France have made two FIFA World Cup finals in the last seven and a half years, but Karim Benzema has not been in the squad for either. The 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America is set to be a swansong for some of football’s biggest names on the international stage, and there is a chance that Benzema could well be one of them.
With 11 goals in 12 games across competitions this season, there is no denying that the former Real Madrid superstar remains in fine goal-scoring touch. So, what will his response be if Didier Deschamps calls him before the grand event next summer?
Karim Benzema Open to France Return For 2026 FIFA World Cup
Benzema has said that he will be open to returning to the international fold next year if he gets a call-up in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Even at 37, he has maintained an impressive physique and was a key figure for the league-winning Al-Ittihad side last season, where he scored 21 times in 29 Saudi Pro League matches.
“I’m a football player. So, I play football. When they call me, I come, I play,” he told L’Equipe (via GOAL). “I have goals in my head. I love football and I love winning. I like trophies. That’s what matters most to me. There, I am in my club. If I am called to the national team, I come to play football. And it stops there.”
Benzema announced his retirement from Les Bleus back in 2022 following the FIFA World Cup. But the prospect of turning down a berth in France’s team for the upcoming World Cup, according to him, is too big an opportunity to turn down.
He continued: “It’s not a story of no longer wanting to come back to the French team. But we have to ask ourselves the question: what am I coming to do with the French team? We are talking about a World Cup. Obviously, these are not things where you have to say: ‘No, I don’t want to.’ Because it’s a lie to say: ‘No, I don’t want to play in a World Cup’.”
It will be interesting to see if Deschamps can fit the Al-Ittihad centre-forward in an attack that already boasts the likes of Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe, in-form Liverpool frontman Hugo Ekitike, Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram, and Crystal Palace star Jean Philippe-Mateta.
A Look At Benzema’s FIFA World Cup History With France
Benzema has only represented his country at one FIFA World Cup tournament, which was all the way back in 2014 – a surprise considering he has nearly a century of appearances for his country (97 games, 37 goals). He made his senior international debut in the year following the 2006 World Cup.
Benzema was overlooked by Raymond Domenech for the 2010 edition, in which France was eliminated from the competition in the group stage. He was selected four years later and registered two goals and three assists before seeing his team exit at the quarterfinal stage with a 1-0 loss against Germany.
The French striker was then left out of the World Cup-winning team in 2018, having been frozen out of the squad as a result of the Mathieu Valbuena sex tape scandal. He made the squad four years later for the Qatar edition as well, but picked up a thigh injury that forced him to miss the tournament.
Benzema remains a highly decorated player in French blue and is one of the few players to have represented them in three different decades. At 15 years and 86 days, he also boasts the record for the longest career with his national team – a record that would be extended by a big margin if he makes a sensational return next year.