LIVE | Qatar 2022 World Cup: everything ready for the opening

Belgium held its first public training session in Qatar this Sunday without its star scorer Romelu
Lukaku, who will miss the first two group games and would reappear, in the best of cases, in the last duel of the key, against Croatia. (Romelu Lukaku, Belgium’s headache)

French striker Karim Benzema will not play in the World Cup in Qatar after suffering a muscle tear during training this Saturday, the French Football Federation (FFF) said. The player had to leave the training session in which, for the first time since he concentrated with France, he had exercised with the rest of his teammates

(In detail: Karim Benzema will miss the Qatar 2022 World Cup, according to ‘Le Parisien’).

Karim Benzema, who withdrew injured this Saturday from group training with the French team, will undergo medical examinations throughout the afternoon to determine the nature and severity of his injury, a source close to the team told AFP. Frenchman, who makes his World Cup debut on Tuesday against Australia.

(In detail: Karim Benzema is injured and could miss the entire World Cup, according to the press).

The Portuguese team, led by its captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who is going to play his fifth World Cup, arrived in Doha on the night of Friday to Saturday, less than 48 hours before the start of the tournament.

A loose, natural Luis Enrique Martínez, showing what he is like behind closed doors, he made his first direct as a ‘streamer’, with audience peaks that caressed 200,000 followers and with a sense of humor, he admitted that he likes the nickname ‘Luis Padrique’ and greeted former soccer player Mauro Tassotti, who broke his nose in the 1994 World Cup in the United States. (Luis Enrique makes his debut as a ‘streamer’: he will dye his hair if he wins the World Cup)

One of the teams that gave a lot to talk about in Russia 2018 was Belgium, which retains a good part of that base. Now, however, it leaves doubts after falling 2-1 against Egypt in a friendly duel prior to the World Cup. Goals from Mohamad and Trezeguet (with an Openda discount) left Roberto Martínez’s team in a bad light. The worrying note: Hazard was seen as far from his level and, as at Real Madrid, he was harshly criticized. The Belgian team also looked very weak in defense.

The Ballon d’Or winner does differentiated training four days after the opening of France against Australia. Rabiot affirmed in a press conference that they are confident in his recovery and that if he is not ready for that first game he will be ready for the second.

The FC Barcelona player, Alejandro Balde, is the replacement for José Luis Gaya, who failed to recover from a blow he suffered in the ankle during training. He will return to his country, while the new one on the list will join the concentration in Doha in the next few hours.