Could France's injury problems restore Little Prince Griezmann to the throne?

Already missing 2018 World Cup-winning midfielders Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante, France were dealt another injury blow on Sunday when Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema was ruled out of the tournament.

That necessitated another tactical rethink for coach Didier Deschamps and more uncertainty over the role of Antoine Griezmann.

Given the player power wielded by football's biggest stars these days, it's strange how much Griezmann seems to be messed around by managers at club and international level.

He was the player of the tournament and Golden Boot winner at Euro 2016, man of the match in the 2018 World Cup final, also claiming the Bronze Ball, and had a Netflix documentary made about him (although even Sunderland have one of those ...)

But in recent years Griezmann has become a kind of spare superstar, both at Barcelona, where he was never embraced by an attacking unit dominated by Lionel Messi, and with France after the emergence of Kylian Mbappe and the reintegration of Benzema.

Even back at Atletico Madrid, he was restricted to half-hour cameo appearances this season to avoid triggering a payout clause in his loan deal with Barca.

Griezmann's success at the 2018 World Cup came in a central role off striker Olivier Giroud but he dropped deeper at Euro 2020 to accommodate Benzema and may be employed as a midfielder against Australia on Tuesday.

Despite ten goals in 13 starts at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, Griezmann was as big as 8-1 to be France's top scorer at this tournament in a market dominated by Mbappe and Benzema.

At 31, and lightly raced since the start of the 2022-23 club season, the Little Prince should still be a valuable weapon for the world champions – if they can just work out how to use him.

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