Karim Benzema to Return to French Squad For World Cup Final? Julien Laurens Gives His Honest Input

But, the case that sent the greatest of shivers to the spine of the French players, federation and fans was that of Real Madrid forward, Karim Benzema. The 2022 Ballon d"Or winner suffered a thigh injury in a national training session just on the eve of the World Cup and had to resolve to what fate had in store for him.

France have fared well in the absence of one of their best and now that they are in the finals, it appears there could be possibilities of Benzema returning to the starting line-up on Sunday evening against Argentina.
There"s been some speculation about whether or not the Madrid man would be able to represent his nation in the finals, and when French journalist, Julien Laurens was recently asked by ESPN, he said:

“No…I think we have to stop talking about that now. He might come here, he might come back to Doha as a fan and watch the final from the Lusail Stadium like where we will be but he"s not gonna play, he"s not gonna be on the bench. He played today against Leganes, he hadn"t played for six weeks…". “…I don"t even think that Karim himself is thinking about this final let alone playing…". “…And we saw yesterday how he avoided the question in the post match press conference, he doesn"t even want to talk about it, so it"s not happening…"

Meanwhile, the 2022 Ballon d"Or winner has been supportive of his compatriots during their run to the final of the World Cup

Ahead of France"s 2-0 semi-final victory over Morocco, Benzema had shared a poster of several French players on his Instagram page with a post which read thus:

“Come on guys, two more games we are almost there… behind you… Vamonos"

A Karim Benzema cap in the final against Argentina would definitely mean good news to Les Bleus, the entire French Football Federation and Karim himself. The 2022 Ballon d"Or winner‘s national career has been rather shallow thanks to the controversy it has been awashed with.

International mischance

In December 2015, Benzema was suspended from national duty by the French Football Federation due to the alleged blackmailing of compatriot, Matthew Valbuena with a sex tape retrieved from the latter.

This caused the Madrid striker to miss the 2016 European Championship which France hosted and were runners up, denied 1-0 by Cristiano Ronaldo"s Portugal in the final.

Two years later, the ban still living on, Benzema was forced to miss World Cup glory in Russia as Kylian Mbappe and co lifted Les Blues second World Cup trophy.

Definitely not the kind of story Benzema would have hoped for, not the kind of path he would have loved to pave for his national career.

More lethality to the frontline

Benzema"s return to Les Bleus ahead of the final would be a bittersweet story. Whilst it would be welcome by all and sundry, it would definitely mean one of the forwards who have given it their all in this tournament get to watch from the sidelines in the most important match of the competition. And it"s most likely going to be Ousmane Dembele.

The Barcelona winger has indirectly contributed from Benzema"s absence from the squad, earning a place in the starting XI of France. Rewind to Euro 2021, Dembele played more of a substitute role while Deschamps often fielded Mbappe, Griezmann, Benzema(with Giroud also playing second fiddle)

Benzema"s return may mean Demeble gets to warm the bench in the final especially considering the fact that his performance cannot be compared to that of Mbappe, Giroud or Griezmann.

Having a striker of Benzema"s class in the finals alongside Mbappe, Giroud and Griezmann would pose real problems for La Albiceste.

Having to deal with the deadly trio may be quite intimidating and dreadful for the Argentine defence not to couple with the presence of a world class finisher in the 2022 Ballon d"Or winner. If Deschamps is to field all four men, he definitely can play a 4-4-2 formation, positioning Giroud and Benzema upfront while Mbappe and Griezmann provide support from the flanks.

Do you think Benzema would play the final on Sunday?

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