Deschamps: Benzema Does For France What He's Done For Real Madrid

Karim Benzima has been in a very good form in the last few seasons at madrid, and Deschamps is delighted to be working with the forward again after recalling him back to the team.

Ever since Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus in the summer of 2018, Benzema has stepped up and filled the gap he left by improving his goalscoring figures, as well as doing all of the other work that he had done to help the team while the Portuguese was in the capital.

"Karim is essential," Deschamps said after France defeated Spain to win the Nations League on Sunday. "He has real quality, and he's continuing to do what he does for Real Madrid with us."

"He wants to succeed and I'm happy for him. He was fundamental for us in this Nations league win."

"He has improved a lot. He's more involved in the game, he's in good form and he has matured. He's been playing at his best for years now."

Spain's involvement at next year's World Cup is in doubt, despite their good showing in the Nations League and at Euro 2020, but Deschamps doesn't want to imagine the tournament without La Roja.

"You cannot think about something like that," Deschamps said. "It'd be tough for everyone."

"I know Spain are fighting with Sweden for first place. Every game is difficult, but from what I've seen of Spain they have the quality to qualify.

"It's  important to have the big European teams at these tournaments. A World Cup without one of the European greats would be a bad thing."