Youssouf Fofana (French footballer)

Youssouf Fofana (born 10 January 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Monaco and the France national team.

Early life
Youssouf Fofana was born on 10 January 1999 in Paris. He is of Malian and Ivorian descent.

Strasbourg
Fofana began his career with various youth academies in Paris, before joining the youth academy of Strasbourg on 21 February 2017. He made his professional debut with Strasbourg in a 2–0 Ligue 1 loss to Lyon on 24 August 2018.

Monaco
Fofana played his final game for Strasbourg on 25 January 2020, a 3–1 away win over Monaco. Four days later, he was signed by Monaco for €15 million, and made his debut on 1 February, playing 71 minutes of a 3–1 away defeat to Nîmes. 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. He scored his first league goal with the club in a 4–2 home defeat to Troyes on 31 August 2022.

International career
Fofana was a youth international for France from under-19 to under-21 level.

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. In November, he was called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by Didier Deschamps. 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). 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.

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. In the following match against Greece, he scored in a goal from twenty-five metres out in a 2–2 draw.

Style of play
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.

International

 * Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fofana goal.

Honours
Strasbourg
 * Coupe de la Ligue: 2018–19

Monaco
 * Coupe de France runner-up: 2020–21

France
 * FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2022