Rumors were therefore well-founded. At the beginning of the week, the Portuguese press reported a possible presence of Elie Junior Kroupi in the Seleção’s list for the 2026 World Cup. With five appearances for the U21 team in France, the Bournemouth striker could represent his motherland. And the Portuguese team did try to make it happen.
“I am happy because with our team at the federation, we were on it before the information came out. Before the March camp, we got closer to him,” detailed Roberto Martinez on Tuesday when announcing his squad for the World Cup.
“He wanted to play for France”
“But it’s one thing to support players who can wear the Portuguese jersey, another is the player’s desire,” continued the Portuguese coach. “And in this case, Junior wanted to play for France. We respect him and the matter is closed.”
The former Lorient player was indeed on Portugal’s radar, who finally gave up on calling him up in favor of the French team. In early March, he had already stated he was “focused on representing France.”
Roberto Martinez has called up 27 players, including Cristiano Ronaldo and four representatives from PSG (Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Joao Neves, and Gonçalo Ramos). Also, there are four goalkeepers: in addition to the starter Diogo Costa, Roberto Martinez called up José Sá, Rui Silva, and Ricardo Velho.
Placed in Group K, the Portuguese will start their campaign against DR Congo, then face Uzbekistan and finally Colombia.
Portugal’s 27-man squad for the 2026 World Cup Goalkeepers – José Sá (Wolverhampton)
Defenders – Diogo Dalot (Manchester United) – Matheus Nunes (Manchester City) – Nélson Semedo (Fenerbahçe) – João Cancelo (FC Barcelona) – Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting) – Renato Veiga (Villarreal) – Rúben Dias (Manchester City)
Midfielders – Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) – Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Forwards – Francisco Trincão (Sporting) – Francisco Conceição (Juventus) – Gonçalo Guedes (Real Sociedad) – Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr)
Original article published on RMC Sport.
