France coach Didier Deschamps has closed the door on a possible World Cup final appearance for Karim Benzema against Argentina on Sunday.
The Real Madrid striker was ruled out of the World Cup on the eve of the tournament due to injury but has not been replaced in the squad and speculation in recent days has suggested he could take part in Sunday's showpiece against Lionel Messi et al after recently returning to fitness.
Benzema has been back in training and even featured in a friendly match for Real Madrid. However, Deschamps has not been amused by the questions concerning his possible participation in the latter stages of the World Cup.
Asked ahead of the semi-final against Morocco if Benzema could play a part, Deschamps said: "I don't really want to answer that question. Next question. I do apologise."
After that, Benzema posted a picture of himself on Instagram with the caption: "I'm not interested in that."
And in his pre-match press conference on Saturday, Deschamps appeared to finally rule out a possible role for Benzema against Argentina.
"I have players who were injured before," he said. "Karim is one of them. The last to be injured was Lucas Hernandez.
"Since then, I have 24 players to manage. Asking the question regarding these players, it's awkward to say the least, if not a little more. The group is there.
"I don't care about invitations from players, former players or injured players. I don't know who will be there. We had a group at the start and who, from what happened... we lost three, with [Christopher] Nkunku at the beginning. They were part of the beginning of the adventure.
"They will be 24 important players for France tomorrow."
N'Golo Kante, Paul Pogba and Presnel Kimbempe all missed the World Cup through injury but are expected to be guests of France president Emmanuel Macron in Doha on Sunday.
Meanwhile, there has been no indication as to whether Benzema will be present at the Lusail Stadium. But as a member of France's final squad, he will be eligible for a winners' medal if Les Bleus retain their trophy on Sunday.
