Karim Benzema has been one of the best strikers in the world during the last few months. However, he won’t be playing in the decisive match for France in the Round of 16 against Poland. Read here to find out the important reasons why.
Karim Benzema has been arguably the best player in the world in recent months and as a result, the French striker took home the 2022 Ballon d’Or. The 34-year-old has been a key figure for Real Madrid to win La Liga 2021-2022 and the Champions League 2021-2022. It was only the fourth time in the club’s history that they had achieved this feat, the famous ‘Double’ or Doblete (League and Champions).
After missing the 2018 World Cup due to the Mathieu Valbuena controversy, Karim Benzema was looking for redemption at Qatar 2022. He wanted to be part of a team trying to become only the third team in history to win back-to-back titles: Brazil (1958, 1962) and Italy (1934, 1938).
France opened the group stage at the Qatar 2022 World Cup with wins against Australia and Denmark, but ended with a loss to Tunisia. However, before this match, the French team secured a ticket to the round of 16. Now, in the knockout stages, Karim Benzema was supposed to be ready.
Why is Karim Benzema not playing in France vs Poland?
Karim Benzema got injured in his first full training session with France just few days before the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The striker left the pitch with the medical staff after missing the last games at Real Madrid with muscle fatigue.
Then, France confirmed that Benzema was going to miss the tournament due to an injury “in the quadriceps of the left thigh”. Nevertheless, in a very unexpected turn of events, coach Didier Deschamps decided to keep him on the roster for the Qatar 2022 World Cup leaving the door open for him to return.
Though in the last days he’s been making progress and could be back soon for Real Madrid, the injury will leave Karim Benzema out of the match against Poland. He won’t even go to the bench.
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