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Aymeric Laporte has no regrets about choosing Spain ahead of France
A World Cup winner with Spain in 2026, Aymeric Laporte has no regrets about the choice he made in 2021 and keeps a special edge for games against France. Spain host Croatia on Tuesday evening in the Nations League (7.45pm UK time).
by Lucas Morel · 2 min read
“The France head coach did not count on me at all, so I decided to leave.” Speaking to the former player Mario Suárez for his YouTube channel El camino de Mario, Aymeric Laporte dusted off the old grievance from 2021. The interview, filmed at Lezama and published on Monday evening, ran through the French sports press on Tuesday morning, from RMC Sport to Foot Mercato.
Born in Agen and settled in Bilbao at 15, Laporte finished his football education at Athletic and returned to the club last year, after Manchester City and a spell in Saudi Arabia. His France record fits on two lines: youth caps at every age group, two senior call-ups from Didier Deschamps in 2016 and 2017, and not a single minute, as RMC Sport recalls. He became a Spanish citizen in 2021, weeks before the Euro, after an earlier approach had come to nothing, and he has never looked back.
With La Roja the honours list writes itself: Nations League 2023, Euro 2024, World Cup 2026, and more than fifty caps. “My wife, my family and my children are from here. I feel very attached to Spain,” he says, adding that he would feel the same pride without any of those trophies.
The edge against France has not dulled
Against Les Bleus, the ledger never quite closes. “… the same person who represented France for so long, and having beaten them for the third time… it makes me happy,” he told AS. He names nobody; So Foot and Foot Mercato read Didier Deschamps between the lines. The facts lean his way: Spain beat France 2-0 at the 2026 World Cup before lifting the trophy against Argentina.
Another cap against Croatia tonight
The next step comes at once: Spain v Croatia at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán (7.45pm UK time), round two of this Nations League campaign, with another cap expected for the Athletic defender. Both teams won their openers; Spain did it 3-2 in England. The market sees one favourite, at 1.26 with Betano on Tuesday morning. The full match reading and every price are in our Spain v Croatia prediction.