Junior Kroupi has never been called up by Didier Deschamps due to immense competition in the offensive sector of the French team.
The father of Junior Kroupi, Eli, a former Lorient forward like his son twenty years later, was an Ivorian international. It is natural that Junior can also apply for the Elephants, but not only that… Since the start of his very young career, as he is only 19 years old, the player who has shone at Bournemouth this season (facing Manchester City on Tuesday evening) has only played for the French selections, from U16 to the U21s now. But an ultimate surprise may await him on Tuesday afternoon…
At 2pm, a certain Roberto Martinez could reveal his name for the World Cup in the roster of… Portugal, thanks to his maternal origins. A Bola launches this bomb in the country, and if it remains only a possibility, its potential verification is very close. Let’s clarify that the subject comes from an opinion post, however, there is no doubt that it does not come out of nowhere and that the officials of the Portuguese federation are well aware of it… According to Tiago Guadalupe, the author of the article, “it would be a perfectly consistent decision with the project that the coach is trying to implement”: “Roberto Martinez values intelligent and versatile players, capable of bringing collective dynamism. Junior Kroupi fits perfectly into this modern logic. He presses well, exploits spaces with quality, connects with the attack, scores goals, and offers something increasingly rare in modern football: unpredictability.”
Junior Kroupi, with twelve goals, has become the youngest player to reach this mark in the Premier League since Robbie Fowler in 1994. And in the 2025-2026 campaign, only Erling Haaland (Man City) does better than his goal every 121 minutes on average (and 20 shots on target out of 43 attempts). Across Europe, regarding players under 20 years old, only Lamine Yamal at Barcelona does better. Our Portuguese colleague gets excited: “Some players are called up to the national team to complement the squad. Others are called up to change the course of a competition. Junior Kroupi has the potential for that (…) Portugal would gain much more than a promising player, but one of the future great figures of European football.” Naturally, this is worth pondering.
