With a bloodless 2-0 victory over the dark horse Morocco, France reached the final of the World Cup for the second consecutive time. And after the game, there was also news about the final lineup of the Gallic Roosters. According to foreign media reports, Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, who just won the Ballon d'Or in October this year, is still in the 26-man squad of the French team and can play at any time, and Real Madrid will not put any obstacles to Benzema's trip to Qatar.
Benzema, who is about to turn 35, reached the peak of his career this year, not only helping Real Madrid win the Champions League and La Liga double, but also winning the 2022 Ballon d'Or for his outstanding performance. His excellent form also made him the main center forward of the French team. However, on the eve of the World Cup start, the new Mr. Golden Ball was forced to leave the team due to a quadriceps injury in his left thigh and return to Madrid for physical recovery. Since Deschamps did not select an alternate player, Benzema's name has always been on the French squad.
The defending champions, who lost Real Madrid's champions, swept away last year's slump at the European Championships and made it all the way to the final with Argentina. Olivier Giroud, who replaced Benzema as the main centre-forward, is also in good shape, not only temporarily ranking third in the scorers list with 4 goals, but also winning the hammer against England, helping the team gnaw the biggest hard bone on the way to promotion. In addition to the data, Giroud's pivotal role on the pitch also greatly liberated Mbappe and Dembele, allowing the Gallic Rooster to truly fly with both wings.
Throughout Benzema's national team career, he seems to be at odds with the team. In 2010, he was unexpectedly dropped out of the World Cup squad in South Africa. 2014 was the only World Cup he has played in so far, and despite scoring three goals, they were all against less powerful opponents, and in the round of eight they met strong opponents Germany, Benzema was dumbfounded, and France were eliminated. In 2015, Benzema was removed from the national team due to the "knock on the door" incident, and France officially returned to the top, reaching the final of two consecutive competitions at the 2016 European Cup and the 2018 World Cup, and re-holding the Hercules Cup in 2018, after a 20-year absence. Embarrassingly, after Benzema's return to the national team last year, France suffered Waterloo at the European Championship and was eliminated by Switzerland in the round of 16. Despite Benzema's good performance, the team's failure to go further has also made him questionable.
At this World Cup in Qatar, Giroud's performance made people completely forget that France also has a Ballon d'Or winner centre-forward. Now that the news of Benzema's return on the eve of the showdown has made one wonder if the outside world is deliberately disturbing the military morale of the defending champions. In the competition, the stars often do not necessarily bring out their full strength, and a good team atmosphere and chemistry between players are more likely to produce good results. For the French team, a stable squad and a harmonious dressing room atmosphere are the biggest guarantees for defending the title; For Benzema, as a Ballon d'Or winner, he doesn't necessarily want to mix a World Cup title, and the superstar who dominated Europe this year will most likely not be in this weekend's final.