/>

Euro 2020: Benzema earns France recall after six years

The 33-year-old has scored 27 goals in 81 games for France and played his last game for the national side in October 2015.

Published : May 19, 2021 08:57 IST , PARIS

Benzema has not played for Les Bleus since 2015.
Benzema has not played for Les Bleus since 2015.
lightbox-info

Benzema has not played for Les Bleus since 2015.

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema was included in France's squad for the European Championship in a surprise move by coach Didier Deschamps on Tuesday.

Benzema, who has scored 29 goals in all competitions for Real this season, has not played for Les Bleus since 2015 after a blackmailing scandal over which he faces a trial in October.

He also said in 2016 that Deschamps had "bowed to the pressure of a racist part of France" when leaving the forward out of the Euro squad that year.

The 33-year-old, who has 27 goals in 81 games for France, featured in the 26-man squad alongside fellow forwards Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Kingsley Coman, Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele, Wissam Ben Yedder and Marcus Thuram.

ALSO READ |

While Deschamps had not picked Benzema since October 2015 and said he would "never forget" his comments, the France coach had never stated that he would not call him up again.

France is in Group F with Germany, Hungary and Portugal.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment