Fofana playing for France U20 in 2019
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | Monaco | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 19 | ||||||||||||||||
| 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) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | France U19 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | France U20 | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | France U21 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | France | 21 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:15, 19 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:31, 5 July 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Youssouf Fofana (born 10 January 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Monaco and the France national team.
Youssouf Fofana[2] was born on 10 January 1999 in Paris.[3] He is of Malian and Ivorian descent.[4]
Fofana began his career with various youth academies in Paris, before joining the youth academyofStrasbourg 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]
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]
Fofana was a youth international for France from under-19tounder-21 level.[13]
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.[14] In November, he was called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by Didier Deschamps.[15] 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).[16][17]Inthe 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.[18]
On 18 November 2023, Fofana scored his first goal with France, the seventh goal of a 14–0 win over GibraltarinUEFA Euro 2024 qualifying.[19] In the following match against Greece, he scored in a goal from twenty-five metres out in a 2–2 draw.[20]
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.[21]
| 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 | National 3 | 29 | 3 | — | — | — | 29 | 3 | |||
| 2018–19 | 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 | |||
| Career total | 207 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 250 | 15 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2022 | 8 | 0 |
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 6 | 1 | |
| Total | 21 | 3 | |
| 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 |
Strasbourg
Monaco
France
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AS Monaco FC – current squad
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France squads
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