Béni Badibanga

Béni Badibanga Diata (born 19 February 1996) is a footballer who plays for Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League. Born in DR Congo, he represented Belgium at youth international level. He spent most of his career in Belgium, with over 100 appearances in the Belgian top flight and has also played professionally in Morocco and Canada.

Early life
Badibanga was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As his father was a businessman with a multinational Congolese company in the mining industry, he moved to London, England for a period, before moving to northern France near Lille. He later moved to Belgium, where he began playing youth football with RRC de Waterloo. He then joined RCS Brainois. At age 12, he joined AFC Tubize. When he was 14, he was approached by Standard Liège, but chose not to join as he was not yet mentally prepared to leave home. The following year, he was approached again by Standard Liège as well as Anderlecht, and chose to join Standard Liège, as his brother played at Anderlecht and he did not want to be in his shadow.

Club career
In February 2015, he signed a professional contract with the Standard Liège first team. On 25 July 2015, he made his senior debut against KV Kortrijk in a league match. In January 2017, he went on loan with Dutch Eredivisie club Roda JC. At the end of January 2018, he was loaned to Lierse in the Belgian First Division B. He left Standard Liège in the summer of 2018, having scored one goal and adding two assists in 37 appearances.

In July 2018, he signed with Belgian First Division A side Waasland-Beveren.

In July 2020, Badibanga joined Belgian Pro League club Royal Excel Mouscron.

In January 2022, he signed with Moroccan club Raja Casablanca in the Botola. In August 2022, he terminated his contract with the club by mutual consent.

In September 2022, he signed with RAAL La Louvière in the third tier Belgian National Division 1. In December 2022, it was announced that he would leave the club and would not play in the second half of the season. His departure was finalized in May 2023.

In July 2023, Badibanga signed with Canadian Premier League club Forge FC. He made his debut for the club on 4 August 2023, in a substitute appearance against Cavalry FC. On 19 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw against the HFX Wanderers. On 28 October, he helped Forge win their fourth league title, scoring a goal in a 2–1 win over Cavalry FC in the final. At the end of the season, he was named to the CPL Best XI. On 10 July 2024, he scored a goal from midfield against Toronto FC in the 2024 Canadian Championship.

International career
Badibanga is eligible to play for DR Congo and Belgium.

In 2015, he played for Belgium U19 in the 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification and Belgium U21 in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.

He was called up by the DR Congo national team for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

Personal life
He is the son of Samy Badibanga, the former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is the cousin of fellow professional footballers Ziguy Badibanga and Luis Pedro Cavanda.

He also works as a fashion model for American brand Fashion Nova.