Jean-Philippe Mateta made his debut for France on Friday night in the 3-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Azerbaijan.
The Crystal Palace talisman replaced Hugo Ekitike – who almost moved to Selhurst Park in 2023 – in the 79th minute, finally realising his dream of featuring for Les Bleus.
After posting about the special moment on Instagram, the likes of Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz rallied around Jean-Philippe Mateta to congratulate him.
Tyrick Mitchell comments “wow” as Jean-Philippe Mateta makes France debut
The Crystal Palace No.3 wrote “wow” and a tearful emoji (🥲) in the comments section after the 28-year-old posted photos of his first outing for France.
Munoz also wrote “boom” in response to Mateta, with Chris Richards adding “my boy” and two heart emojis (❤️💙) to congratulate the man born in Sevran.
Not only that, but Eddie Nketiah commented “JP” and a star emoji (🤩) to signal his rise to stardom, as Yeremy Pino posted two heart-eye emojis (😍).
Mateta is a popular man at Selhurst Park, and that has been reiterated by just how many comments he received after finally appearing for his country.
How Jean-Philippe Mateta performed in his 11 minutes for France
The Crystal Palace No.14 did not see much of the ball during his 11 minutes on the pitch against Azerbaijan, but was successful in the few contributions he did make.
Sofascore shows that Mateta took one shot at goal – which was blocked – and only made one pass, albeit an accurate one.
He also only had three touches of the ball as his France teammates struggled to pick him out.
Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Nevertheless, Kylian Mbappe was forced off with an injury, meaning Mateta is likely to start the next game – a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iceland on Monday.
Hopefully, if Didier Deschamps does hand the Frenchman a full debut for France in that clash, he can take his dream one step further by actually scoring for Les Bleus.