FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: The return of Karim Benzema, 2022 Ballon d’Or striker, to the French squad

Karim Benzema is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Real Madrid and the France national team. A creative forward known for his playmaking and finishing, Benzema is regarded as one of the best strikers in the world.

Given the riches that France have in attack, with the un-droppable Kylian Mbappe already taking one, it is always difficult to make the cut. Probably even more so this time, because the striker’s spot will almost certainly be taken by the reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, who returns to World Cup action for the first time after the 2014 edition.

There are many theories about the controversial entertainer that make his career worth following. One of them was that he was not scoring as many goals as he should be because he played with Cristiano Ronaldo for nine of his twelve-plus years at Real Madrid. It is true.

Since Ronaldo left, and until the end of last season, Benzema had scored 131 goals in 193 games. In the nine years with Ronaldo, he scored 193 goals in 412 games. Work out the average, and you would find out that Benzema scored 11 goals more per season without Ronaldo than he did with him.

The 34-year-old has spoken many times of being ready to “serve the player (Ronaldo)” when playing alongside him, adding that he was the provider and now he’s the finisher.

“You had the rocket, which was Bale, the goalscorer, which was Cristiano, and then you had me who would be between them, the one that made it all work,” he is quoted as saying in a Telegraph article.

There is also a theory, from Arsène Wenger, that Benzema dropped a few kilos as he turned 30, which has helped him realise his potential. He has called him a “demonstration of intelligence and efficiency”. In fact, a detailed piece in AS (en.as.com), written when Benzema was 29-years and four-months old, reports how hard he had worked in the summer in Italy to lose five kilos. He also changed his chef and used all the modern fitness tech to measure his muscle responses.

So Wenger’s theory, it seems, is also true.

There is a mentality theory as well, that the need to prove people and seal his legacy at Real Madrid drove him to different heights. The need to prove that the club, and he, could do it without CR7.

Benzema, who has had his fair share of challenges during his childhood, was seen as gullible. Someone whose career had to be protected from outside influences. Even then, he was found guilty of conspiring to blackmail France teammate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape.

This led to losing out on more than five years of international football. But with his club, he became an integral part of Madrid’s BBC attack: (Gareth) Bale, Benzema, Cristiano. They won four Champions League titles and one La Liga in five years of playing together.

While Ronaldo’s exploits in the Champions League are storied, what Benzema did last season was nothing short of glorious. A chilling second half hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain, another away at Stamford Bridge vs Chelsea in the knock-outs meant Benzema had embraced the responsibility. He liked being centre stage. He was running the show now.

In the Champions League semi-finals against Manchester City, managed by his old La Liga foe Pep Guardiola, he scored a brace at The Etihad and another at The Bernabéu. Real Madrid just had the air of royalty by the time they beat Liverpool in the final. So, they could do it without CR7. The mentality theory is true.

Those who have worked with Benzema have a theory that he is the best in the world. Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane revealed how Benzema said he wanted to be the best and how he has managed to do it.

He had to defend questions about Benzema’s efficiency. Before hitting this purple patch, he was oft-derided as a good-but-not-the-best striker; or just limited to being an assist provider (he does have 160 assists for Madrid). In a press conference in 2020, Zidane said Benzema was the best French striker and “a more complete player now than he used to be. He is not a pure number nine, he doesn’t just think about scoring goals and that’s what I love about him.”

Still, his career was screaming for proof of being the best. On October 16, 2022, Benzema scored in the El Clasico, a game which was also billed as the battle of the strikers. Benzema was coming up against Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski — a player who should’ve won the 2020 Ballon d’Or. Lewandowski missed his best chances, and Benzema was clinical as usual.

A day later, he won the Ballon d’Or, and he can fill up the space reserved for it in his trophy cabinet at one of his mansions. Current Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said, “Karim is football.” Karim Benzema is also the best. That theory is also true.

But it will be tested once again in Qatar. Since Benzema’s return to the France squad, he has scored 10 goals in 16 caps. This time, he comes equipped with knowing how to be part of the support cast, and may have to do the same with Mbappe, who likes the limelight. It will be riveting to watch how they operate on the biggest stage.