The 2026–27 season is the 126th season in the history of Stade Rennais Football Club and the club’s 33rd consecutive season in Ligue 1. In addition to the domestic league, the club is participating in the Coupe de France and the UEFA Europa League.
Among the club’s achievements, Rennes has won three Coupe de France titles, lifting the trophy in 1965, 1971, and 2019. After winning the competition in 1971, Rennes changed its name to its current version. The club’s best finish in Ligue 1 is third place, accomplishing this feat after the season was ended prematurely in 2019–20.
Beyond the club’s achievements, the Rennes squad represents a diverse mix of religious backgrounds, with the dressing room primarily including players practicing Christianity and Islam. Squad members like Sebastian Szymański, Brice Samba, and Eliezer Mayenda are well-known Christians. The club also featured high-profile Muslim players like Musa Al-Taamari and Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal.
Read below all the players in Rennes and their religious beliefs. Please contact us if you see any mistakes or errors regarding a specific player’s religion.
Table of Contents
Brice Samba Religion
Brice Samba is a French professional footballer who is a practicing Christian. More specifically, he identifies as Catholic.
Brice Samba was born on April 25, 1994, in Linzolo, Republic of the Congo. He plays as a goalkeeper for Rennes and the France national team. Previously, Samba played for several European clubs, including Le Havre, Marseille, Nancy, Caen, Nottingham Forest, and Lens.
On 8 January 2025, Samba joined Rennes for a reported fee of €14 million, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract until June 2029. Three days later, on 11 January, he made his Ligue 1 debut for Rennes against former club Marseille. In the second half of the 2024–25 season, he featured in 17 league matches, recording 5 clean sheets while conceding 27 goals.
Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal Religion
Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal is a Moroccan professional footballer who is a practicing Muslim.
In July 2024, Aït Boudlal signed his first professional contract for Stade Rennais. The following year, in February 2025, he moved to Amiens in Ligue 2 on loan until the end of the season, and the loan ended on June 30 of the same year, upon which he returned to Rennes. During the 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season, Boudlal provided an assist in Rennes’ match against Strasbourg and scored a goal in each of the matches against Nice and against Monaco.
Mahdi Camara Religion
Mahdi Camara is a French professional footballer who is a practicing Christian.
Mahdi Camara was born on 30 June 1998 in Martigues, France, to a Gambian father and a French mother. A product from the club’s youth academy, Camara signed his first professional contract with Saint-Étienne on 15 March 2018. In January 2019, he was loaned to Laval until the end of the season. In August 2022, Camara joined Ligue 1 side Brest on a season-long loan with an option-to-buy for a reported fee of €3.5 million. He returned to Saint-Étienne briefly in June 2023 before making the move permanent to Brest in July 2023 for a reported €3 million transfer fee.
On 13 August 2025, Camara joined Rennes for a reported fee of €8 million, signing a four-year contract. He made 32 appearances and scored 3 goals in his debut 2025–26 season.
Ludovic Blas Religion
Ludovic Blas is a French professional footballer who is a practicing Christian.
Blas began his career in the youth academy of Guingamp and was promoted to the first team in 2015. In 2019, he transferred to Nantes for a fee of €8 million. During the 2022–23 Ligue 1 season, he contributed 12 goals and 8 assists, scoring the winning goal in the Coupe de France semi-final and netting from the penalty spot in the final.
On 5 July 2023, Blas joined Rennes for a reported fee of €15 million, signing a four-year contract until 30 June 2027. During the 2023–24 season, Blas contributed to Rennes’ UEFA Europa League campaign, where the team was eliminated in the knockout round play-offs by AC Milan.
Charlie Cresswell Religion
Charlie Cresswell is an English professional footballer who has not publicly shared details about his specific religious beliefs.
Cresswell plays as a centre-back for Rennes, on loan from Toulouse. He began his career at the Leeds United Youth Academy, breaking into the first team in the 2021-22 season. He was loaned to EFL Championship club Millwall for the 2022-23 season. In July 2024, Cresswell moved to Ligue 1 club Toulouse on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee.
On 4 August 2026, Cresswell joined Rennes on loan, with the club reportedly agreeing to a deal including a €2.5 million loan fee and an obligation to make the move permanent next year for a fixed €22.5 million, plus up to €3 million in bonuses.
Valentin Rongier Religion
Valentin Rongier is a French professional footballer who has not publicly shared his religious beliefs.
Rongier plays as a midfielder for Rennes. He began his career at the youth academy of French club Nantes and was promoted to the first team in 2014. In September 2019, Rongier joined Olympique de Marseille on a five-year contract for a €13 million transfer fee. During his time at Marseille, he was named to the 2022-23 Ligue 1 Team of the Season.
On 21 July 2025, Rongier joined Stade Rennais on a three-year contract until June 2028. In the 2025-26 Ligue 1 season, Rongier made 31 appearances for Rennes, scoring 2 goals and providing 5 assists.
Esteban Lepaul Religion
Esteban Lepaul is a French professional footballer who has not publicly spoken about his religious beliefs.
Lepaul plays as a forward for Rennes, and he previously played for football clubs Lyon, Épinal, Orléans, and Angers. On 28 August 2025, Lepaul signed a four-year contract with Rennes for an undisclosed fee. In the 2025–26 season, he scored 21 goals, finishing as the top goalscorer in Ligue 1.
Przemysław Frankowski Religion
Przemysław Frankowski is a Polish professional footballer who is widely assumed to be Roman Catholic, though he keeps his personal religious practices largely private.
