Karim Benzema took to social media with a cryptic message saying he is "not interested" just two days ahead of France's World Cup final showdown with Argentina.

Real Madrid striker Benzema was ruled out of Qatar 2022 on the eve of the tournament due to a thigh injury he aggravated in training.

There had been suggestions the reigning Ballon d'Or winner could link back up with the squad having recovered from the injury and returned to training with his club.

However, asked if Benzema could make a shock return ahead of Sunday's final, France boss Didier Deschamps said: "I don't want to answer you. It's a stupid question."

Further reports from Spain on Friday claimed Benzema was unhappy to have been sent home in the first place and did not take kindly to Deschamps' latest comments.

The 34-year-old has now posted an ambiguous message on social media, simply translated as "I'm not interested", accompanied by an explosion emoji.

Former Lyon striker Benzema has scored 37 goals in 97 appearances for France.

Les Bleus are aiming to become just the third side – and first since Brazil in 1962 – to retain the World Cup trophy after beating Morocco 2-0 in the semi-finals to advance.

Jurgen Klopp has suggested he will not consider selecting Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool's return to action against Manchester City next week.

Van Dijk returned to training with Liverpool in Dubai this week on the back of the Netherlands' elimination from the World Cup against Argentina last Friday.

The 31-year-old played a full part in all five of his country's matches in Qatar – including extra time in the quarter-final loss to Argentina – totalling 480 minutes of action.

However, while Klopp does not want to rush Van Dijk's comeback, he has yet to make a call on England duo Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Henderson did not finish any of the three England matches he started, while Alexander-Arnold managed just 33 minutes on the field across the Three Lions' five matches.

"Yes, there's a chance, of course – they're training already," Klopp told Liverpool's official website when asked if any returning World Cup players would be in action against City.

"Hendo is already training here. Virgil is training here, but I don't think we will try that. Hendo we will see, Trent we will see. 

"But this group worked now together for nearly two weeks and we made a real step and that's cool. I don't know in this moment.

"I hope we all get through it and we all know in England, and in Europe in general, there's kind of a virus going around, so we hope we can stay out of that. 

"Then we'll make the decision obviously on Wednesday who can play on Thursday. But it's good and will be a very interesting game after that period, but I'm looking forward to it."

Liverpool defeated Milan 4-1 in their second mid-season friendly on Friday, with Darwin Nunez – who suffered early World Cup heartbreak with Uruguay – scoring twice.

Mohamed Salah and Thiago Alcantara were also on target for Liverpool in the United Arab Emirates, where Klopp used 22 different players, including a number of youngsters.

"In general, tonight was the result of the last 10 days what we saw in training and tonight we could bring it on the pitch, which is obviously nice," Klopp said.

"I'm not sure the academy [players] could watch the game tonight but when you see these boys and performing in a game like this, it's cool. 

"It's a real physical game, adult football is a physical game and the boys need to make these steps so they can get ready for it step by step. 

"The physical part will come but until you are that strong, you can create a lot of ideas, you can do things a bit smarter. 

"There was a lot of really good things tonight and that's why we play football. We want to see good football games."

Liverpool's trip to the Etihad Stadium is followed four days later by a visit to Aston Villa on their return to Premier League action, before hosting Leicester City on December 30.

Though the Golden State Warriors will be without Stephen Curry for several weeks, the two-time NBA MVP is relieved the prognosis on his injured left shoulder was not worse.

Curry is expected to be sidelined for around a month with a shoulder subluxation he sustained in the Warriors' loss at the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, according to a report from The Athletic. 

However, the injury will not require surgery that would threaten the star guard's availability for the rest of the season.

"From what I know about shoulder injuries and situations like that, anytime you can avoid anything [involving] surgery, it's great news,” Curry told reporters following Golden State's shootaround for Friday's game with the Philadelphia 76ers.

"That changed the whole dynamic of the conversation, both personally and as a team. 

"It was a matter of making sure I didn't need surgery and that my shoulder will be able to heal on its own, however long that took, because I know the surgeries are four to six months [recovery time]. Nobody wants to be dealing with that right now."

Since Curry has never dealt with shoulder problems over the course of his 14-year NBA career, he said he is hopeful the healing process will be smoother than if he had a recurring injury.

"I'm just trying to stay positive and understand that I'll be back sooner than later, hopefully, and hopefully I won't miss a beat in terms of how I feel and how I've been playing," said Curry, one of seven players currently averaging at least 30 points per game this season.

"My body's in good shape. I feel I can maintain that for the most part while [I'm] injured, then get back there in hoop.”

