Crystal Palace: Wilfried Zaha slams Jean-Philippe Mateta

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·16 October 2025

Crystal Palace: Wilfried Zaha slams Jean-Philippe Mateta

During the October international break with the French national team, Jean-Philippe Mateta made his senior debut for Les Bleus. It was the perfect opportunity for the Crystal Palace striker to reflect on this milestone in an interview with L’Equipe. “At first, when I wasn’t playing, I would talk about the French national team in the dressing room, and I had teammates like Wilfried Zaha who would laugh. They told me I was crazy to even think about getting called up,” he revealed. However, according to Wilfried Zaha—who once shared the Eagles’ dressing room with Mateta—this version of events is far from the truth. On his social media, the Ivorian, now playing for Charlotte, hit back at Mateta in comments reported by the Daily Mail.