Corentin Tolisso (31) aims to make France’s squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Lyon midfielder faced the media this Saturday for Les Gones‘ pre-game press conference. Lyon host Luis Castro’s FC Nantes on Sunday. Since his return to his formative club, Tolisso has regularly impressed, earning his status as one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1. “I feel like I’m in the best form of my career, absolutely. Not necessarily in terms of goals, but in terms of my attacking play or overall performance.“

Tolisso even recorded his first-ever career hat-trick on Thursday when Lyon humbled Maccabi Tel-Aviv (6-0) in the Europa League. Tolisso’s return to form prompts talk of his return to Didier Deschamps’ France. The Lyon Academy product was part of the squad that took home the 2018 World Cup, but he is yet to don France’s blue jersey since the 2021 Euros.

Deschamps previously said that Tolisso’s absent was down to competition with France packed with central midfielders already, such as Aurélien Tchouaméni, Manu Koné, Eduardo Camavinga, N’Golo Kanté or Warren Zaïre-Emery.

“I can’t do anything more than be consistent“, Tolisso said. “I believe in hard work paying off. You can’t let up just because things are going well. It helps me perform on the pitch, because I know where I want to go.” The Lyon midfielder said he retains hope of reaching his goal of going to the World Cup with Les Bleus. And if Tolisso doesn’t make it to America, his daughters will be happier, the former Bayern Munich midfielder says.