Curry's injury still comes at an inopportune time for the defending NBA champions, who have lost four of five and are also without starting forward Andrew Wiggins. 

Golden State is in the midst of a challenging six-game road trip and has the second worst winning percentage away from home this season at 2-13.

The Warriors enter Friday's game 10th in the Western Conference, which would place them in the play-in tournament if the season ended today.

"It's just a matter of other guys stepping up," Curry said. "Every team goes through this at some point throughout the year, dealing with injuries, dealing with some of your main guys being out. 

"You've got to figure out how to perform and embrace this challenge. I'm super confident in the guys we have on this team to figure it out. We can talk ourselves into we're still in good shape, but you've got to go out and be a consistent basketball team. I think we can do that."

Baker Mayfield says "everything does happen for a reason" after his dream start to life at the Los Angeles Rams.

The former first overall draft pick started the season with the Carolina Panthers, having been waived with a dismal 1-5 record for the campaign.

Picked up by the Rams in the midst of a quarterback injury crisis, Mayfield unexpectedly led the Super Bowl holders to a comeback win against the Las Vegas Raiders in his first game for the team.

Ahead of Monday's match with the Green Bay Packers, the 27-year-old has acknowledged it has been an unusual start to life in California, but suggested his move offered a second chance after his Panthers frustrations.

"Refreshing is an interesting way to put it, considering how stressful last week has been," he said.

"But in the end, everything does happen for a reason. I'm thankful for the group that is here."

Though tasked with leading the Rams against the Raiders, Mayfield was able to call on veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford for advice throughout the match.

Head coach Sean McVay was impressed with the latter's contributions, highlighting his crucial impact in helping his new team-mate keep focused on the game.

"He was even on the headset on the last drive," he added. "He was able to add in a couple of things that would be helpful to Baker.

"That tells you everything that you need to know about Matthew and who he is. I think sometimes being able to get a different perspective can be beneficial."

Gary Lineker has outlined his hope Gareth Southgate remains with England, comparing their lack of World Cup success to Manchester City's failure to win the Champions League.

Southgate is considering his future after overseeing England's quarter-final exit against France, in which Harry Kane scored one penalty and missed another.

The Three Lions manager masterminded runs to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2020, but he has attracted criticism for failing to end the team's 56-year trophy drought. 

However, former England striker Lineker believes Southgate's achievements mean he deserves the opportunity to make his own decision on his future.

"I do hope Gareth stays. I think it's right that the decision is down to him," Lineker told BBC Sport. "He's done a really good job, you've got to consider where we were a few years ago.

"Everyone thinks it's an easy job and everyone thinks: 'I'd have played him and not him, or brought him on earlier and not him'. It's very easy in hindsight.

"I think Gareth has done a really good job. The only thing you'd say about him is sometimes he hasn't changed things dramatically in games where it's not going well. 

"It's very easy to be judgemental but World Cups are not leagues. In a league, the best team always wins. In a World Cup, it's a knockout."

England won praise for a series of positive displays in Qatar, recording their highest goal tally (13) at any major tournament (World Cup or European Championships).

England also had 57 per cent possession and managed twice as many shots as France (16 to eight) in their last-eight loss, leading Lineker to compare them to Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions.

Despite winning four Premier League titles in the past five seasons, City have suffered several shock eliminations from the Champions League under Guardiola, which Lineker says is proof knockout football does not always reward the best team. 

"Take Manchester City, probably the best club side in the world, but they haven't won the Champions League and they haven't won it under Pep Guardiola, who is the best coach in the world," he added.

"No one would say, 'let's get Pep out because we haven't won the Champions League', because that would be madness. 

"We haven't won the World Cup but we're going in the right direction. England are playing really good, attractive football with lots of exciting young players. Why would you mess with it now?"

Southgate must now weigh up whether to remain in charge for England's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, which begins with a trip to Italy on March 23.

James Anderson is enjoying the thrill ride of Ben Stokes' England captaincy and the challenge of "thinking differently", ahead of the third and final Test against Pakistan.

The 40-year-old has impressed in the tourists' first two matches and will be rested for the last encounter, with an eye on England's trip to New Zealand in the new year.

With 177 caps, Anderson is second only to India great Sachin Tendulkar for all-time Test appearances, and he has posted eight wickets at 18.50 while in Pakistan.

His efforts come amid a more aggressive approach to the long-form game favoured by Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, which Anderson says is having a galvanising effect on all England's bowlers.

