Lucas Da Cunha makes successful France debut despite hitting the post and name pronunciation mix-up

Lucas Da Cunha made a successful France debut as the Blues won 0-1 away in Belgium on Monday night in the Nations League. Deployed in midfield, the Como player put in a solid display and came close to scoring in the 53rd minute, his long-range left-footed strike hitting the crossbar.

His first appearance in a France shirt also sparked unexpected curiosity around the pronunciation of his name. On TF1, commentator Grégoire Margotton phonetically called him “Da Couna”, a reading that the Portuguese spelling of the surname might have called into question. He had it right, though: in an interview given in 2025 to YouTube channel Carré, Da Cunha himself confirmed he pronounces his name “Da Couna”.

After the match, manager Jérémy Jacquet expressed satisfaction with the level shown by the new arrivals. “I’m not surprised at all, they were very, very good. They were very good in their position. It’s a first cap for them, so to play like that, the way they did it, I’m very happy for them, quite simply, and for the choice I made on the team. It may not have been obvious, but they demonstrated there were no issues, that we could trust them,” he said. Zinédine Zidane and Jérémy Jacquet both praised the midfielder for his debut.

Da Cunha’s evolution to this position is relatively recent. Arriving at Como in 2023 in an attacking role, it was in summer 2024, after Cesc Fabregas took over the club, that his repositioning to midfield was decided. Since then, he has established himself as a key element in his Spanish manager’s system, a progression that did not escape Zinédine Zidane when he was drawing up his squad.