France Opt Against Calling Up Replacement For Injured Benzema

Head coach Didier Deschamps will thus go with a 25-man squad for the defence of their title in Qatar.

Benzema was ruled out of the tournament over the weekend after suffering a thigh injury in training.

The Real Madrid striker is expected to be sidelined for a period of three weeks.

Benzema's injury is the latest in a long list of injury absentees for France, who have also lost the services of Paul Pogba, N'golo Kante, Presnel Kimpembe and Christopher Nkunku in the build up to the tournament.

Benzema won the prestigious Ballon D'or award last month but has been dogged by fitness issues this term for club side Real Madrid.

"It's obviously a big blow. Karim had done everything, so had we. He was in the session and with an almost innocuous gesture, he felt muscle pain on the other leg," Deschamps told Telefoot.

"The exams unfortunately confirmed too much damage compared to the deadlines that await us. 

"Will he be replaced? No. We have seven to eight attacking players."

France start their defence of the title they won four years ago in Russia against Australia on Tuesday before further matches with Denmark and Tunisia.