"I love thinking about the game, thinking about plans, and Ben is that sort of captain," Anderson said. "All he thinks about is taking wickets.

"He's not bothered about trying to dry the run rate up or control the game. He wants to take wickets. You see that with the fields he sets. That then rubs off on you as a bowler.

"This seems to be working for this group of bowlers, and we've got a nice mix of bowlers. I've found it refreshing thinking differently, even though I've played a lot of games."

The third Test begins on Saturday, with Anderson expecting England to head in with the same positive approach that has brought two wins so far, as instilled by captain and coach.

"As long as you're getting hit in the right areas, they don't care if you go for the odd four," Anderson said, quoted by Cricinfo. "That gives you confidence to bowl, knowing that you don't have to fret about how many runs you're going for.

"If that's the way you're trying to get people out, with catchers in front of the wicket as they have been out here, then they're completely fine with it."

Emma Raducanu is working with a new coach as she heads towards the 2023 season, reports said on Friday.

The 2021 US Open winner, who turned 20 in November, has had a growing list of coaches and is seeking the right formula to make an alliance successful.

She has turned for now to German Sebastian Sachs, a 30-year-old who previously worked with Victoria Azarenka, as a member of the Belarusian's team, before becoming the main coach of Julia Goerges and latterly Belinda Bencic.

Olympic champion Bencic recently appointed Dmitry Tursunov, who had been working with Raducanu, and Sachs has headed in the opposite direction by joining up with the British youngster.

As well as Russian former ATP top-20 player Tursunov, Raducanu has had coaching spells under the tutelage of Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and the Lawn Tennis Association's Iain Bates in the past two years.

Raducanu and her team have yet to formally announce Sachs' role, but reports have indicated he has been with her this week in Abu Dhabi. Her management have yet to confirm whether this is a trial or a full-time appointment.

The one-time grand slam winner had a match on Friday against Ons Jabeur at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition event, losing 5-7 6-3 10-8 to the 2022 Wimbledon and US Open runner-up.

After parting company with Raducanu, Tursunov said getting the best out of the Briton would be "minimum a one-year project but... probably a two-and-a-half-year project to be on the safe side", and reasoned that her game remained "very raw".

"It's going to take some time, but as I said to her and to pretty much everyone on her team: I think you just need to have one voice and just try that for a bit," Tursunov said.

Raducanu has not reached a final since her dazzling Flushing Meadows victory, and she finished the 2022 season at 76th in the WTA rankings.

Kylian Mbappe's 15-year-old brother Ethan made his first senior appearance for Paris Saint-Germain in a friendly against Paris FC on Friday.

Ethan Mbappe replaced midfielder Fabian Ruiz as Christophe Galtier rang the changes at half-time, after Nordi Mukiele had given PSG a 1-0 lead at the Camp des Loges training centre.

The Ligue 1 champions went on to claim a 2-1 victory, with the teenager featuring alongside senior players including Sergio Ramos, Marco Verratti and Renato Sanches.

Ethan Mbappe joined PSG from AS Bondy in 2017 before signing a new three-year contract with the club in June 2021.

The midfielder, who was called up to France's under-16 squad last year, took to Instagram after the game, writing: "Very excited for my debut in the pros."

With Kylian Mbappe looking to cap another fine World Cup campaign by leading France to a second successive triumph at the tournament on Sunday, it could be a particularly memorable week in the Mbappe household.

Italy boss Roberto Mancini described the death of Sinisa Mihajlovic as "not fair" as he hailed his great friend for showing the heart of a lion in his battle with leukaemia.

The pair were team-mates at Sampdoria and Lazio, with Mancini also coaching Mihajlovic at Lazio before taking the then 35-year-old with him to Inter in 2004.

They had a great bond, winning the Scudetto together with Sven-Goran Eriksson's team in 1999-2000, and doing so again at Inter in 2006, as player and coach.

Mihajlovic's death was announced on Friday, coming as a huge jolt to the football community in Italy, where the former Yugoslavia international spent most of his career.

After his playing days ended, Mihajlovic became Mancini's Inter assistant before having spells as a head coach with Bologna, Catania, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Milan, Torino and, finally, Bologna for a second time.

During the 2015-16 season, Mancini and Mihajlovic were rival bosses in the same city as Mancini led Inter and Mihajlovic was in charge of Milan.

Mihajlovic was ousted as Bologna boss in September of this year, after a slow start to the season.

"This is a day I never wanted to live, because I lost a friend with whom I shared almost 30 years of my life, on and off the pitch," said Mancini, Italy's Euro 2020-winning head coach, in quotes reported by the Italian Football Federation's official website.

