Didier Deschamps insists Karim Benzema will not be part of France’s squad for the World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday.
The Real Madrid striker was expected to be a key part of France’s campaign in Qatar and initially trained with the squad but he was ruled out of the tournament due to a thigh injury.
Benzema was not replaced by a late call-up, meaning he is still eligible for selection for Sunday’s final.
But Deschamps is adamant that Benzema will play no part in France’s pinnacle fixture at the World Cup.
When asked about the possibility of Benzema returning to his squad for the final, Deschamps said: ‘Are you spreading the word among foreign journalists? If I don’t answer, you’ll say I’m annoyed.
‘I have players who have been injured before. Karim is one of them.
‘The last to be injured is is Lucas Hernandez. Since then, I have 24 players to manage and you know them.
‘To ask the question about these players, if I may say so, is at least clumsy, if not a little more.
‘The group is there. I don’t take care of the invitations of players, former players or injured players.
‘I don’t know who will be there. We had a group at the start and who, by what happened.
‘We lost three, with Christopher Nkunku at the start, then Karim and Lucas Hernandez. They were part of the start of the adventure. There will be 24 tomorrow to face Argentina.’
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