No, you would still need to install 2.2 for Nop4.2 . The new version of NopCommerce would target the latest and stable version but for 4.2 you would still need .Net Core 2.2
Thank you for your answer. No way I am going to install on a production server a product having reached end of life, meaning is is no longer supported as Microsoft stated in its download page
I understand that nopCommerce 4.30 will be using .NET Core 3.1 so I'll wait until then.