Olivier Giroud has hit back at compatriot Karim Benzema and labelled himself a "world champion go-kart".

The pair have become embroiled in a spat on social media after the Real Madrid star took aim at the man who starts in attack for France.

Benzema has not been selected for the national team following the blackmail scandal involving him and Mathieu Valbuena.

Since then France have won the World Cup with Giroud leading the line, although Benzema has called him a "go-kart" while comparing himself to "Formula 1".

But the Chelsea forward has responded by telling Befoot: What am I, a go-kart? A world champion go-kart."

Although Giroud's response is in fact an April Fools joke led by the French publication.

(Image: Bagu Blanco/BPI/REX/Shutterstock)

Giroud started six out of the seven games in Russia as Les Blues won their second World Cup.

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The 33-year-old has scored 39 goals at international level - 12 more than Benzema.

The Real Madrid man believes they are different players but admits Giroud does suit the team's style.

"He has his career, he does what he wants and scores the goals that he wants to score," he said.

"He's in his corner and I'm in mine; I'm not thinking about him. If we're talking about playing style, his suits France well.

"It's good because there are fast players like (Kylian) Mbappe and (Antoine) Griezmann who play out wide or feed off the centre-forward. When Giroud is up front, he's a handful for defences, which gives the other two plenty of space to show what they can do."

(Image: Reuters)

Benzema's chances of making a France return seem bleak, especially while Didier Deschamps is at the helm.

“Some people can give speeches that can have consequences that go beyond any form of understanding, and I can never forget that,” Deschamps said last year.

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“At that moment I considered that a line had been crossed. I pick French players, all of them are French and it has never occurred to me to not select someone based on their color or religion.

"And in the same way the other way around, I would never pick someone based on the same criteria, because that would just as bad or worse."