Youssouf Fofana (French footballer)

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For the Ivorian footballer, see Youssouf Fofana (Ivorian footballer).

Youssouf Fofana
Fofana with France U20 in 2019
Personal information
Full name Youssouf Fofana
Date of birth (1999-01-10) 10 January 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Paris, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 AC Milan
Number 29
Youth career
2005–2013 Espérance Paris 19ème
2013–2014 Red Star
2014–2017 Drancy
2017–2018 Strasbourg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Strasbourg B 34 (4)
2018–2020 Strasbourg 30 (3)
2020–2024 Monaco 143 (6)
2024– AC Milan 13 (1)
International career‡
2018 France U19 1 (0)
2018–2019 France U20 9 (1)
2019 France U21 1 (0)
2022– France 25 (3)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 2022 Qatar
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:13, 6 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:31, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

Youssouf Fofana (born 10 January 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club AC Milan and the France national team.

Early life

Youssouf Fofana[2] was born on 10 January 1999 in Paris.[3] He is of Malian and Ivorian descent.[4]

Club career

Strasbourg

Fofana began his career with various youth academies in Paris, before joining the youth academy of Strasbourg on 21 February 2017.[5] He made his professional debut with Strasbourg in a 2–0 Ligue 1 loss to Lyon on 24 August 2018.[6]

Monaco

Fofana played his final game for Strasbourg on 25 January 2020, a 3–1 away win over Monaco.[7] Four days later, he was signed by Monaco for €15 million,[8][9] and made his debut on 1 February, playing 71 minutes of a 3–1 away defeat to Nîmes.[10] On 25 November 2021, Fofana scored his first goal for Monaco, the winning goal in a 2–1 UEFA Europa League victory at home over Real Sociedad.[11] He scored his first league goal with the club in a 4–2 home defeat to Troyes on 31 August 2022.[12]

AC Milan

On 17 August 2024, Fofana completed his move to Serie A club AC Milan, signing a four-year contract until 30 June 2028. He chose the kit number 29.[13]

On 14 September 2024, Milan won 4–0 against Venezia in the Serie A. The second goal, a header following the corner kick, had initially been attributed to Matteo Gabbia prior to Fofana being credited with goal after a review.[14]

International career

Fofana was a youth international for France from under-19 to under-21 level.[15]

On 15 September 2022, Fofana received his first call-up to the France national team for two UEFA Nations League matches against Austria and Denmark.[16] In November, he was called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by Didier Deschamps.[17] At the tournament, he played in six of France's seven matches, starting the ones against Tunisia in the group stage (1–0 loss) and Morocco in the semi-finals (2–0 win).[18][19] In the final against Argentina on 18 December, Fofana came on as a 96th-minute substitute in extra time for Adrien Rabiot. The game ended with a score of 3–3, and Argentina came out victorious on penalties.[20]

On 18 November 2023, Fofana scored his first goal with France, the seventh goal of a 14–0 win over Gibraltar in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying.[21] In the following match against Greece, he scored in a goal from twenty-five metres out in a 2–2 draw.[22]

Style of play

Fofana usually plays as a box-to-box midfielder with primarily defensive duties. His main qualities are his physical strength, stamina, and the ability to press opponents to win back possession of the ball.[23]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 11 December 2024[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Strasbourg B 2017–18 Championnat National 3 29 3 — — — 29 3
2018–19 Championnat National 3 5 1 — — — 5 1
Total 34 4 — — — 34 4
Strasbourg 2018–19 Ligue 1 17 2 1 0 4 1 — 22 3
2019–20 Ligue 1 13 1 1 0 2 0 3[c] 0 19 1
Total 30 3 2 0 6 1 3 0 41 4
Monaco 2019–20 Ligue 1 7 0 — — — 7 0
2020–21 Ligue 1 35 0 5 0 — — 40 0
2021–22 Ligue 1 33 0 4 0 — 9[d] 1 46 1
2022–23 Ligue 1 36 2 1 0 — 10[e] 0 47 2
2023–24 Ligue 1 32 4 3 0 — — 35 4
Total 143 6 13 0 — 19 1 175 7
AC Milan 2024–25 Serie A 13 1 1 0 — 6[f] 0 20 1
Career total 220 14 16 0 6 1 28 1 270 16
  1. ^ Includes Coupe de France, Coppa Italia
  2. ^ Includes Coupe de la Ligue
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 14 October 2024[25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
France 2022 8 0
2023 7 2
2024 10 1
Total 25 3
Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fofana goal.
List of international goals scored by Youssouf Fofana
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 18 November 2023 Allianz Riviera, Nice, France 14  Gibraltar 7–0 14–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
2 21 November 2023 Agia Sophia Stadium, Athens, Greece 15  Greece 2–2 2–2 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
3 26 March 2024 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France 17  Chile 1–1 3–2 Friendly

