Is Benzema really to blame for France's Euro 2020 exit? You asked, we answered

Neutrals all over the world argue about what went wrong for Didier Deschamps' France side at Euro 2020.

Some fans name Karim Benzema's squad inclusion as one of the main reasons – but is he really to blame?

Indeed, the forward's comeback didn't go as planned at first. Benzema missed a penalty in a friendly game and struggled to convert his scoring chances. It happens though – Karim was back to the national team for the first time since 2015.

Things didn't change much in the first two Euro fixtures against Germany and Hungary. Against Joachim Low's side, Benzema produced a very bleak display and didn't even attempt a single shot, even though France were dominant in the first half.

Benzema's heat map vs Germany

Against Hungary, things were slightly better in terms of Benzema's overall display, yet he missed a big chance that could've helped his side win the game.

And then the Portugal clash took place. A superb outing from Karim who scored two goals and was quite active on both wings, recording a solid 93 per cent passing accuracy.

The 33-year-old clearly found his peak form ahead of the last-16 clash against Switzerland. Almost singlehandedly, Benzema turned things around for France by netting a brace in 3 minutes, one of the goals being a stunning piece of individual skill, as described by Jose Mourinho.

Benzema did what he had to do while the Switzerland clash was a real defensive nightmare for France: Barca centre-back Clement Lenglet failed to contain Haris Seferovic in the Swiss first goal of the night, then the Varane-Kimpembe pairing proved that they weren't as good as they could be.

Of course, Karim's two bleak performances against Germany and Hungary were something to worry about but one can't blame France for their attacking output – Les Bleus topped the 'group of death' while Benzema ended up being one of the most prolific players in the competition.

Clearly, their collapse is more about France's defensive play. In 2018, the Umtiti-Varane centre-back pairing were doing wonders in Russia but it's fair to say that Kimpembe is worse than prime Umtiti while Varane is simply no longer the same – at least he has become a more error-prone player.

Varane's defensive stats in La Liga 2020/21 and 2017/18