- Palace stars earn France call-ups
- Lacroix impresed on debut
- Mateta bounces back from mid-season disappointment
Crystal Palace duo Maxence Lacroix and Jean-Phillipe Mateta have both been called up to France’s World Cup squad ahead of the Summer tournament. Both players had featured in pre-tournament camps, and will now jet off to the USA, Canada and Mexico for what will be their first experiences on the World’s biggest stage.
Didier Deschamps’ decision will see both Palace players link up with former teammate Michael Olise, and with injury and fitness issues across France’s squad going into the tournament, there is a strong chance that both feature significantly.
France are one of the favourites to win the tournament, and should they do so Lacroix and Mateta will become the first active Crystal Palace players to win that tournament.
On a base level it’s a huge achievement for the club to have platformed players in such a manner that has earned them World Cup call-ups, let alone to one of the tournament favourites.
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Lacroix a shoe-in
An immovable force at the heart of Palace’s defence, Lacroix was only awarded his first senior call-up back in March. In friendlies against Colombia and Brazil, he stood out and took his chance, evidently impressing Deschamps sufficiently.
His defensive progression since signing for Palace from Wolfsburg almost two years ago has been accelerated, and he has now become a well-established Premier League central defender.
With the inconsistencies of Dayot Upamecano’s performances this season, and Ibrahim Konate’s relatively patchy form, there is a chance that we see Lacroix starting alongside Arsenal’s William Saliba.
He did not put a foot wrong in his first two games, and rarely puts a foot wrong for Palace.
Is Mateta fortunate?
Mateta has pipped the likes of Randal Kolo-Muani and Esteban Lepaul to the France squad, Mateta may consider himself fortunate after a rollercoaster of a season.
Palace remain the biggest under performers of expected goals in the Premier League, and Mateta’s form in the first half of the season is a huge part of that.
After his attempt to depart to Milan fell through, there was work to do for Mateta to regain the love of the Palace fans and also rediscover his form in order to achieve a World Cup squad.
Despite all of the ongoing nonsense, JP has played 45 times for Palace this season. Scoring three goals and assisting three times, he seems to have refound his form and that is all the better for Palace, Mateta, and now, the French National team.
Part of a French attack stacked with world beaters, Mateta will likely be fighting with Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Thuram for a starting spot, but there is no doubt that if he gets a chance and takes it, he will go down as one of the most iconic World Cup goalscorers of all time, just as he has in the Premier League.