Honours

Strasbourg

Monaco

France

References

  1. ^ "Youssouf Fofana". AS Monaco FC. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Squad List: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: France (FRA)" (PDF). FIFA. 18 December 2022. p. 12. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Youssouf Fofana". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Joueurs maliens ou d'origines maliennes à travers le monde du 08/09/2017". reference14sport (in French). Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Youssouf FOFANA s'engage en faveur de STRASBOURG – JA Drancy". 21 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Olympique Lyonnais vs. Strasbourg – 24 August 2018". Soccerway. Perform Group.
  7. ^ Rainbot, Arthur (25 January 2020). "Monaco - RC Strasbourg: Le RC Strasbourg bat Monaco 1-3 à l'extérieur". 20 Minutes (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  8. ^ Chirat, Antoine (29 January 2020). "AS Monaco : Youssouf Fofana signe à son tour !". Onze Mondial (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  9. ^ Borne, Fabien (30 January 2020). "Officiel : Youssouf Fofana signe lui aussi à Monaco". Dailymercato (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  10. ^ "NÎMES / AS MONACO - (3 / 1) - J22 - 2019-2020" (in French). Ligue 1. 1 February 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Monaco vs. Real Sociedad". Soccerway. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  12. ^ "VIDÉO : Le premier but de Youssouf Fofana en Ligue 1". BeSoccer (in French). September 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  13. ^ "OFFICIAL STATEMENT: YOUSSOUF FOFANA". AC Milan. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  14. ^ https://www.milannews.it/news/gabbia-o-fofana-la-lega-serie-a-decide-sul-secondo-gol-di-milan-venezia-e-del-francese-549120
  15. ^ "Youssouf FOFANA convoqué en équipe de FRANCE U19 – JA Drancy". 15 February 2018. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  16. ^ "France Nations League squad: Badiashile, Fofana and Kolo Muani receive first-ever call-up, Dembele and Giroud return". Football Today. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Youssouf Fofana sur sa sélection pour la Coupe du monde : " On ne peut pas faire plus grand "". L'Équipe (in French). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  18. ^ "France-Maroc : Fofana et Konaté titulaires à la place de Rabiot et Upamecano, malades". Le Parisien (in French). 14 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  19. ^ "CdM : France 2-0 Maroc (fini)". Maxifoot.fr (in French). 14 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  20. ^ "ARGENTINE - FRANCE COMPOSITIONS". Eurosport (in French). 18 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Équipe de France : soir de record pour les Bleus, sans pitié face à Gibraltar". Le Figaro (in French). 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Les Bleus accrochés par la Grèce et privés d'un grand chelem en qualifications pour l'Euro 2024". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  23. ^ "Potenza fisica, recupera palloni e tanta corsa: Alla scoperta di Youssouf Fofana, il mediano difensivo che piace al Milan".
  24. ^ "Y. Fofana: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  25. ^ "Youssouf Fofana". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  26. ^ Kezzouf, Youmni (31 March 2019). "Strasbourg remporte la Coupe de la Ligue aux tirs au but". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  27. ^ "Monaco 0–2 Paris Saint Germain: PSG win sixth French Cup in seven years". BBC Sport. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  28. ^ McNulty, Phil (18 December 2022). "Argentina 3–3 France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
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