Youssouf Fofana (French footballer)
French footballer (born 1999)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Youssouf Fofana (born 10 January 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club AC Milan.
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Fofana with France U20 in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Youssouf Fofana | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 January 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Paris, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | AC Milan | ||||||||||||||||
| 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) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | AC Milan | 64 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | France U19 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | France U20 | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | France U21 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | France | 25 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:51, 26 April 2026 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
Strasbourg
Fofana began his career with various youth academies in Paris, before joining the youth academy of Strasbourg on 21 February 2017.[2] He made his professional debut with Strasbourg in a 2–0 Ligue 1 loss to Lyon on 24 August 2018.[3]
Monaco
Fofana played his final game for Strasbourg on 25 January 2020, a 3–1 away win over Monaco.[4] Four days later, he was signed by Monaco for €15 million,[5][6] and made his debut on 1 February, playing 71 minutes of a 3–1 away defeat to Nîmes.[7] 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.[8] He scored his first league goal with the club in a 4–2 home defeat to Troyes on 31 August 2022.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11]
International career
Fofana was a youth international for France from under-19 to under-21 level.[12]
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.[13] In November, he was called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by Didier Deschamps.[14] 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).[15][16] 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.[17]
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.[18] In the following match against Greece, he scored in a goal from twenty-five metres out in a 2–2 draw.[19]
Style of play
Fofana usually plays as a box-to-box midfielder, tasked primarily with defensive duties. His main qualities are his physical strength, stamina, and the ability to press opponents to win back possession of the ball.[20]
Personal life
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 26 April 2026[24]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | 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 | ||||
| AC Milan | 2024–25 | Serie A | 35 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 10[f] | 0 | 2[g] | 0 | 52 | 1 | |
| 2025–26 | Serie A | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 1[g] | 0 | 32 | 2 | |||
| Total | 64 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 84 | 3 | |||
| Career total | 271 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 334 | 18 | ||
- Includes Coupe de France, Coppa Italia
- Includes Coupe de la Ligue
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- Appearance(s) in Supercoppa Italiana
International
- As of match played 14 October 2024[25]
| 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.
| 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
- Coupe de France runner-up: 2020–21[27]
AC Milan
France
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2022[29]
