France captain Kylian Mbappe will be back in action for his country during this international break after a six-month absence.

And the Real Madrid star has acknowledged that he needs to handle his position better.

Les Bleus face Croatia in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-final on Thursday, which will be Mbappe's first international appearance since September.

"I am lucid enough to know what I do well and what I don't do well," said Mbappe, who was left out of Didier Deschamps' last two squads.

"I know people were not happy with what I was doing on and off the field, and I wasn't doing them well," Mbappe said.

"I have no problem questioning myself. I have never had any problem with criticism when it is deserved and well-argued."

Mbappe is France's third-highest goalscorer of all time, on 48 goals, trailing record holder Olivier Giroud by nine but, with just two goals in his last 12 appearances, he accepts that he has made mistakes while playing for his country.

"I didn't play well against Italy and my [pre-match] news conference didn't please people, because as captain I didn't bring people together. I accept that, but now the most important thing is to move forward and not to repeat the same mistakes," he said.

But the 26-year-old comes into this international break in great form, having overcome a sticky start at Madrid to score 31 goals in 44 games in all competitions.

Only Robert Lewandowski (35), Mohamed Salah (32) and Harry Kane (32) have scored more for teams in Europe's top five leagues this season.

279 - Kylian Mbappé has been involved in 279 shot-ending attacking sequences this season in all competitions, more than any other forward in Europe's top five leagues.

Involved. pic.twitter.com/wqYN3ofZBY

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 14, 2025

In his next game, meanwhile, Mbappe will break into France's top five appearance makers of all time, going level with Thierry Henry on 66.

"I am feeling good, I feel happy to play football," Mbappé said. "I am happy to be here to help the [France] team," he said.

He is set to be reunited with in-form Ousmane Dembele, who Mbappe calls a close friend.

Dembele has scored 30 goals in all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain this season, while he is the only player to have scored more (22) than Mbappe (17) in 2025 in Europe's top five leagues.

"He's another string to our bow," Mbappe said of Dembele. "When you see his current form it gives us even more options, it makes us even more unpredictable for the opponent.

"We just need to combine properly. But we know each other off by heart and we want to play together."