Real Madrid star Mbappe hospitalised with illness after missing Club World Cup opener

Kylian Mbappe has been admitted to hospital with an acute case of gastroenteritis, Real Madrid have announced.

Mbappe missed Madrid’s Club World Cup opener with Al Hilal on Wednesday with what coach Xabi Alonso described as a “fever”.

But the club confirmed the severity of his illness in a statement released on Thursday.

It read: “Kylian Mbappe has an acute case of gastroenteritis and has been hospitalised to receive testing and the corresponding treatment.”

Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Al Hilal in Mbappe’s absence. Gonzalo Garcia, the 21-year-old striker who deputised for Mbappe, opened the scoring in Miami in the 34th minute, only for Al Hilal to level six minutes later through Ruben Neves’ penalty.

A controversial late penalty award gave Madrid the chance to claim all three points, but Fede Valverde’s poor spot-kick was kept out by Bono.

Though he helped lift the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, Madrid did not win a major trophy in Mbappe’s first season at the club after joining from Paris Saint-Germain, despite the France star scoring 42 times in all competitions.

That disappointment was magnified as PSG won the treble, finally claiming the Champions League title that had eluded them and Mbappe by thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final last month.

The expanded Club World Cup has afforded Alonso the opportunity to immediately deliver a trophy after replacing Carlo Ancelotti as coach.

But that task will be harder if Mbappe is out for an extended period of time.

Alonso said after the draw with Al Hilal that he did not know if Mbappe would be fit to face Pachuca on Sunday.

That now looks extremely unlikely, and it would be fair to consider Mbappe a doubt for their Group H finale with Red Bull Salzburg next Thursday. Madrid trail Salzburg by two points after the first round of fixtures, the Austrian side having beaten Pachuca 2-1 on Wednesday.