"It's not fair that such a terrible disease took away a 53-year-old lad, who fought like a lion until the last moment, as he was used to doing on the pitch.

"And this is exactly how Sinisa will always remain by my side, even if he is no longer there, as he did in Genoa [with Sampdoria], in Rome [with Lazio] and in Milan [at Inter] and subsequently also when we took different paths."

Mihajlovic was first diagnosed with leukaemia in 2019 and underwent a bone marrow transplant in October of that year, returning to the Bologna dugout just six weeks later.

When he discovered a problem in March of this year, former hard-man defender Mihajlovic said the leukaemia was "very courageous in returning to face an opponent like me".

Brittney Griner intends to play in the WNBA next season, having returned to the United States following her release from a Russian prison.

Griner was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport on February 17 for bringing under a gram of cannabis oil into Russia in vape cartridges.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist said she made an "honest mistake", while her lawyers argued she was using cannabis for medicinal purposes and was unaware cannabis oil was outlawed in Russia.

Griner was subsequently jailed for nine years for drug possession and drug smuggling with criminal intent, but she was released in a prisoner exchange that saw convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout return to Russia last week.

In a statement posted to her Instagram account on Friday, the eight-time WNBA All-Star confirmed she plans to play for the Phoenix Mercury in 2023.

"It feels so good to be home! The last 10 months have been a battle at every turn," Griner said.

"I dug deep to keep my faith and it was the love from so many of you that helped keep me going. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone for your help.

"I also want to make one thing very clear: I intend to play basketball for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury this season.

"In doing so, I look forward to being able to say 'thank you' to those of you who advocated, wrote, and posted for me in person soon."

In her social media post, Griner also thanked those who had advocated for her release, including "the Phoenix Mercury, the players of the WNBA and my entire WNBA family", as well as US president Joe Biden.

When announcing Griner's return, Biden said the 32-year-old had been "unjustly detained" and described the conditions she endured as "intolerable".

The Phoenix Mercury suffered a first-round exit in the WNBA Playoffs in August and are set to begin their 2023 campaign against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19.

Greg Norman has vowed to remain with LIV Golf despite Rory McIlroy's criticism, adding the door remains open for the world number one to defect down the line.

In addition, the double major champion revealed the Saudi-funded breakaway tour has held discussions with Justin Thomas, though he did not say whether the two-time PGA Championship winner would switch his allegiance.

Since its inception in 2021, LIV Golf has sparked a bitter civil war in the sport, with McIlroy and Tiger Woods launching stinging rebukes against Norman and his allies.

There were calls earlier this month for the Australian to quit, with the pair suggesting reconciliation could be on the table if he was to stand down.

But Norman says he will resist such calls, telling Bunkered magazine: "Rory and Tiger have no idea what they're talking about. None whatsoever.

"I have got the full support from my chairman. There has never been one thing to suggest otherwise. They're trying to bait me into a public back-and-forth. I'm not going down that childish path.

"You're already seeing LIV is a leader. The PGA Tour and DP World Tour, they're followers. They've basically copied our homework."

Norman did suggest that McIlroy would be welcomed with open arms if he was to change his tune though, while praising Thomas for his conduct in not criticising LIV Golf after he was approached to join.

"Our door is open for everybody," he added. "We're not the PGA Tour. We're not like that. We exist for the players, so we will always have an open door, whether that's for Rory or Jordan Spieth or Justin Thomas or whoever. 

"We talked to JT [Thomas], we sat down with him and gave him the full presentation. If you notice, he's not said much negative about what we're doing, presumably because he knows it and understands it."

The European Super League remains "very much alive" despite the latest legal setback, claims the chief executive of the company behind the breakaway.

Bernd Reichart, the CEO of A22 Sports Management, was speaking at an economic forum event in Spain attended by Real Madrid and Barcelona presidents Florentino Perez and Joan Laporta.

The two clubs, who along with Juventus are the holdouts of the 2021 attempt, saw an argument that UEFA's governance is an illegal monopoly on continental football struck down by the European Court of Justice on Thursday.

But Reichart has refuted the idea the competition's hopes of coming to fruition are at an end, pointing out the ruling is non-binding, with a final decision due next year.

"The Super League isn't dead, not at all, it's very much alive," he said. "We'll keep working until the judgement.

"We are still convinced that UEFA can't be everything at once. They organise the competition, they regulate the competition, and at the same time they control access to the market.