Karim Benzema has been ruled out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after tearing a muscle in his left thigh, the French Football Federation has confirmed.
The Ballon d’Or winner was forced to leave defending champions France’s training session early after suffering the injury in training on Saturday.
“Karim Benzema is out of the World Cup,” the French football federation (FFF) said.
“After hurting the quadriceps on his left thigh the Real Madrid striker is forced to give up on taking part in the World Cup.”
Benzema was taking part in his first full training session with Les Bleus when he had to come off after feeling some pain in his left thigh.
“He went for an MRI scan in a hospital (clinic) in Doha, which unfortunately confirmed a tear,” the FFF added.
France coach Didier Deschamps added: “I am extremely sad for Karim who had made this World Cup a major objective. 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.”
Since winning the Ballon d’Or last month, Benzema has played fewer than 30 minutes for Madrid after coming off the bench in a Champions League game.
Benzema was France’s top scorer at the 2014 World Cup but did not play in France’s victorious 2018 World Cup campaign. France coach Deschamps recalled him for last year’s European Championship, where he was France’s top scorer with four goals.
France, who are already without influential midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante because of injury, open their campaign against Australia in Group D on Tuesday.
Les Bleus are in acion against Denmark four days later and before they take on Tunisia on November 30.
2022 World Cup draw
- Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
- Group B: England, Iran, USA, Wales
- Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
- Group D: France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
- Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
- Group F: Belgium, Ghana, Morocco, Croatia
- Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
- Group H: Portugal, Canada, Uruguay, South Korea
More to follow…
This is a breaking news story that is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh this page for the latest updates.
Sky Sports brings you live updates as they happen. Get breaking sports news, analysis, exclusive interviews, replays and highlights.
Sky Sports is your trusted source for breaking sports news headlines and live updates. Watch live coverage of your favourite sports: Football, F1, Boxing, Cricket, Golf, Tennis, Rugby League, Rugby Union, NFL, Darts, Netball and get the latest transfers news, results, scores and more.
Visit skysports.com or the Sky Sports App for all the breaking sports news headlines. You can receive push notifications from the Sky Sports app for the latest news from your favourite sports and you can also follow @SkySportsNews on Twitter to get the latest updates.
