Messi, whose deal expires in 2021, had called his side "weak" and "inconsistent" after they lost the league title to Real Madrid.
Bayern Munich midfielder Thomas Mueller has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the Club World Cup final against Mexico's Tigres UANL on Thursday
Benzema, who has scored 30 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid this season, has not played for France since 2015 after a blackmailing scandal over which he faces a trial in October.
Playing in front of defenders, for much of his career Kante's abilities had gone unnoticed given that as recently as 2013 he was playing in France's second division.
PSG make winning start as Messi arrival looms
Social media applauded the team for their excellent efforts, appreciating the mind behind the eye-relaxing visuals.
A 'winning culture' may be one of the most over used terms in modern football but Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti proved on Saturday, at Liverpool's expense, that there truly is meaning and value in the concept.
Ousmane Dembele struck early and Lionel Messi converted a late penalty as Barcelona won 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday after Alvaro Morata had three goals disallowed for offside for the Serie A side.
A summary of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
France meet Belgium in a World Cup semi-final on Tuesday. Here is a look at some of the key head-to-head duels which could prove decisive.
Having won eight of the past 12 league titles coming into this campaign, where has it gone so wrong for Barcelona?
The football world gathered in the Qatari capital on Friday as the draw ceremony for the World Cup finals got under way with music and dance.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Images from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday night.
Milan replaced Gennaro Gattuso with former Sampdoria coach Giampaolo during the close season in a bid to improve on last season's fifth place and to take them back to the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick inside 32 minutes as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit by beating Cagliari 3-1 away in Serie A on Sunday.
Alaba strike on Clasico debut gives Real Madrid 2-1 win at Barcelona.
Two penalties from Cristiano Ronaldo helped holders Portugal squeeze into the last 16 of the European Championship after a 2-2 draw with France on Wednesday in a dramatic conclusion to Euro 2020 Group F.
Les Bleus' average age is 26 years old -- like England -- and Kylian Mbappe is 19, but it was he who ran riot after France fell 2-1 behind early in the second half.
The PSG frontline is already formidable, with Messi's former Barca team mate Neymar and young France striker Kylian Mbappe seen as two of the best players on the planet.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 away to Atletico Madrid in their last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo helped Juventus continue their unbeaten start to the Serie A season with a comfortable 2-0 home victory over struggling SPAL on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Portugal had to settle for a 0-0 draw at home to Spain in a heavyweight friendly on Wednesday after hammering the crossbar twice and missing a last-gasp open goal.
France overwhelmed Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.
France stretched their unbeaten run against Croatia to eight games after a late goal by Kylian Mbappe gave the world champions a 2-1 win in their Nations League top-tier Group 3 match on Wednesday.
'I haven't always expressed myself well. I said I would like to play with Neymar and Mbappe, but that doesn't mean I want to go to PSG'
Deschamps said 14 of his players were World Cup newcomers but were ready to work towards a common goal and were mentally more mature than their age.
Unai Emery's Villarreal were much improved in the second half and had spurned numerous chances before Moreno's leveller.
After playing the most soporific game of the World Cup so far, France will feature in a seismic last-16 clash of former champions with a resurgent Argentina on Saturday, and they will have to drastically improve if they are to stop Lionel Messi.
Wearing a T-shirt that read "This is Paris," Messi beamed and waved at scores of fans who had come to greet him at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of the French capital after his flight from Barcelona.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to preserve Barcelona's unbeaten run in La Liga with a sensational late equaliser in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Sevilla on Saturday as the runaway leaders came back from two goals down in the space of a minute.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
Paris St Germain revived their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Liverpool in Group C on Wednesday, leaving the English club's hopes of reaching the last 16 hanging in the balance.
IMAGES from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe starred in PSG's win as they topped group A after thrashing Galatasaray 5-0. Juventus, who have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, pumped in two goals to oust Leverkusen from the tournament, while Gabriel Jesus netted a hat-trick in Manchester City's 4-1 thumping of Dinamo Zagreb. Here are Images from the Champions League matches played on Wednesday
Ronaldo had no hesitation in naming two players who according to him might rule the football world in the near future.
Bayern Munich won its sixth Champions League crown in Lisbon on Sunday night.
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