Karim Benzema's World Cup withdrawal is a bitter blow for France - but also Qatar 2022

Karim Benzema is out of the World Cup. It may have been coming but it's still shocking. The official 'best player on the planet' won't play any part in Qatar 2022.

We knew he was a doubt for France's opening game against Australia but then rumours began to circulate late on Saturday night that his whole tournament was in doubt.

Official confirmation arrived after midnight in Doha.

"Karim Benzema has pulled out of the World Cup with a thigh injury," read the statement posted on Twitter.

"The whole team shares Karim's disappointment and wishes him a speedy recovery."

Short, but not so sweet. Certainly not for Benzema. Or France for that matter.

Benzema, infamously, wasn't a part of the triumphant World Cup campaign in Russia four years ago, having been ditched in the lead-up to Euro 2016 because of his involvement in the Mathieu Valbuena sex-tape scandal.

The seriousness of that case should not be forgotten. The French Prime Minister at the time even got involved in what quickly became a divisive national debate.

"A great athlete should be exemplary," Manuel Valls said. "If he is not, he has no place in the France team."

And so Benzema was exiled as the legal proceedings rumbled on.

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In November last year, he was found guilty of conspiring to blackmail Valbuena, but by that point he had already been welcomed back into the national team squad, proving to be one of France's few inspired performers in an otherwise disappointing Euro 2020 campaign.

He carried that form into the 2021-22 season, inspiring one miraculous fightback after another as Madrid won the Champions League.

After years of playing the role of best supporting actor to Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema was now the team's undisputed star.

It was inevitable that he would literally take centre stage at October's Ballon d'Or ceremony.

Sadio Mane and Kevin De Bruyne had fine years but Benzema's victory was a formality. He had been a cut above every other contender.

"There was a difficult period where I wasn't in the French team but I never stopped working hard or gave up," he said that night.

"I’m really proud of my journey here. It wasn't easy. It was difficult. To be here today for the first time, I am happy, pleased with my work and I want to keep going."

He made no secret of the fact that Qatar 2022 was meant to be the closing act of what he viewed as an inspiring tale of redemption.

"There are still things left I haven't won," he said earlier this year. "I want to win the World Cup with France. It's a goal, and I have a lot of confidence and ambition."

Unfortunately for him, his body betrayed him.

Benzema has been playing the best football of his career over the past 18 months but he is 34 and had been plagued by niggling problems this season.

There were even allegations that the ailing striker was skipping Madrid games in order to ensure his participation at the World Cup.

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Ancelotti dismissed those claims as "stupid", pointing out that there was no way that he wanted to arrive at the tournament undercooked.

Whatever the truth, Benzema was in no fit state to play, and he eventually admitted that himself, deciding that it wouldn't have been right to continue fighting a losing battle while France still had the option to call up a replacement.

"In my life, I never give up, but tonight I have to think about the team like I always do, so reason tells me to leave my place to someone who can help our team to have a great World Cup," he wrote on Instagram.

In the end, Deschamps decided against calling up another striker. They will try to get by without him, as they did four years ago.

But there's no denying that Benzema's withdrawal is, like that of Sadio Mane, a great pity for Qatar 2022. Unlike the Senegalese, he is not universally liked. Even aside from Valbuena, he has upset plenty of people in the past.

For all his unselfishness on the field, one could argue that he remains a difficult team-mate.

After all, he slated a very young Vinicius Junior for his poor passing, while there was also the time he said that there was no comparison between himself and Olivier Giroud, arguing that it would be like equating go-karting with Formula 1.

It is Giroud, of course, who will now take his place up front at the World Cup, and the veteran has been in fine form for AC Milan of late.

As that short Twitter statement said, though, Benzema's absence is a blow for France. His quality cannot be questioned. And, from a purely footballing perspective, he deserved to grace the game's grandest stage once more.

As his Real Madrid team-mate Rodrygo pointed out, "The best [players] should compete in the best [tournament]. You will be missed in the World Cup."

Love him or loathe him, there's no doubt about that.