Frankowski plays as a wing-back for Rennes, on loan from Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Poland national team. He began his career at the youth academy of the Polish club Lechia Gdańsk before transferring to Jagiellonia Białystok in 2014. In January 2019, he moved to Major League Soccer with Chicago Fire FC, where he recorded 10 goals and 10 assists in 63 appearances across three seasons. He signed for Ligue 1 club Lens for a reported €2.3 million before joining Galatasaray on loan until the end of the 2024–25 season.
On 3 August 2025, Przemysław Frankowski joined Stade Rennais on a season-long loan from Galatasaray, with the agreement including an option to buy for approximately €6 million. The loan deal covers the 2025–26 campaign, with potential extensions tied to performance clauses.
Sebastian Szymański Religion
Sebastian Szymański is a Polish professional footballer who is a practicing Roman Catholic.
Szymański plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Rennes and the Poland national team. In 2016, Szymański was promoted to the first team of Legia Warsaw, with whom he won the Ekstraklasa title twice and the 2017-18 Polish Cup. He transferred to Russian Premier League side Dynamo Moscow in 2019 and was loaned to Feyenoord in 2022, winning the 2022-23 Eredivisie title with the club. In July 2023, Szymański joined Turkish Süper Lig side Fenerbahçe on a four-year contract for €9.75 million.
On 22 January 2026, Szymański signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Rennes for a reported fee of around €10.5 million. Three months later, on 19 April, he assisted Lepaul to score a goal, helping Stade Rennais win 3–0 against Strasbourg. On 23 August, Szymański scored a spectacular opening goal for Stade Rennais in their 2–2 draw against Paris Saint-Germain.
Eliezer Mayenda Religion
Eliezer Mayenda is a Spanish professional footballer who is a practicing Christian.
Eliezer Mayenda was born on 8 May 2005 in Zaragoza, Spain, and is of Congolese and Togolese descent. He began his professional career with Sochaux in 2021 before signing for Premier League club Sunderland for €1 million in 2023. He had a loan spell with Scottish Premiership club Hibernian for the remainder of the 2023–24 season.
On 6 July 2026, Mayenda completed a transfer to Stade Rennais from Sunderland in a deal worth a total package fee of €20 million, signing a five-year contract that runs until 2031.
Mayenda holds Spanish, French, Congolese, and Togolese citizenship.
Quentin Merlin Religion
Quentin Merlin is a French professional footballer who has not publicly shared details about his specific religious beliefs.
Merlin is a product of the FC Nantes youth academy. He won the 2021/22 Coupe de France with Nantes and was promoted to the first team in July 2021. In January 2024, Merlin transferred to Marseille for a reported €12 million fee. In the latter stages of the 2023–24 season, he became part of the team that reached the Europa League semi-finals.
On 21 July 2025, Merlin joined Stade Rennais on a four-year contract for a reported transfer fee of €13 million.
Adrien Thomasson Religion
Adrien Thomasson is a French professional footballer who has not openly discussed his religious beliefs.
Thomasson was born in France to a French father of Swedish descent and a Croatian mother. He plays as a midfielder for Rennes and has previously played for Evian, Vannes, Nantes, Strasbourg, and Lens.
On May 28, 2026, Rennes confirmed that they had signed Thomasson on a three-year contract after his contract with Lens had expired without renewal. He signed a three-year contract until June 2029. On 11 September 2026, he scored his first goal for Rennes in the 52nd minute of a 1-0 win against Marseille.
Issa Soumaré Religion
Issa Soumaré is a Senegalese professional footballer who has not publicly discussed his personal religious beliefs. He is widely assumed to practice Islam.
Soumaré plays as a forward for Rennes. Previously, he played for Orléans, Beerschot, Quevilly-Rouen, Le Havre, and Auxerre. On 16 June 2026, Soumaré joined Rennes on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract with Le Havre. He signed a four-year contract that ties him to the club until 2030. His reported contract is worth a total of €6.2 million over the four years, earning a base salary of €1.2 million per year.
Mahamadou Nagida Religion
Mahamadou Nagida is a Cameroonian professional footballer who is a practicing Muslim, though he has not publicly talked about it.
Nagida is a youth product of the Cameroonian academy Ecole de Football Brasseries du Cameroun. In August 2023, he joined Rennes B on a free transfer and was promoted to the first team in July 2024. He made his senior debut for Rennes on 30 November 2023 in a UEFA Europa League group stage match against Maccabi Haifa. In September 2025, Nagida extended his contract with the club until June 2029.
Musa Al-Taamari Religion
Musa Al-Taamari is a Jordanian professional footballer who is a devout Muslim. He is a hafiz of the Quran, having memorized the holy book in full, and he spent years teaching younger children how to recite it at the Al Saliheen Mosque.
Al-Tamari began his career in Jordan with Shabab Al-Ordon Club’s youth academy before making his professional debut with the senior team in the Jordanian Pro League. He moved to Cypriot club APOEL in 2018, where he won the 2019 Cypriot Super Cup title and the 2018–19 Cypriot First Division title. In October 2020, Musa Al-Tamari joined Belgian First Division A club OH Leuven on a three-year contract for a reported transfer fee of €1.1 million. After joining the French club Montpellier in 2023, he became the first Jordanian footballer to play and score in a top five European League.
On 3 February 2025, Al-Tamari joined Stade Rennais by signing a contract until 2028, for a reported €9 million transfer fee.
