

It’s true that Mbappé’s goal drought with France isn’t due to a lack of chances. In fact, last night he improved as the game went on against Croatia, ending up being the player who took the most shots on goal against Livakovic. However, once again, he failed to score, and, aside from that penalty goal against Poland, Mbappé’s last goal for France from open play was in a friendly match against Luxembourg in June.

Despite France's collective performance leaving much to be desired, it’s clear that Mbappé has the quality to win a game on his own. However, Deschamps didn’t hesitate to defend him: "I thought he was in very good form. He was very involved and worked hard against a low block. He can always do better."