"We all agreed. I have always played with the youth teams for France, I was born in France and started football in France so I cannot see myself going to a culture that I do not know. So obviously, France is the objective," Eli Junior Kroupi, quoted by So Foot in translated comments from French, said. The Bournemouth striker has made his international preference plain, even though he was also eligible for Portugal through his mother’s and grandmother’s nationality and for Côte d’Ivoire through his father.
Portugal's approach and Kroupi's decision
Portugal coach Roberto Martínez approached Kroupi in May 2026, but he had already settled on France. Martínez said before the March camp that contact had been made and that Portugal respected the player’s decision, adding that it was “a case we left closed.”
Kroupi has not been placed in a senior France squad yet, and his recovery keeps the timing uncertain. He is still coming back from a fractured fifth metatarsal suffered during training camp, which means he will not be in the squad Zidane will announce on 6 November.
Why the choice carries weight
The international call lands after a clear breakthrough at Bournemouth. Kroupi scored 13 goals in 35 Premier League matches in his first season in the English top flight, and five of those goals came in his last five league matches last season.
That scoring run is why the choice matters. A forward who has just put together 13 league goals and a late burst of five in five is no longer being discussed as a prospect alone. France may still be waiting for the recovery to run its course, but Kroupi has already drawn the line on which shirt he wants next.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
