Jules Koundé

Jules Koundé
Koundé playing for Sevilla in 2020
Personal information
Full name Jules Olivier Koundé
Date of birth (1998-11-12) 12 November 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth Paris, France
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Right-back, centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Barcelona
Number 23
Youth career
2004–2009 Fraternelle Landiras
2009–2010 Cérons
2010–2013 La Brède
2013–2018 Bordeaux
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Bordeaux II 29 (1)
2017–2019 Bordeaux 55 (2)
2019–2022 Sevilla 95 (5)
2022– Barcelona 77 (3)
International career‡
2018 France U20 1 (0)
2020–2021 France U21 8 (1)
2021– France 38 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  France
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 2022
UEFA Nations League
Winner 2021
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:45, 3 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:26, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

Jules Olivier Koundé (born 12 November 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a right-back or centre-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the France national team. He is regarded as one of the best defenders in world football. [2]

Early life

[edit]

Jules Olivier Koundé[3] was born on 12 November 1998 in Paris[4] and grew up in Landiras, Gironde.[citation needed] His father is Beninese and Koundé holds citizenship of both Benin and France.[5] His uncle Charles Tokplé is a former footballer who played for the Togo national team.[6]

Koundé grew up with his mother. He has stated that during his youth, he struggled with his temper after poor performances from his local team, expressing "I'd be in a foul mood all weekend: atrocious behaviour. I got into such a rage that I ended up kicking my poor mum."[7]

Club career

[edit]

Bordeaux

[edit]
Koundé with Bordeaux in 2018

Koundé started in his first team debut for Bordeaux in the 2–1 Coupe de France away loss to Granville in the round of 64 on 7 January 2018, playing the full 90 minutes of normal time and the full 30 minutes of extra time.[8] He made his Ligue 1 debut for Bordeaux in a 1–0 away win over Troyes on 13 January 2018.[9] On 10 February 2018, Koundé scored the opening goal of a 3–2 Ligue 1 home win over Amiens; it was his first career Ligue 1 goal and his first competitive goal for Bordeaux's first team.[10]

Sevilla

[edit]

On 3 July 2019, he signed for Spanish club Sevilla. The transfer fee paid to Bordeaux was reported as €25 million.[11] In his first season at Sevilla, he helped the club win the UEFA Europa League for a record sixth time and was named in the competition's team of the season.[12][13]

Barcelona

[edit]

On 29 July 2022, Barcelona announced an agreement with Sevilla for the transfer of Koundé.[14] Koundé missed Barcelona's first match of the La Liga season against Rayo Vallecano as the club could not register him as they were over the league's salary cap limit.[15] He also missed Barcelona's second league match against Real Sociedad on 21 August for the same reason.[16] Kounde was registered with La Liga on 26 August[17] and made his official debut for the club two days later in a 4–0 win over Real Valladolid at the Camp Nou.[18]

International career

[edit]

Koundé was a member of France's squad for the group stage of the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, starting in central defence in all three matches and captaining the team in the 2–0 win against Russia.[19]

On 18 May 2021, Koundé was selected by Didier Deschamps as part of the 26 players that formed the France national team for UEFA Euro 2020.[20] He made his debut on 2 June 2021 in a pre-tournament friendly against Wales, coming on as a substitute for Benjamin Pavard at half-time.[21] He made one appearance at Euro 2020, playing the full match against Portugal in Group F.[19]

On 10 October 2021, Koundé started and played the whole match as France defeated Spain 2–1 in the 2021 UEFA Nations League final.[22]

Koundé was a member of France's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup where he started five of the team's seven matches at right back as they finished as runners-up to Argentina.[19]

In May 2024, Koundé was named in France's squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[23] At the tournament, he started all six matches for France at right-back,[24] and was named man of the match in their 1–0 victory over Belgium in the round of 16.[25]

Personal life

[edit]

Koundé has French and Beninese nationality.[26][27]

Career statistics

[edit]

