96 Facts About Benzema

Karim Mostafa Benzema was born on 19 December 1987 and is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Real Madrid, who he captains, and the France national team.

In 2009, Benzema was the subject of a then French record football transfer when signed for Real Madrid in a transfer worth €35 million.

Benzema has won 23 trophies with Real Madrid, including four La Liga, two Copa del Rey, and five Champions League titles.

French international, Benzema won the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and made his senior debut for France in 2007, at age 19.

Benzema scored his first goal in a friendly against Austria, and ranks as his nation's fifth-highest all-time top goalscorer.

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Benzema was controversially left out of the squad for the 2010 World Cup, and did not play for France for over five years after being implicated in a scandal in 2015; he returned to the squad for Euro 2020.

Benzema has been named French Player of the Year by France Football four times.

Benzema began his football career at his hometown club Bron Terraillon SC at the age of eight.

Benzema quickly ascended up the youth categories in the academy.

Benzema served as a ballboy during Lyon senior team matches and performed well in school being described as a student who was "discreet and respectful".

At under-16 level, Benzema scored 38 goals in the Championnat National des 16 ans, the domestic league for under-16 youth players in France.

Benzema was called up to the senior team for the first time under manager Paul Le Guen during the break leading up to the second half of the season.

Benzema signed his first professional contract the same month, agreeing to a three-year deal.

Benzema finished the campaign with six appearances as Lyon won their fourth-straight league title.

Benzema made his season debut on 2 October 2005 in a league win over Rennes, appearing as a substitute.

Benzema opened the league campaign on a quick note scoring in the team's first match of the season against Nantes.

Benzema converted two goals in the Champions League group stage against Romanian outfit Steaua Bucuresti and Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv.

Benzema failed to score a goal until the final league match of the season against Nantes as Lyon recorded its sixth consecutive league title.

Benzema topped the league with 20 goals, scored four goals in the Champions League, one in the Coupe de la Ligue and totaled six goals in six Coupe de France matches, helping Lyon win their first ever double.

On 13 March 2008, Benzema extended his contract with Lyon until 2013 with a one-year extension option.

Benzema won the 2008 Bravo Award given to the most outstanding young footballer playing in Europe, and was shortlisted by French magazine France Football for the 2008 Ballon d'Or award, eventually won by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Benzema was nominated alongside Franck Ribery to be featured on the French cover of the video game FIFA 09.

Benzema was among the top scorers in the Champions League group stage, scoring five goals, a double against Steaua Bucuresti, two goals in two matches against Fiorentina, and a goal against the eventual group winners Bayern Munich on the final match day.

Benzema was presented officially as a Real Madrid player later that night at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, similarly to the previous signings of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Benzema made his league debut for Madrid on 29 August 2009 against Deportivo La Coruna.

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Benzema's goal was later cancelled out by a Ronaldinho penalty.

Benzema was even declared the "new Anelka" by a Spanish newspaper Marca blogger, referring to former Real Madrid striker Nicolas Anelka who had a tumultuous year at the club before being sold.

Benzema was defended by his compatriot Zinedine Zidane, who admitted "after two months, I was criticized" and that Benzema was "a talented player and talented players in Madrid must win".

The striker immediately drew the ire of Mourinho who declared to reporters during a pre-season media session that "Benzema must understand that he is extremely talented, but that in itself is not enough", while stating that "[Madrid] need a striker who is sparky, not one that is listless".

Three days later, Benzema repeated his efforts scoring the only goal in a win over Sevilla in the first leg of the team's Copa del Rey semi-final tie.

The strike against his hometown club was the 100th goal of his professional career, and the first goal for Real Madrid at the Stade de Gerland in six years, though despite the honours associated with netting the goal, Benzema did not celebrate out of respect for his former club.

Benzema finished the campaign second on the team behind Ronaldo with 26 goals as Real Madrid captured the Copa del Rey giving Benzema his first honour with the club.

Benzema had some help from me, from his teammates and from Zizou, but he deserves the credit.

In November 2011, Benzema scored five goals; three in the league and two in Europe.

Three days after his record-breaking goal, for his performances during the 2011 calendar year, Benzema was named the France Football French Player of the Year, beating out Barcelona defender Eric Abidal and Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Benzema became only the second French player based in Spain to win the award, and the second Real Madrid player to capture it.

Benzema opened the 2012 portion of the campaign in positive form.

Benzema scored against the latter club in the Copa del Rey in each leg of the Round of 16.

On 2 March 2013, Benzema opened the scoring against Barcelona in the league game at the Santiago Bernabeu.

On 6 August 2014, Real Madrid announced that Benzema had signed a new five-year deal that will keep him at the club until 2019.

In 2014, Benzema won France Football's award for French Player of the Year for the third time; only Thierry Henry has won this award on more occasions.

Benzema was chosen as La Liga Player of the Month for October 2014, with his manager Carlo Ancelotti winning the equivalent award.

Benzema scored three of Real Madrid's 13 goals of the month, in which they won three matches and only conceded just one goal.

In December 2016, Benzema was called up in Real Madrid's squad for 2016 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

On 20 September 2017, Benzema signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2021.

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Benzema's performances were praised by manager Zinedine Zidane, who called him a legend and compared him with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Benzema's brace saw him surpass Ferenc Puskas as Real Madrid's fourth All-Time Top Scorer with 304 goals.

Six days later, Benzema signed a contract extension with Real Madrid, keeping him at the club until 2023.

Benzema's brace allowed him to become only the fourth Madrid player in history to score 200 La Liga goals after Di Stefano, Raul and Cristiano Ronaldo.

At the age of 34, Benzema became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League.

Benzema became only the second player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in successive Champions League knockout matches.

