Karim Benzema could make a sensational return to the France squad during the World Cup in Qatar despite being initially ruled out with a thigh injury.

The Real Madrid striker was ruled out of Didier Deschamps’ squad after sustaining the injury during their first full training session in the middle-east.

However, Benzema could return to the squad for the knockout stages of the competition as he is said to be recovering fastest than initially suspected.

According to AS, Benzema could link up with the France squad for the knockout stages of the competition.

According to RMC Sport, Benzema could return to full-time training at Real Madrid later this week.

Deschamps has the right to call Benzema back into the France squad as the 34-year-old is still on the list of players registered for the tournament.

Deschamps named Benzema in the 26-man squad for the competition in Qatar. He travelled out with the team and took part in their first full-training session.

However, Benzema’s session in the middle-east brought to an early conclusion after he suffered a thigh injury.

France confirmed that Benzema would be unable to play in the World Cup – claiming he suffered a serious injury that would rule him out for at least three weeks.

Benzema travelled back to Real Madrid to begin the rehab process and is said to be returning to full-training later this week.

Therefore, he could be called up by Deschamps as the FIFA rules allow players to return to their squads if they had initially been named in the tournament team before being ruled out.

However, it could be a huge risk for Deschamps to throw Benzema into an important knockout game.