Club

[edit]
As of match played 3 November 2024[28]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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
Bordeaux II 2015–16 CFA 8 0 — — — — 8 0
2016–17 CFA 2 15 1 — — — — 15 1
2017–18 National 3 6 0 — — — — 6 0
Total 29 1 — — — — 29 1
Bordeaux 2017–18 Ligue 1 18 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 19 2
2018–19 Ligue 1 37 0 1 0 3 0 10[c] 2 — 51 2
Total 55 2 2 0 3 0 10 2 — 70 4
Sevilla 2019–20 La Liga 29 1 2 1 — 9[c] 0 — 40 2
2020–21 La Liga 34 2 7 1 — 7[d] 1 1[e] 0 49 4
2021–22 La Liga 32 2 3 1 — 9[f] 0 — 44 3
Total 95 5 12 3 — 25 1 1 0 133 9
Barcelona 2022–23 La Liga 29 1 4 0 — 5[g] 0 2[h] 0 40 1
2023–24 La Liga 35 1 3 1 — 8[d] 0 2[h] 0 48 2
2024–25 La Liga 13 1 0 0 — 3[d] 0 0 0 16 1
Total 77 3 7 1 — 16 0 4 0 104 4
Career total 256 11 21 4 3 0 51 3 5 0 336 18
  1. ^ Includes Coupe de France, Copa del Rey
  2. ^ Includes Coupe de la Ligue
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearance in UEFA Super Cup
  6. ^ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  8. ^ a b Appearances in Supercopa de España

International

[edit]
As of match played 14 October 2024[29]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
France 2021 7 0
2022 11 0
2023 6 0
2024 14 0
Total 38 0

Honours

[edit]

Sevilla

Barcelona

France

Individual

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Jules Kounde". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Los Premios 'Team Of The Season' de EA SPORTSTM y LaLiga revelan a los mejores 15 jugadores de la temporada" [The EA SPORTSTM and LaLiga 'Team Of The Season' Awards reveal the best 15 players of the season]. La Liga. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Squad List: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: France (FRA)" (PDF). FIFA. 18 December 2022. p. 12. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Jules Koundé". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Qatar 2022: Kounde: I want to be in France's starting line-up". FIFA (in French). 6 November 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Fiche Joueur: Jules Koundé". TF1 Info (in French). Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  7. ^ Hunter, Graham (2 August 2022). "Barcelona signing Jules Kounde ahead of Chelsea is a coup for the club and for LaLiga". ESPN. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Granville vs. Bordeaux – 7 January 2018". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  9. ^ "ESTAC Troyes / Girondins de Bordeaux". Ligue de Football Professionnel.
  10. ^ "Bordeaux continue to fly under Poyet". Ligue 1. 10 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Sevilla break club record". Football España. 3 July 2019.
  12. ^ a b Wilkinson, Jack (21 August 2020). "Sevilla 3–2 Inter Milan: Sevilla edge five-goal thriller for sixth Europa League crown". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  13. ^ a b "UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season". UEFA. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  14. ^ "FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC reach agreement on Jules Kounde transfer". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Jules Kounde not registered to play in Barcelona's La Liga opener against Rayo Vallecano". Sky Sports. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Barcelona's new signing Jules Kounde not registered for second LaLiga game in a row". ESPN. 21 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  17. ^ Ornstein, David. "Barcelona register Jules Kounde". The Athletic. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Jules Kounde makes official debut". FC Barcelona. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  19. ^ a b c "Jules Koundé - Fiche Joueur". FFF (in French). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  20. ^ "La liste des vingt-six Bleus" (in French). French Football Federation. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  21. ^ "France v Wales game report". ESPN. 2 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Spain 1–2 France: Les Bleus seal trophy with another comeback". UEFA. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Les vingt-cinq Bleus pour l'Euro" [The twenty-five Blues for the Euro] (in French). French Football Federation. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Jules Koundé - Statistics". UEFA. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  25. ^ "France 1–0 Belgium: Own goal sends Les Bleus into quarter-finals". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Bordeaux : Jules Koundé, une perle précieuse !". beninfootball.com (in French). 29 April 2017.
  27. ^ "Retour sur le parcours de Jules Koundé, nouveau joueur professionnel des Girondins". Formation Girondins (in French).
  28. ^ Jules Koundé at Soccerway
  29. ^ "Jules Koundé". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  30. ^ "FC Barcelona, Liga champions 2022/23!". FC Barcelona. 14 May 2023.
  31. ^ Baynes, Ciaran (15 January 2023). "Real Madrid 1–3 Barcelona: Gavi stars as Barca dominate to win Spanish Super Cup". Euro Sport. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  32. ^ "France beat Spain to win Nations League". UEFA. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  33. ^ McNulty, Phil (18 December 2022). "Argentina 3–3 France". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  34. ^ "LaLiga Santader Team of the Season". Electronic Arts. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
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