Breaking: France star Karim Benzema is OUT for the tournament

France is loaded with talent, but even for a team as deep as the French, losing RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema in the same week is a devastating blow.

Nkunku’s fate was sealed earlier this week with that was rumored to be an LCL injury that could keep him out of action for 2.5 to 3 months. Benzema, however, just suffered his injury today and now will miss the entire World Cup due to what is believed to be a thigh injury.

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ESPN offered this account of the situation:

France striker Karim Benzema has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering an injury to his left thigh during training on Saturday in Doha, the French federation have confirmed.

The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner felt a strong pain in his quads during a sprint toward the end of the training session.

Sources told ESPN that Benzema underwent scans to find out the extent of the injury, after which it was determined that he won’t recover in time to take part in the tournament that runs through the final on Dec. 18.

Fabrizio Romano also confirmed the news:

It can be assumed that Oliver Giroud will get a long look at replacing Benzema.