News is confirmed, Karim Benzema is going to miss the FIFA World Cup. The Real Madrid attacker had to cut training short due to “pain in the quadriceps of his left thigh,” according to a statement from the French Football Federation.
The 34-year-old will need to rehabilitate for three weeks as a result of a rectus femoris tendon injury, which was later confirmed by an MRI scan.
French Coach, Didier Deschamps, said: “I am extremely sad for Karim who made this World Cup a major goal. Despite this new blow for the French team, I have full confidence in my group. We will do everything to meet the huge challenge that awaits us.”
This World Cup will be the first world cup since 1978 to not having a reigning Ballon D’or winner and now the French football team who are defending their title this year are looking much weaker as they already lost some of the key players like N’golo Kante, Paul Pogba Christopher Nkunku and now Karim Benzema due to injuries.
Benzema also post a picture on Instagram in which he said, “In my life, I never give up but tonight I have to think about my team like I always do, so the reason tells me to leave my place to someone who can help our team to make a great World Cup. Thank you for all your messages of support. #GoBlues”
Replacement of Benzema for the World Cup
The injury-hit World Cup holders, already without Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté, begin their defense against Australia on Tuesday. Deschamps has until Monday to bring up a replacement for Benzema, with the Monaco striker Wissam Ben Yedder as one option.
Though France already has a quality number of strikers to play like Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, and Ousmane Dembele but the current form of that Ballon D’or holder will be missed.
Benzema led France in scoring at the 2014 World Cup but was barred from participating in the country’s successful World Cup run in 2018 because of his role in the sex tape extortion scandal that rocked French sport. He was back for the European Championship the year before and finished as France’s Top Scorer. And unfortunately, he again going to miss another World Cup.
