Benzema makes clean break by unfollowing France team mates on social media
The Real Madrid striker stopped following several of his teammates on Instagram. Tchouaméni and Mbappé are still on his followed list.
Days after announcing his retirement from international football on social media, and with France coach Didier Deschamps still to make a decision regarding his contract, Karim Benzema continues to separate himself from the national team, completely distancing himself from several of his teammates on Instagram. Benzema’s relationship with Deschamps had been off and on since his return to the national team at Euro 2021 but appeared to have broken down before the Qatar World Cup. The striker feels now is the right time to make a clean break and get on with the rest of his life.
Benzema stopped following many of his former team mates on social media during his last days as an international. Out of all the members of the France squad who travelled to Qatar, only Camavinga, Marcus Thuram, Tchouaméni, Mbappé and Varane have been spared the unfollow button by the current Ballon d’Or. Although the causes are unknown, Benzema did not want to leave any trace of his call-up for duty with the 2022 World Cup runners-up.
On 20 November, just two days after arriving in Qatar, Benzema was forced to leave the France squad after suffering a quadriceps injury. Days later, L’Équipe newspaper reported that some members of the team had felt liberated by his departure. The French newspaper also detailed the bad relationship between Deschamps and the player, who was keen to stay and recover in Doha, but the coach didn’t want him to.