Karim Benzema was named in France’s provisional Euro 2020 squad by Didier Deschamps on Tuesday, giving the Real Madrid striker an international recall after a five-and-a-half year absence over his alleged role in a blackmail plot.
The 33-year-old has not played for France since October 2015, but is now set to line up alongside World Cup winners Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann at the delayed European Championship, which gets underway on June 11.
Benzema, who has scored 27 goals for France in 81 appearances, was named as this season’s best French player playing abroad by the country’s players’ association earlier on Tuesday.
Deschamps said he had “ignored his (Benzema’s) personal case”.
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Benzema has netted 29 times for Real Madrid this term, passing 20 league goals in all three seasons since Cristiano Ronaldo left the Santiago Bernabeu for Juventus in 2018.
SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham/ENG), Mike Maignan (Lille), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)
Defenders: Lucas Digne (Everton/ENG), Leo Dubois (Lyon), Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich/GER), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris SG), Jules Kounde (Sevilla/ESP), Clement Lenglet (Barcelona/ESP) Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich/GER), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid/ESP), Kurt Zouma (Chelsea/ENG)
Midfielders: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea/ENG), Thomas Lemar (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Paul Pogba (Manchester United/ENG), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus/ITA), Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham/ENG), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich/GER)
Forwards: Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich/GER), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona/ESP), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea/ENG), Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona/ESP), Kylian Mbappe (Paris SG), Marcus Thuram (Borussia Moenchengladbach/GER)