Karim Benzema could make a return to the France squad during the World Cup despite having initially been ruled out of the competition through injury.
Benzema had been awarded a place in the France squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar with Deschamps’s side attempting to become the first nation to successfully defend the title since Brazil in 1962.
Les Blues would have been expecting the Real Madrid star to play a leading role at the World Cup, having returned to the international game after a lengthy period away. But, a troublesome thigh issue had seen him initially ruled out of the tournament.
Despite the absences of Benzema and Christopher Nkunku, the defending World Cup champions have no shortage of attackers. Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kingsley Coman and Marcus Thuram all form part of their squad in Qatar.
Mbappe netted a brace to fire France to a 2-1 win over Denmark and seal their place in the knockout stages in Qatar. The PSG striker scored either side of an Andreas Christensen header to secure the victory for Les Bleus on Saturday.
It was a Man of the Match display from Mbappe, who continues to light up the tournament having found the back of the net in France’s opening-game 4-1 victory over Australia earlier this week.
But RMC Sport claims that Benzema could yet make a return to the France setup as he returns to full-time training at Real Madrid – and could be fit enough to participate for his nation in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
FIFA rules permit players to return to their squads if they recover from injury if they had initially been named in the squad before being ruled out. But, the decision would be in the hands of both Benzema – and whether he believes he is in the right shape to contribute – and France manager Deschamps.
Meanwhile, France have already sealed their place in the Round of 16 after the wins over Australia and Denmark, while they still have a last group game to play against Tunisia – for which they are likely to rotate their players.
