Karim Benzema could make a sensational return to the France squad during the World Cup despite having initially been ruled out of the tournament through injury.
Benzema had been awarded a place in the France squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar with Didier Deschamps' side attempting to become the first nation to successfully defend the title since Brazil in 1962.
Les Blues would have been expecting the Ballon d'Or winner to play a leading role at the World Cup, having returned to the international game after a lengthy period away. However, a troublesome thigh problem had seen him initially ruled out of the tournament.
Despite the absences of Benzema and RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku, the defending World Cup champions have no shortage of attacking options. Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kingsley Coman and Marcus Thuram all form part of their fearsome squad in Qatar.
Mbappe netted twice to fire France to a deserved 2-1 victory over Denmark and seal their place in the knockout stages in Qatar. The Paris Saint-Germain striker scored either side of an Andreas Christensen header to secure the victory for Les Bleus on Saturday evening.
It was a Man of the Match performance from Mbappe, who continues to light up the tournament having already found the back of the net in France's opening-game 4-1 victory over Australia earlier this week. The PSG frontman has linked-up superbly with Olivier Giroud – one goal from being France’s all-time leading goal scorer – in attack.
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However RMC Sport claims that Benzema could yet make a return to the France setup as he returns to full-time training this week at Real Madrid – and could be fit enough to participate for his nation in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
FIFA rules permit players to return to their squads if they recover from injury if they had initially been named in the tournament squad before being ruled out. However, the decision would ultimately be in the hands of both Benzema – and whether he believes he is in the right shape to contribute – and France boss Deschamps.
France have already sealed their place in the Round of 16 following the victories over Australia and Denmark, while they still have a final group game to play against Tunisia – for which they are likely to rotate their starting line-up.