Benzema is a former France youth international having earned caps at all levels for which he was eligible, excluding the under-16 team.

Benzema is a member of the group, commonly known in France as the Generation 1987, a youth class that produced current internationals Hatem Ben Arfa, Jeremy Menez and Samir Nasri, alongside himself.

Benzema was the last of the four to make his youth international debut under coach Philippe Bergeroo and officially joined the team ahead of the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Championship that was played on home soil.

Benzema was a regular starter in the team at under-18 level.

Benzema made his debut with the team at a local tournament in the Czech Republic.

Benzema scored his first goal at under-18 level in the competition against Poland in the team's final group stage match.

Benzema was called up to the team for the competition and played in all four matches, scoring a tournament-high five goals as France were crowned champions of the tournament.

Benzema finished the under-18 campaign with 18 appearances and a team-high 14 goals and was, subsequently, praised by Bergeroo who, following the campaign, declared that Benzema was "quite efficient".

Benzema opened the scoring in the 11th minute, but his goal was cancelled out by Steven Fletcher in the second half.

Benzema made his under-21 debut for Les Espoirs under coach Rene Girard in the team's first match following the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship against Belgium.

Benzema started the match and was replaced at half-time by Yoann Gourcuff.

Benzema featured in qualification matches for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and appeared as a starter and substitute in the first leg and second leg, respectively, of the team's surprising defeat to Israel in the qualifying playoffs.

Benzema later told French radio station Radio Monte Carlo "Algeria is my parents' country and it is in my heart, but football-wise, I will only play for the French national team".

Benzema was called up for the first time to the senior national team by Raymond Domenech on 9 November 2006 for the team's friendly match against Greece that would be played on 15 November.

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Benzema appeared as a half-time substitute for Djibril Cisse and scored the only goal of the match after a free-kick from Samir Nasri.

Benzema made his debut in the competition on 9 June 2008 in the team's opening match against Romania.

Benzema started the match, but was substituted out for Nasri in the second half after a frustrating performance.

Benzema returned to the team in its final group game against Italy and was given a place in the starting lineup.

Benzema scored his first World Cup qualification goals in victories over the Faroe Islands and Austria in October 2009.

Alongside Gourcuff, Benzema led the team in scoring in qualifying for UEFA Euro 2012, netting three.

Benzema scored his goal when he side-footed home after a huge scramble in the Ukrainian penalty box, although he was shown on television replays to be offside by almost one metre when the ball took a final touch off Mathieu Valbuena's chest.

Benzema had four minutes earlier been denied a legitimate goal, the offside flag wrongly raised when he turned in Ribery's low cross into the net with his torso a metre from the Ukrainian goal-line.

On 6 June 2014, Benzema was named in France's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making his debut in the tournament.

Benzema took part in the team's second goal, when his shot rebounded off the post and was fumbled over the goal-line by Honduran goalkeeper Noel Valladares for an own goal, the first World Cup goal given by goal-line technology.

Benzema was named by FIFA as man of the match for his performance.

Benzema responded on 1 June 2016 in Marca, in an interview entitled 'Benzema: "Deschamps folded due to pressure from France's racist element"'.

Benzema was left off the roster for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In November 2019, Benzema replied to Le Graet's comments that his career with France was over, by saying: "If you think I'm done, let me play with one of the other countries I am eligible for and we'll see".

On 18 May 2021, following speculation from the media, Benzema was officially included in France's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020, his first call-up to the national team in over five years.

Benzema overtook Zidane in the France scoring records as he scored his 32nd goal for Le Blues to become the 6th top scorer in their history.

Benzema's brace saw him over-take David Trezeguet to become Les Bleus' fifth all-time top scorer with 35 goals.

Benzema is considered to be one of the best strikers of his generation, with his Real Madrid manager Ancelotti describing him "the best striker in the world" in 2021.

An atypical number 9, although he is usually deployed as a centre forward, and can operate as an out-and-out striker, Benzema is capable of playing in several other offensive positions, and has been used on the wing, or even as a playmaker behind the main striker, either in the number 10 role as an attacking midfielder, or as a deep-lying forward.

Indeed, Benzema's movement drew defenders away and created space for Ronaldo to make attacking runs into the centre of the area from the left wing, which essentially saw the Frenchman act as a false 9.

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Benzema was born in Lyon to French nationals of Algerian descent.

Benzema's father, Hafid, was born in Tigzirt, while his mother, Wahida Djebbara, was born and raised in Lyon; her family originated from Oran.

Benzema is the third youngest in the family and grew up with eight other siblings in Bron, an eastern suburb of Lyon.

Since evolving internationally, Benzema has participated in numerous advertising campaigns.

Benzema was chosen as an ambassador of the American video game publisher Electronic Arts for the FIFA series.

Benzema has signed several sponsorship contracts, notably with the Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai, the French telephone operator SFR and its subsidiary BuzzMobile, the French bank LCL and the sports betting company bwin.

In November 2011, prosecutors asked for the cases against Ribery and Benzema to be dropped, saying that the players were not aware that the escort, identified as Zahia Dehar, was 16 years old.

In January 2014, the judge in the case dropped the charges against both Ribery and Benzema saying there was lack of sufficient evidence that the pair knew the prostitutes were underaged.

On 11 July 2017, the Court of Cassation issued a judgment in which it invalidated a decision of the Court of Appeal of Versailles, which had validated the procedure by which Benzema had been indicted for complicity of attempted blackmail.

In March 2020, during an Instagram livestream with YouTuber Mohamed Henni, Benzema made controversial remarks about French player Olivier Giroud, who replaced Benzema in the France national team.

Benzema called Giroud "karting" while he referred to himself as "Formula 1".