The defending world champions, France, are all set to clash against Lionel Messi’s Argentina this Sunday in the Lusail Stadium. Still, despite recovering from injury, Karim Benzema is not expected to be joining his team in their match amidst rumours of him being in the final squad.
Benzema has hinted that he has no intentions to return to the French squad for one last blast at the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, even though he is now deemed fit to play.
The forward, who plays for Real Madrid on the club side, acquired a thigh injury right at the edge of the tournament and, owing to that, has missed the whole French campaign in Qatar. However, the cunning Deschamps decided to not replace him on the rare chance that he might recover in time.
Karim Benzema won’t return to Qatar for Final
Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Presnel Kimpembe, and Christopher Nkunku are the other big names from the French camp who were ruled out from the 2022 global showpiece owing to their respective injuries and were also replaced from the squad. Benzema is the only exception.
However, it seems that the Ballon d’Or winner is least interested in flying to Doha and has turned the offer of playing at finals directly after posting an assertive note on Instagram earlier.
“I’m not interested,” read the English translated version of his caption along with a selfie of the forward, where he looked quite uninterested and unimpressed with the reports of his return making rounds on the internet.
Despite receiving a green light from Real Madrid to fly off to Qatar and starting head-on training in full capacity with his club, Benzema won’t be a part of the squad that will receive medals.
This might have stemmed from the striker’s disappointment after Deschamps’ lack of enthusiasm for Benzema’s recovery and a potential comeback. Deschamps was earlier asked about the possibility of a reunion with Benzema, to which he replied,
“I don’t really want to answer that question. Next question.” Which was followed by him grinning and turning his head to say, “I do apologise.”
