Olivier Giroud causes Graeme Souness and Ian Wright argument on ITV

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Graeme Souness and Ian Wright disagree over Olivier Giroud’s France career. The pundits didn’t see eye-to-eye when it came to assessing the forward’s record for his country.

Giroud is on the brink of becoming France’s all-time men’s record goalscorer. The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker netted a brace in the World Cup opener against Australia on Tuesday.

He is now level with Thierry Henry on 51 goals for his country. But ahead of the match against Denmark on Saturday, Liverpool legend Souness revealed his true feelings on Giroud.

He claims the AC Milan star is lucky to have played as much as he has for France. Souness believes Giroud would have nowhere near as many goals as he does if Karim Benzema was not exiled from the France team between 2015 and 2021 due to off-field matters.

Benzema is also missing from the World Cup after suffering a thigh injury in training ahead of the tournament. Souness said on ITV: “I’m not his biggest fan. I’m just not. Seven games in the last World Cup for a team that wins it, never had a shot on target.

“I think he’s very lucky. When you talk about mentioning him in the same breath as Thierry Henry – I’m sorry.

“I would say his record is there because of one reason and one reason only – Benzema being out for such a long time with all the controversy he was involved in.

“Benzema, the current Ballon d’Or [holder], will be missed in this French team in this competition if they go deep. Benzema is on a completely other level, another level.”

But Wright believes it is unfair to compare Giroud to Benzema. The former Arsenal striker stood up for Giroud and claimed his record is not down to luck.

Wright replied: “He’s a Ballon d’Or winner, you can’t compare Benzema and Giroud, I’ll say that straight off the bat. They are a different kind of player.

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“We know that Benzema, if he didn’t have that time out, would probably have put that [record] out of sight. But this guy, what he does Graeme, he’s doing it not on luck.”

But Souness still wouldn’t have any of it. He claims the goal record is not a true reflection.

Souness added: “I just think it’s an anomaly. At 36, fair play to him, he’s still playing in the French team.

“His best season in England was 16 goals for Arsenal in our league, which is a marker for anyone. I don’t think he gets a look in at this World Cup if Benzema is here and fit.”

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