Former French Star Believes Kylian Mbappé Receives ‘Special Treatment’ From French National Team
Kylian Mbappé and France booked their place in the 2026 World Cup with a 4-0 win over Ukraine. The Real Madrid forward scored twice, but also picked up an injury. He returned to Madrid with Eduardo Camavinga who had a hamstring issue.
The French team are due to travel to Azerbaijan for the final group game, one where the result will not affect their position in the group. It has meant that the FFF (French Football Federation) have agreed to let Mbappe and Camavinga leave the squad and return to their club for further assessment.
However, the decision has not gone down well with some. Former French player Jérôme Rothen has criticized the decision, calling it ‘special treatment’ that Mbappe has been given.
Jérôme Rothen Not Happy With FFF's Decision
Speaking on his show Rothen s’enflamm, Jérôme Rothen was critical of the decision in letting Kylian Mbappé leave the French camp. He believes that the captain of the team should not receive special treatment, with others also deserving of a rest.
"Mbappé is the captain, he receives special treatment, fine. But there are other players who play the same number of matches throughout the year. Do you think they aren't tired and wouldn't prefer to skip a meaningless game? They go because they have to."Jérôme Rothen
Rothen, who was capped 13 times for his country, did not mention Eduardo Camavinga in his comments. He was convinced that teammates would be getting fed up with Mbappe’s special treatment.
"Does he receive special treatment? When you qualify, everything is fine, but when things get complicated… Making decisions like this can create problems in the locker room, and I remain convinced that there are players fed up with this preferential treatment."Jérôme Rothen
Kylian Mbappé has tonight scored his 400th senior goal for club and country:
— Squawka (@Squawka) November 13, 2025
◉ 27 - Monaco
◉ 55 - France
◉ 62 - Real Madrid
◉ 246 - PSG
Witnessing greatness. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/B5G4IegLGh
However, on the opposite side of the argument was another former French player in Emmanuel Petit. He replied that he would not have a problem with that if he were a teammate of Mbappe. Petit believes that somebody as talented as Mbappe, a player who can win games on his own for France, should be rested where they can.
"Preferential treatment has always existed. And if I were a player, it wouldn’t bother me: we’re talking about a guy who wins matches single-handedly."Emmanuel Petit
A report earlier from The Athletic yesterday revealed that Mbappe should be fit for Real Madrid’s next game against Elche in La Liga on November 23.
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-031bbeb5612ca252e2129722373fa56d.png "Jordan Merritt")
Jordan Merritt is a staff writer for Real Madrid On SI. Before joining On SI, he wrote at Fansided, covering Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball. He has also written for YardBarker, Heavy Sports, and the official EFL site. Merritt is a big sports fan, spending most of his weekends watching Soccer, the NFL, the NBA, college football/basketball, and others. Before starting his career as a freelance writer, Merritt was an Engineer for over 10 years. He lives in West Yorkshire, England, and is keenly interested in sports trading cards.
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