Brice Samba

Brice Lauriche Samba (born 25 April 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Lens and the France national team.

Le Havre
Samba joined Le Havre in 2006, working his way through their youth teams before appearing in the first-team in 2011.

Marseille
On 4 January 2013, Samba joined Marseille from Le Havre, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract. He made his professional debut for Marseille on 5 January 2014 in a Coupe de France game against Reims keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win. On 9 July 2015, Samba joined Nancy on a season-long loan.

Caen
Samba joined Caen on a four-year deal from Marseille on 30 June 2017.

Nottingham Forest
On 7 August 2019, Samba joined EFL Championship side Nottingham Forest on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He was initially brought in as a backup for on loan goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, but earned his place as Forest's number one after Muric made a number of costly mistakes.

Samba made his debut for Forest on 13 August 2019 in a 1–0 EFL Cup victory over Fleetwood Town. His league debut came on 24 August 2019 in a 2–1 win against Fulham. His impressive performances led him being named the Championship Fans' Player of the Month for November 2019. On 8 September 2020, Samba was included in the PFA Championship Team of the Year for the 2019–20 season.

In the 2022 Championship play-off semi-final, Samba saved three penalties to send Forest through to the final against Huddersfield Town. He subsequently started in the 2022 EFL Championship play-off final before being substituted for Ethan Horvath in the 90th minute with a groin injury as Forest held on to a 1–0 lead to confirm their return to the Premier League for first time in 23 years.

Lens
On 5 July 2022, it was announced that Samba had signed a five-year contract with Ligue 1 club Lens for an undisclosed fee. In the first half of the 2022–23 Ligue 1 season, he had 9 clean sheets out of 19 games. He ended the season with 15 clean sheets out of 38 league matches, the highest in the season and was awarded the Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year whilst being named in the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year. He conceded the least goals (29 goals) in the league helping Lens to place second with 84 points, one point behind league winners Paris Saint-Germain and secure a champions league spot for the first time in 20 years since 2002–03 season and the third time in the club's history.

International career
Born in the Republic of the Congo, Samba holds both Congolese and French nationalities.

In March 2023, he received his first call-up to the France senior national team for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.

On 16 June 2023, he made his debut playing the whole game in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against Gibraltar.

Honours
Nottingham Forest
 * EFL Championship play-offs: 2022

Individual
 * PFA Championship Fans Player of the Month: November 2019
 * PFA Team of the Year: 2019–20 EFL Championship
 * Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year: 2022–23
 * UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2022–23