Karim Benzema officially announced his international retirement on December 19, 2022, posting a picture of himself wearing the French shirt onto his social media profiles. Having missed the 2022 World Cup through injury, the Real Madrid forward is calling time on an international career that was heavily truncated due to his long-time disagreement with Didier Deschamps. His final decision came shortly after the final game of the Qatar 2022 in which France lost the World Cup to Argentina.
The Frenchman wrote on Instagram: "I made the effort and the mistakes it took to be where I am today and I'm proud of it. I wrote my story and ours is coming to an end". Despite there being suggestions that he could have been fit enough to be selected for the Final, Benzema had already stated that he would not return to the World Cup. He had actually been recovered a couple of days prior, just when the semifinals took place, as he was a regular part of Real Madrid’s training team consisted of the Galacticos who were not on International Duty.
Benzema represented France in all age levels. Prior to representing France at senior international level, he was courted by the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) who sought for the player to represent Algeria at senior international level. In December 2006, the striker was approached by former federation president Hamid Haddadj and then-national team coach Jean-Michel Cavalli, but turned down the invitation citing his desire to continue his international career with France. Benzema later told French radio station Radio Monte Carlo: "Algeria is my parents' country and it is in my heart, but football-wise, I will only play for the French national team".
His debut with the senior team came back in March of 2007 whilst he was still with Lyon, and he scored against Austria in that match. His World Cup career lasted just one tournament, but he played in three European Championships. Benzema was left out of the 2010 World Cup squad for unknown tactical reasons, played at the European Championship in 2008 & 2012 and at the 2014 World Cup and then in 2018 he was in international exile.
After last featuring for France in a 4–0 win against Armenia on 8 October 2015, French Football Federation announced on 13 April 2016 that Benzema would not be picked for Euro 2016 tournament on home soil. He responded on 1 June 2016 in Marca, in an interview entitled 'Benzema: "Deschamps folded due to pressure from France's racist element".
Benzema was also left off the roster for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Directing his frustration at FFF president Noël Le Graët, Benzema later tweeted: "Mr Le Graët, with all due respect, you've lost an opportunity to remain silent. I've discovered your true face, and this isn't the one that said he appreciated me and wouldn't discuss the subject of team selections!" In November 2019, Benzema replied to Le Graët's comments that his career with France was over, by saying: "If you think I'm done, let me play with one of the other countries I am eligible for and we'll see".
This exile lasted for almost six years until his domestic form became too good to ignore for Didier Deschamps. The issue of Benzema's French exile had become an incredibly divisive topic, not least at the very top echelon of the nation's political spectrum. In the end Deschamps called him up to Euro 2020 and he remained a regular in the international setup until his retirement announcement.
There has been much speculation about the alleged bad relationship between Benzema and the coach Didier Deschamps, but his performances were really good and the public opinion was quite in favor of having Benzema represent French colors. Since his return to the international team, Benzema had scored 10 goals in 16 appearances. However, Karim’s career with Les Bleus ended on 97 appearances. Across those games he scored 37 goals and lifted one trophy when France won the 2021 Nations League. In the Qatar World Cup Benzema was still awarded the silver medal despite not playing, as he was not replaced by another player.
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