French footballer Ballon D'Or winner Karim Benzema announced he was ending his international career on Monday.

"I made the effort and the mistakes it took to be where I am today and I'm proud of it! I wrote my story and ours ends," Benzema, 35, wrote on Twitter.

The Real Madrid player, who won the Ballon d'Or award in October, had been desperate to feature in Qatar having not been selected when France won the World Cup in Russia four years ago.

He was frozen out of the France team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sex tape involving his former teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

For the Qatar World Cup, France coach Didier Deschamps opted not to call up a replacement and France still had depth in their squad, particularly in an attack led by 23-year-old Kylian Mbappe. 

Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul