(AFP) - France's attempt to defend its World Cup title was dealt a painful blow with the announcement late Saturday that its veteran striker Karim Benzema, the best player in the world, had withdrawn from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to a thigh injury.
The 34-year-old Real Madrid top scorer had been suffering from injury for some time and had played less than half an hour in his club's last six matches before the World Cup.
On Saturday, he participated for the first time in the exercises of France, the 2018 World Cup champion in Russia, but he was forced to leave the Al-Sadd stadium to undergo medical examinations.
The French Federation said later that the injury "requires a recovery period of up to three weeks," to lose his chances of participating in the World Cup, which starts Sunday and extends until December 18 next.
The player wrote on his Instagram account, "I have never given up in my life, but tonight I have to think about the team as I have always done. Logic requires me to leave my place for someone who can help our team to present a good World Cup."
And the French Federation quoted coach Didier Deschamps, "I am very sad for Karim, for whom the World Cup was an important goal."
He continued, "Despite France's new big blow, I have full confidence in my squad. We will do everything in our power to rise to the challenge that lies ahead."
France will begin the campaign to defend its title on Tuesday against Australia in the Qatar 2022 edition.
And to Benzema, France begins the campaign to defend its title with many absences due to injuries and without many important cadres such as Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Mike Mignan, Prisnel Kempebe and Christopher Nkunku.
And after the absence of Real Madrid's top scorer from matches since last October due to a thigh injury, he participated on Saturday in group exercises for the first time since the team gathered in Clairefontaine last Monday.
Only Benzema played half an hour against Celtic Glasgow on November 2, since he played the last ninety minutes on October 19 in the Spanish League.
Three days later, the Madrid club reported a "muscular strain in the quadriceps muscle of the left leg" regarding the striker, who had just been awarded the Ballon d'Or and left to rest for the next game.
Italian Carlo Ancelotti, Real coach, justified the absence of his striker, saying, "I would rather lose (Croatian Luka) Modric or Benzema for a match than for a month," believing that the Frenchman's stay in the medical clinic would not last long, before his words changed at the end of October.