The celebrities were spotted at 24-hour diner Coppelia at 5am local time, shortly after Rihanna finished partying at nearby nightclub Griffin, but they avoided being photographed together by leaving separately.

Rihanna previously struck up a friendship with the Real Madrid striker over Twitter.com during the World Cup last year (14), when she sent her condolences to Benzema after France lost to Germany in the quarter finals, writing, "@Benzema I feel your pain right now!".

The tweet caught the soccer star's eye and he promptly replied, "@rihanna No pain no gain, thanks for the support!".

It is not clear if the breakfast date was a romantic affair, but if Rihanna is dating Benzema, he won't be the first sportsman she has been linked to - she previously dated Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Matt Kemp in 2010, following her split from Chris Brown.