Malick Fofana
Belgian footballer (born 2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Malick Martin Fofana (born 31 March 2005) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ligue 1 club Lyon and the Belgium national team.
|
Fofana with Lyon in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Malick Martin Fofana | ||
| Date of birth | 31 March 2005 | ||
| Place of birth | Aalst, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lyon | ||
| Number | 11 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2014 | Eendracht Aalst | ||
| 2014–2022 | Gent | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022–2023 | Jong Gent | 13 | (4) |
| 2022–2024 | Gent | 41 | (2) |
| 2024– | Lyon | 58 | (10) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2020 | Belgium U15 | 3 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Belgium U17 | 10 | (5) |
| 2022–2023 | Belgium U18 | 6 | (2) |
| 2022 | Belgium U20 | 1 | (0) |
| 2023– | Belgium U21 | 9 | (0) |
| 2024– | Belgium | 5 | (1) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:28, 17 May 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:43, 13 October 2025 (UTC) | |||
Club career
Gent
Fofana started playing football at Eendracht Aalst before joining Gent's youth academy at the age of nine. He signed his first professional contract there in January 2022.[1][2][3]
After he already participated in the pre-season friendlies,[4] Fofana made his professional debut for Gent on the 30 July 2022, replacing Hugo Cuypers during a 1–1 home Division A draw against Sint-Truiden.[5] Only one week later, he was awarded his first start against Westerlo, leading his team to a 2–1 home victory.[6]
Lyon
On 10 January 2024, Fofana joined Ligue 1 side Lyon for a fee of €17 million, plus €5 million in add-ons, and a 20% sell-on clause on a future sale in favor of Gent; he signed a contract until June 2028 with the French club.[7][8][9] In the process, he became the third Belgian player in the history of Lyon, following Eric Deflandre and Jason Denayer.[9]
International career
Fofana is a youth international for Belgium, having first established himself as a regular goalscorer with the under-17 national team,[1][2] with whom he played the 2022 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[10]
In October 2024, Fofana received his first call-up to the senior Belgium national team for their 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against Italy and France.[11] He debuted against the former opponent on 14 October.[12]
Personal life
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 4 August 2026
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Jong Gent | 2022–23 | Belgian Division 1 | 13 | 4 | — | — | — | 13 | 4 | |||
| Gent | 2022–23 | Belgian Pro League | 22 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7[b] | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League | 19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10[b] | 2 | — | 31 | 4 | ||
| Total | 41 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 64 | 5 | ||
| Lyon | 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 21 | 4 | ||
| 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 29 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10[d] | 6 | — | 41 | 11 | ||
| 2025–26 | Ligue 1 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | — | 16 | 2 | ||
| 2026–27 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 58 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 6 | — | 79 | 17 | |||
| Career total | 112 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 32 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 156 | 26 | ||
- Includes Belgian Cup, Coupe de France
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
- As of match played 13 October 2025[14]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 5 | 1 | |
- Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fofana goal.[14]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 September 2025 | Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein | 2 |  Liechtenstein | 6–0 | 6–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Lyon
- Coupe de France runner-up: 2023–24[15]