Karim Benzema has been ruled out of the World Cup, after suffering an injury during training on Saturday evening.

Examinations confirmed a tear in the player’s left thigh, and that means the 34-year-old will no longer feature in the World Cup.

It was expected that France would call up another striker to replace Benzema, but French boss Didier Deschamps has revealed that he won’t be replacing Benzema, even though he admitted that the absence of the Real Madrid man is a big blow.

Deschamps told Telefoot on Sunday: “It’s obviously a big blow to lose Karim. He had done everything [to be available], so had we. He was in a session and felt pain in his other leg after an innocuous action.

“The scans confirmed that unfortunately it is too big a strain compared to the schedule that awaits us. Will he be replaced? No.”

When pushed further on why he won’t be calling up another striker, Deschamps replied bluntly: “Because I decided, simple.”