Following his injury-related absence from France’s World Cup run, Karim Benzema has announced his retirement from international play.
On his 35th birthday, the Ballon d’Or-winning Real Madrid striker revealed that he would retire with France.
He wrote on Twitter: “I made the efforts and the mistakes it took to be where I am today and I’m proud of it!
“I have written my story and ours is ending.”
J’ai fait les efforts et les erreurs qu’il fallait pour être là où je suis aujourd’hui et j’en suis fier !
J’ai écrit mon histoire et la nôtre prend fin. #Nueve pic.twitter.com/7LYEzbpHEs— Karim Benzema (@Benzema) December 19, 2022
On the day of the competition, Benzema’s participation in the Qatar 2022 finals was ruled out due to a thigh injury he sustained during a France training session.
Benzema made his international debut in March 2007 against Austria and went on to score 37 goals in 97 games for France. However, Benzema’s international career was characterized by a protracted absence.
The former Lyon frontman, who was out of favor at the time due to an ongoing blackmail probe, notable missed the World Cup victory in Russia 2018.
He was hoped to contribute significantly to the trophy defense this time, but Benzema had been bothered by a niggle in the months prior to the competition, which did not bode well.
He was battling to prove his fitness but suffered an apparent injury recurrence during his first full training session with Didier Deschamps’ squad.
Benzema underwent an MRI at a Doha hospital and it was decided he faced three weeks of recovery, leading to him leaving the France squad and not returning.
Deschamps said at the time: “I’m extremely sorry for Karim who had made this World Cup a major objective.”
One day after suffering a shocking final defeat to Argentina, losing 4-2 on penalties following a 3-3 game, Benzema made his declaration as France was leaving Qatar for home.
For a France team that came agonizingly close to becoming the first team to win back-to-back World Cup crowns since Brazil 60 years ago, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud proved to be a productive front pairing, so Karim Benzema’s absence scarcely registered.
In response to rumors that he might rejoin the France team two days before the championship game, Benzema wrote a mysterious comment on Instagram that simply said, “That doesn’t interest me.”
He has returned to training with Madrid ahead of the resumption of their season, and may have been fit to play a part in the final, having not been formally removed from France’s squad list.
Asked if Benzema could make a shock return for the final, however, Deschamps said: “I don’t want to answer you. It’s a stupid question.”
Now there will be no return in the future either, Benzema signing off from France duty three short of a century of international caps.