Did you know that Karim Benzema is a Guinness World Record holder?
At the age of 34, Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema is in a rich vein of form and is having one of the best seasons in his club career.
In overall 43 appearances in the ongoing season, the Frenchman has scored 43 goals which include 26 in LaLiga and 15 in the Champions League.
He even scored two hat-tricks in the continental competition in the knock-out stage against PSG (round of 16) and Chelsea (quarterfinal) and has played a crucial role in Los Blancos reaching the final of Champions League for a record 17th time.
With Benzema reaching new heights at the twilight of his career, we take a look at 10 unknown facts about the French striker.
Was eligible to play for Algeria!
Karim Benzema was born on December 19, 1987, to Algerian parents Hafid Benzema and Wahida Djebbara in the city of Lyon in France. Being of Algerian descent, the forward was eligible to represent the African national just like Zinedine Zidane but he chose to play for France when he got selected in the national team.
Fastest goal in El Clasico history
On December 10, 2021, Karim Benzema scored the fastest goal in El Clasico's history when he netted as early as 21 seconds after kick-off. Unfortunately, Madrid lost the tie 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
A movie on his life!
Directed by Florent Bodin and Damien Piscarel, a movie named Le K Benzema was released in 2017 on the life of Karim Benzema.
A ball boy at Lyon
A Lyon youth product, Benzema joined the Ligue 1 side's academy at the age of eight and played for their U10 side. While being at Lyon's youth teams, the Frenchman used to be a ball boy in several senior matches of the club. Later in his career, he won every trophy in France with Lyon including four league titles.
Two of Benzema's brothers played football
Karim Benzema grew up in Lyon, France alongside seven siblings, five sisters (Nafissa, Faryd, Lydia, Sofia, Celia and Laeticia) and two brothers (Gressy and Sabri)
All three brothers started their journey as footballers but only Karim Benzema made it big professionally. Gressy played in the lower divisions of France earlier in his career but he retired in 2012 due to multiple injuries. Sabri played the sport semi-professionally but now he too has quit.
Has his name in Guinness World Records
Karim Benzema saw his name go up in the Guinness World Record in 2021 alongside Lionel Messi after his first goal of the ongoing Champions League campaign against Sheriff Tiraspol. Both Benzema and Messi jointly hold the record for scoring in the Champions League in 17 consecutive seasons since the 2005/06 campaign.
A member of France's U17 European champion side
Karim Benzema was an integral part of the France U17 team which won the U17 European Championship in 2004. Le Bleus colts beat Spain 2-1 in the final to lift the trophy. Players like Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa were also part of that French team.
Highest scoring French player in all competitions
Among the several records that Benzema broke in the ongoing 2021/22 season, the most cherished one has to be going past French legend Theirry Henry's career goals tally. Benzema currently has scored 414 career goals for both club and country, three more than his predecessor in the French national team.
Oldest player to score a Champions League hat-trick
At the age of 34 years and 108 days, Karim Benzema became the oldest player ever to score a hat-trick in a UEFA Champions League game when guided Real Madrid to a 3-1 win over Chelsea in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie in the ongoing season. He broke the record of his national teammate Olivier Giroud who had scored a hat-trick at 34 years and 82 days.
Most appearances for Real Madrid by a foreign player
Till date, Karim Benzema has appeared in 602 matches for Real Madrid in all competitions which is the most by a foreign player plying his trade with the Spanish giants. Benzema is followed by his teammate Marcelo who represented Real in 545 matches so far.