Pablo Pagis, in Ligue 2 two years ago, gets a shock France call-up from Zidane

Two years ago he was playing in France's second division. Now Pablo Pagis is heading to Clairefontaine, the Bleus' training base. On Friday 6 November, Zinédine Zidane named the Paris FC attacker in his 23-man squad for the first time.

What happened?

Zidane announced his squad for the games against Italy on 12 November and Turkey on 15 November, both in the Nations League. In September, his first list included five newcomers. This time, one name stood out: Pagis.

The coach was upfront about it. Pagis is in because Maghnes Akliouche is injured and not called up, so Zidane needed another player. "Pablo was in the extended list, he's a player I want to see, a different one," he said. Ousmane Dembélé is also out injured. Pagis has never played for France at youth level.

Who is Pablo Pagis?

He is the son of Mickaël Pagis, a former striker for Marseille, Sochaux, Strasbourg and Rennes. Pablo was born on 29 December 2002 in Montbéliard, while his dad played for Sochaux, but he is a Breton through and through. He started out at US Pont-Péan near Rennes, then joined Stade Rennais and later Lorient.

After loans at Nîmes and Laval, he broke through at Lorient in 2024-2025. He scored five goals and gave seven assists as the club won promotion to Ligue 1. The next season he added 10 goals and five assists to help them stay up.

Last summer Paris FC, owned by the Arnault family, paid 16 million euros for him. He has started every game since. He has three goals and an assist in nine matches, and Paris FC are fourth in Ligue 1 behind PSG, Lille and Lyon, with wins over Marseille, Rennes and Monaco.

There is a nice stat too. He could be the first Paris FC player to play for France since Jean-Paul Rostagni and Louis Floch in May 1973.

What's next?

The staff had already shortlisted him in December, but he stayed home then, given the stiff competition in his position. Veteran Florian Thauvin could have been picked instead. Zidane says he wants to build with young players, without choosing only veterans or only newcomers.

He promised Pagis nothing. "I don't know how it will go," Zidane said. "There are two games, we'll see about his playing time."