France’s hopes of successfully defending the World Cup were dealt a huge blow late on Saturday as Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema, was ruled out of the tournament in Qatar with an injured left thigh.
The 34-year-old Real Madrid striker had been struggling with the injury for some time but he took part in full training for the first time in over a month but was then taken off injured.
The striker will be out for three weeks, and France will be allowed to name a replacement before their first game against Australia on Tuesday.
