A photo of Wilfried Zaha and Jean-Philippe Mateta
Winger Wilfried Zaha has hit back at his former Crystal Palace team-mate Jean-Philippe Mateta after the French striker claimed the Ivorian laughed at his dream of playing for France.
Mateta, who recently scored on his first start for the Les Bleus in a 2-2 draw with Iceland, told L’Équipe that some Palace players doubted his chances when he spoke about representing France during his early days at the club.
He mentioned Zaha by name, saying the winger thought his ambitions were unrealistic when he was struggling for game time in England.
“At Crystal Palace, right at the start, when I wasn’t even playing, I spoke about the France team in the dressing room and I had team-mates like Wilfried Zaha who were laughing,” he said.
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Zaha, now with Galatasaray, responded angrily in a social media video, calling Mateta’s claim “disgusting” and “nasty.”
He said the conversation had been taken out of context and that Mateta’s comments painted an unfair picture of their friendship.
“It’s disgusting when I see someone that I thought was a friend do that. Everyone knows me, I’ve never bullied anyone or told someone they wouldn’t make it,” he said.
He explained that the exchange Mateta referred to was a lighthearted locker-room discussion involving several players.
“We were joking around, saying it would be difficult with Benzema and others in those positions,” Zaha said. “But no one ever said he couldn’t make it. Why mention only my name?”
However, Sky Sports News reports that Mateta did not intend to disrespect Zaha and that the situation has been blown out of proportion online, with both players said to still hold mutual respect despite the misunderstanding.
Wilfried Zaha responds to Jean-Phillipe Mateta after being called out for laughing at his dreams of playing for France one day 😳 pic.twitter.com/uw7U0GBFod
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) October 16, 2025
😬 Doesn’t sound great between Wilf and JP.
— Palace Report (@PalaceReport) October 15, 2025
FKA/JE
