Benzema: France World Cup Return Possible | RBC Sport

Benzema, 37, has been cleared to return to the French national team for the 2026 World Cup

Benzema did not play for France at the World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and ended his international career after the tournament in Qatar. Now he said he is ready to be called up to the national team

2022 Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best footballer Karim Benzema stated L’Equipe that he would not refuse the opportunity to play next summer at the World Cup as part of the French national team.

Benzema retired from the national team in December 2022, the day after France lost to Argentina in the World Cup final. He himself did not participate in the tournament due to injury.

The 37-year-old football player noted that everyone wants to play in this tournament.

“When they call me, I come, I play. <...> If I am called up to the national team, I will come to play football. That’s it,” Benzema said.

The striker plays in Saudi Arabia for Al-Ittihad.

He played 97 matches for the French national team and scored 37 goals, and won the Nations League with it.

Benzema missed the 2016 European Championship and the 2018 World Cup after being expelled from the national team for complicity in blackmailing national teammate Mathieu Valbuena with an intimate video. The forward returned to the national team in 2021.