France striker Karim Benzema could miss the World Cup after suffering an injury in his left thigh during training on Saturday evening in Doha, sources have told ESPN.
The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner felt a strong pain in his quads during a sprint toward the end of the training session.
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Benzema is currently undergoing a scan to find out the extent of the injury but he is already out for Les Bleus’ opening game of the tournament against Australia on Tuesday.
There are major fears that he will miss the entire competition after a negative initial diagnosis from the medical staff.
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Benzema, 34, has had battled injuries throughout the first part of the season with Real Madrid.
He had only played 26 minutes of football in the last month because of muscular fatigue and Saturday was the first time he was training with the France squad since the 2018 World Cup winners got together on Monday.
France head coach Didier Deschamps was optimistic that his striker could play but Saturday’s new injury has potentially ruled him out of the World Cup.
