Will Karim Benzema play in the World Cup final? Injury updates on France superstar

France suffered a major blow on the eve of the World Cup when Karim Benzema, who had recently won the Ballon d'Or, was ruled out for the tournament with a thigh muscle injury.

It was another hit for a France side that was already dealing with the injury absences of key figures like Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kanté,Christopher Nkunku andPresnel Kimpembe.

But France, as you may have heard, has been coping rather well without all those injured stars. After beating Morocco 2-0 on Wednesday, Les Bleus are in the World Cup final for a second straight tournament.

As that final on Sunday against Argentina approaches, something rather interesting has happened with Benzema: he's returned to fitness.

According to Marca , Benzema has been training in full with Real Madrid since Saturday. That actually isn't a huge surprise, given he was initially ruled out for three weeks when he suffered the injury on November 19 - which is now more than three weeks ago.

Now here's the really interesting part: France never named a replacement for Benzema.

That means Didier Deschamps has been carrying a 25-man squad through the World Cup. and it also means that Benzema could, in theory, walk back into the team without any issue.

Mundo Deportivo, meanwhile, has reported that Benzema has permission from Real Madrid to travel to Qatar for the final.

Amid all the speculation, Deschamps was asked about Benzema after France's semifinal win over Morocco. His response did little to tamp down on talk Benzema could make a sensational return.

"I don't really want to answer that question," Deschamps said. "Next question. I do apologize."

Here we have to note that this could simply be gamesmanship from Deschamps. Why unequivocally rule out your star striker when you could instead give Argentina something to think about?

It is also worth mentioning that Benzema has not played a competitive match since November 2. In his absence, Olivier Giroud has had a fantastic World Cup, scoring four goals in five games. It's a lock that the veteran will start the final.

But Deschamps has the ability to use a fully fit striker who was just named the best player in the world. At the least, it's an option he'll have to consider.