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French newspaper L’Equipe reported that striker Karim Benzema was forced to leave the French squad’s training session early on Saturday with an injury that could deal a major blow to the defending champion three days ahead of his first game in the World Cup finals in Qatar. And in the event that any player withdraws from coach Didier Deschamps’ squad, he can be replaced until Monday, on the eve of the first match. France begin their campaign to defend their title with many injured absences and without a number of notable players such as Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Mick Minyan.
Karim Benzema, the world’s best player for the year 2022, left training sessions for the French national soccer team on Saturday, to determine the quality and severity of his injury, the French news agency reported, citing a source close to the World Cup holder, who is preparing for his first match on Tuesday against Australia inside Competitions of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
The Ballon d’Or winner, who was suffering from a muscle injury, along with fellow defender Raphael Varane, who is recovering from a knee injury, attended France’s training session on Saturday for the first time since arriving in Qatar.
According to the newspaper, Benzema did not complete the exercise after sustaining an injury, but has not yet disclosed the severity.
France, who have lost influential midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante to injury, will start their season against Australia in Group D, which also includes Tunisia and Denmark.
The credit against Australia on Tuesday is fast approaching, as doubts about the participation of Benzema, who played just half an hour against Celtic Glasgow on November 2 since playing the last ninety minutes on the 19th, are strengthening. October in the Spanish league.
Three days later, the Madrid club reported a “muscle strain in the quadriceps muscle of the left leg” against the attacker, who had just been awarded the Ballon d’Or and was rested for the next match.
The Italian, Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, justified the absence of his striker by saying: “I’d rather lose Modric or Benzema for a match than for a month”, believing that the Frenchman’s stay in the medical clinic would not last for a long time, before he changed his late October speech.
FRANCE 24 / AFP / Reuters
