Lepaul, Ligue 1's top scorer last season, hopes for first France call-up

Estéban Lepaul could feature in Zinédine Zidane’s first squad list as France manager, announced Friday at 6 p.m. The Stade Rennais striker, pre-selected — an administrative process involving around fifty players with no guarantee of actual selection — confirmed he is awaiting this announcement with interest.

Questioned Wednesday evening after Rennes’ 0-0 draw away to Sturm Graz in the Ligue Europa, Lepaul was measured but sincere about his ambitions. “I hope so! We’ll see. We’re going to wait for that eagerly. And if ever (he is not called), we’ll keep working and all of this will be rewarded one day, I know it,” he said. His manager Frédéric Antonetti had previously suggested he could see him in the new manager’s squad.

At 26, the player developed at Olympique Lyonnais revealed himself late, after a spell in the National, before building steady progress to the top of Ligue 1. Last season, he finished as the league’s top scorer with 21 goals, establishing himself as a reference number 9 in French football. This season, he has already scored 3 goals in 5 matches across all competitions.

His profile as a pure centre-forward, rare in current French football, could match Zidane’s needs for the start of the Ligue des Nations. The answer comes Friday.