This would be the incredible story of the French team for the 2026 World Cup. Estéban Lepaul, the center forward of Stade Rennais and top scorer in Ligue 1 (19 goals, including one with Angers at the start of the season), is claimed by many followers of the French championship. Didier Deschamps, the coach of the Blues, will give his list for the World Cup (up to 26 players) next Thursday in the 8 p.m. news on TF1, a month before the first match against Senegal in New York.
Lepaul is 26 years old and was still playing in National in the winter of 2024, in Epinal, when he was recruited by Angers, only in Ligue 2! A striker trained at OL, he was part of the first team without making his professional debut before not receiving a contract at 18. Two months later, he lost his father, Fabrice Lepaul, a promising former winger for AJ Auxerre, who died in a car accident at the age of 44. A turning point in his career, as he once confided.
The “ultimate dream” for Lepaul
Present at a press conference on Thursday, two days before Rennes-Paris FC, Estéban Lepaul was questioned about this blue dream.
“It’s always the holy grail to join the French team. Now there are choices that will be made. I’m not focused on that, quite honestly. Above all, I want to finish my season well. If I have to be called, so much the better. Otherwise, as I have always done, we will continue to work every day to try to get there. It remains a dream and the ultimate dream. But if I am not called, there will be no disillusionment, I will continue to work and we will see”he explained, as reported The Team.
Goal hunter since a young age, in the youth teams of AS Nancy-Lorraine then with Les Gones (despite competition from Amine Gouiri, Georges Mikautadze and Willem Geubbels for example), Estéban Lepaul felt capable of scoring “between 15 and 20 goals”. Under the orders of Habib Beye then Franck Haise, he was put in a position to shake the nets by his partners. In this same press conference, he also stated that he wanted to stay with the Rouge et Noir this summer. Atlético and Napoli would be interested in the striker!
