Angelo Fulgini: From France to New Caledonia, with fresh World Cup dream

There will likely be plenty of players from the Roshn Saudi League lighting up the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer, and that’s not including the stars of the Saudi Arabia national team.

One of the most unlikely, however, could be Angelo Fulgini.

The Al Taawoun forward, experiencing his debut campaign in the Kingdom, has been provided a late opportunity to stamp his ticket to the global showpiece at the FIFA Intercontinental Play-offs, which take place in Mexico across the next week or so.

The 29-year-old is the perfect example of the modern world of international football, where increased global migration has changed the composition of national teams across the globe.

Fulgini, on loan at Al Taawoun from French side RC Lens, was born in Cote d’Ivoire to French parents and, as of December, plays internationally for New Caledonia, the tiny French territory in the Pacific Ocean where his mother was born.

Having contested youth international football for France, Fulgini had already made his mark at that. in 2015, he was part of the Under-19 side that made the semi-finals of the UEFA U19 Championships, alongside the likes of Al Nassr’s Kingsley Coman and Al Ettifaq’s Moussa Dembele, as well as major names in Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Pavard and Marcus Thuram.

It’s an impressive alumnus and shows how highly rated Fulgini was coming through the academy system at Valenciennes. At that U-19s tournament, he featured in every game before losing 2-0 to Spain in the semi-finals.

But late last year, with the prospect of helping New Caledonia qualify for the latest FIFA World Cup, Fulgini officially switched his allegiance.

With a fresh challenge accepted, he will join a collection of newfound compatriots mostly comprised of semi-professionals from the Pacific island - New Caledonia's population is little more than 250,000 - and the lower levels of French football.

Yet that hasn't deterred him.

“Being able to represent my mother’s homeland is amazing," Fulgini said recently in an interview with FIFA. "And when I made the announcement, she was very proud.

“Two of my sisters were born in New Caledonia, one of whom has lived there, and my grandparents on my mother’s side are originally from the village of Thio. It really is home for me. I am over the moon, and excited too.”

That said, it will be a herculean task for the side ranked 150th in the world by FIFA, who first face Jamaica on Thursday at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara. Should they glean an upset win there, New Caledonia would then meet DR Congo five days later in a shootout for the World Cup.

“We are under no illusion that it is going to be tough and we are the outsiders,” Fulgini conceded. “We have nothing to lose. If we go through, it will be an unbelievable achievement; if we fall short, nobody will bat an eyelid.

“We have to go to Mexico under no pressure and with no fear, with the determination and belief that we can do it.”

Undoubtedly, Fulgini provides a quality hitherto unavailable to New Caledonia coach Johann Sidaner. Of genuine European pedigree, he has previously played in the UEFA Champions League with RC Lens, scoring in both home and away legs against La Liga’s Sevilla in 2023.

It’s that stock that made Fulgini so attractive last summer to Pericles Chamusca and Al Taawoun, where the midfielder has been a standout this season - especially early in the campaign when the Buraidah outfit took the RSL by storm.

At one point, they sat as high as second in the table, dropping out of the top three only as the competition ticked over into the second half of the season.

Now with eight rounds remaining, Al Taawoun occupy fifth place and continue to defy expectations. Undoubtedly, Fulgini constitutes one of his side’s shining lights.

With three goals and eight assists, his 11 goal contributions place him at Taawoun behind only Roger Martinez (19 goals, three assist) and ahead, or level, with the likes of RSL luminaries Riyad Mahrez and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

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Meanwhile, Fulgini’s eight assists not only rank him No.1 in that category at Al Taawoun, but also in the top five for the 2025-26 RSL. To underline his influence, Fulgini also sits top at his club for big chances created (11) and second - again behind Martinez - for shots (29).

It is career-best form, with Fulgini's 11 goal contributions equalling the most throughout a career in France and Germany that has included stops at Valenciennes, Angers, Mainz and Lens.

However, with a fresh commitment to New Caledonia and his greatest international challenge to unfurl across what he hopes to be the next eight days, Fulgini’s finest and most significant contribution might be yet to come.