Since the beginning of the qualifiers for the UEFA Euro 2024 everyone knew that France would be one of the favorites teams to lift the trophy that Italy did in 2020 against England. But can they do it without star Karim Benzema?
It’s not a surprise that the former Real Madrid striker and winner of the Ballon d’Or 2022 Karim Benzema is out of Didier Deschamps’s squad for this UEFA Euro 2024, because he left the team a day after France lost the World Cup 2022 against Argentina.
The Al-Ittihad Jeddah Club striker bid farewell to the French national team via Twitter: “I made the effort and made the necessary mistakes to be where I am today, and I am proud of it. I have written my story and ours is over.”
The reasons why Karim Benzema left France’s squad
His first problems began back in 2015, when he had an extortion problem with his former teammate Mathieu Valbuena and got suspended by the national team for 5 years so he wasn’t called up for UEFA Euro 2016 and Russia World Cup 2018.
He came back in 2021, when Didier Deschamps called him to play the UEFA Nations League, that later France would win for the first time in their history with Karim Benzema as a key player.
Days before the beginning of the Qatar World Cup 2022 he suffered a left thigh tear that kept him away from the field for a while. When the tournament was finished he put an end to his national career with France.