Luca Zidane, who chose Algerian sporting nationality at the end of September and honored his very first selection with the Fennecs immediately against Uganda (2-1, October 14), apparently gave ideas to another former player of the France team.
Having passed through the U20 tricolors, like the son of “Zizou”, but also through the Espoirs (13 matches), Maxime Lopez could see himself defending the colors of Algeria for the 2025 African Cup of Nations (from December 21 to January 18) and the 2026 World Cup.
“Of course, if I’m ever called upon in the Algerian team, I’ll go there! »thus releases the midfielder (27 years old) into the program Detective Mathouxbroadcast on Canal+, without worrying about the criticism he would face if summoned with the Greens.
“My mother is Algerian. People will say ‘yes, the opportunist’, but I think that even in a season where there was no CAN or World Cup, if I had been called upon, I would have gone therehe swears. I am a competitor and I want to play in the national team too. »
“If I’m called upon in the Algerian team, I’ll go! »
Trained at OM, Maxime Lopez played for four seasons in Marseille before joining Sassuolo then Fiorentina. After four years spent in Italy, he chose to return to France and signed for Paris FC in 2024, while the Ile-de-France club was still in Ligue 2.
Despite this journey and although he has since returned to Ligue 1 with the PFC, the former Bleuet has never been called up by Didier Deschamps for the French team at international level. Which therefore authorizes him to possibly evolve for the country of his mother, originally from Béjaïa.
“Some will say that I have been talking about the French team for years… Me, honestly, I have always talked about France because I have never been contacted at that level with Algeriahe explains. Recently, I was contacted to find out a little about where I was. »
And to conclude: “If I was ever called upon, I would go, but now we will see what happens in the future. » A clear foot call. The ball is now in the court of the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) and its coach Vladimir Petkovic.
