French striker Karim Benzema will miss the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, following suffering a thigh injury during training.
Benzema won the 2022 Golden Ball award, which is awarded to the best soccer player in the world, following he contributed to Real Madrid winning the Champions League and La Liga.
A spokesman for the French national team said that he had suffered a thigh problem and would not be able to participate in the tournament.
“The entire team shares Karim’s grief and wishes him a speedy recovery,” he added.
The French Football Federation said that an MRI confirmed the injury to the thigh muscle, “which requires a recovery period of three weeks.”
France comes in Group D and plays its matches with Australia on the 22nd, Denmark on the 26th and Tunisia on the 30th of November.
Coach Didier Deschamps has until Monday to name a replacement, and the injury to 34-year-old Benzema, who scored 37 goals in 97 appearances for France, is another blow to the defending champions.
The French national team is now without midfielders Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante due to injury, while Manchester United defender Raphael Varane is trying to be fit to play following missing his past five matches with his club.
Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku was excluded from the tournament on Wednesday following he left training, and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randall Kolo Mwani was summoned as a substitute.
Manchester United striker Anthony Martial is one of the potential options that might come in place of Benzema, who has been suffering from a thigh problem since October.
The Real Madrid star has played less than half an hour in his club’s past six matches.
He underwent medical examinations following leaving training with an injury on Saturday. It was the first time he had participated in a full training session since the World Cup squad met last week.
“I am very sad for Karim, who made the World Cup a major goal,” Deschamps said.
“Despite this new setback, I have full confidence in my group. We will do everything we can to meet the enormous challenge that lies ahead.”
