Yeni Ngbakoto

Yeni Atito Ngbakoto (born 23 January 1992) is a professional footballer who plays for Danish Superliga club Vejle Boldklub. Born in France, he plays for the DR Congo national team internationally. He primarily plays as a winger, but is capable of playing as a striker.

Yeni Ngbakoto
Ngbakoto with Western Sydney Wanderers in 2022
Personal information
Full name Yeni Atito Ngbakoto[1]
Date of birth (1992-01-23) 23 January 1992
Place of birth Croix, France
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Vejle
Number 7
Youth career
2001–2007 SCC Besançon
2007–2009 Metz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2016 Metz 185 (44)
2016–2018 Queens Park Rangers 31 (3)
2018–2021 Guingamp 73 (14)
2021–2022 Panathinaikos 14 (0)
2021 Panathinaikos B 2 (0)
2022 Nancy 14 (3)
2022–2023 Western Sydney 19 (4)
2023– Vejle 3 (0)
International career‡
2008–2009 France U17 32 (6)
2009–2010 France U18 12 (4)
2017– DR Congo 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 May 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 June 2017

He is a former France youth international having earned caps at under-17 and under-18 level.

He is known for his speed, technical ability, and strength, which compensates for his small stature.[2]

Club career

Metz

Born in Croix, Ngbakoto began his football career at SC Clemenceau in the commune of Besançon. He excelled in the club's youth academy and eventually secured a move to the youth academy of professional club FC Metz. While at the academy, he developed gracefully becoming one of the club's most sought after products. During his time at the academy, he drew interest from English clubs Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur and Spanish club Barcelona.[3] Ngbakoto's play with the club's under-16 team saw him earn a call up to the France under-17 team by coach Philippe Bergeroo. On 25 June 2009, he agreed to his first professional contract signing a five-year deal until June 2014.[4] Following the agreement, he was promoted to the senior team and assigned the number 15 shirt in preparation for the 2009–10 season.

Ngbakoto began the season playing on the club's amateur team in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth level of French football, scoring on his debut in the team's opening match against CA Pontarlier on 15 August 2009. He consistently appeared in the amateur team for the next four months, adding another goal in a 1–0 victory over Thionville, before earning a call up to the senior team by manager Yvon Pouliquen for the club's Coupe de la Ligue match against Lyon on 13 January 2010. Ngbakoto made his professional debut in the match appearing as a substitute in the 83rd minute for Julien Cardy. Metz lost the match 3–0.[5] He was relegated back to the amateur division shortly after and finished the campaign with 16 appearances and eight goals as the Metz reserve team were crowned champions of the league finishing with 107 points.

For the 2010–11 season, Ngbakoto was reassigned the number 23 shirt by new manager Dominique Bijotat. He made league debut on 27 August 2010 in a league match against AC Ajaccio, which ended 0–0. He started the match and played 90 minutes before being substituted out in injury time.[6] On 18 December, he scored his first professional goal in a 3–0 victory over L'Entente SSG in the Coupe de France.[7]

Queens Park Rangers

Ngbakoto signed for English club Queens Park Rangers on 7 August 2016.[8] He scored on his debut for the club against Swindon Town in an EFL Cup tie on 10 August 2016.[9]

Guingamp

On 3 January 2018, Ngbakoto signed for French Ligue 1 club Guingamp for an undisclosed fee.[10] He was assigned the number 12 shirt.[11]

Panathinaikos

On 1 February 2021, Greek club Panathinaikos have signed DR Congo international Yeni Ngbakoto. Ngbakoto, who was born in France but has played twice for his national team, has signed an 18-month deal which according to Greek media will earn him €400 000.[12]

Nancy

On 31 January 2022, Ngbakoto signed with Nancy in Ligue 2 until the end of the season.[13]

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 23 June 2022, Ngbakoto joined A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers.[14]

In May 2023, it was announced that Ngbakoto was leaving the club at the end of his contract.[15]

Vejle Boldklub

On 1 September 2023, Ngbakoto joined Danish Superliga club Vejle Boldklub on a deal until June 2025.[16]

International career

Ngbakoto was born in France and is of Congolese and Ivorian descent. Ngbakoto has earned international youth caps with the under-17 and under-18 teams. With the under-17s, he was a regular appearing in 14 matches scoring four goals with his first two coming in a tournament in Austria against Slovakia and the hosts. Ngbakoto scored both his other goals in the qualification process for the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. He scored one in the first qualifying round against Scotland[17] and the other in the Elite Round against Belarus converting a penalty.[18] The team later suffered group stage elimination in the tournament with Ngbakoto appearing in all three matches.

With the under-18s, Ngbakoto earned his first appearance in the yearly SBS Cup, held in Japan, against Mexico. He was one of the few underage players for France at the tournament. In the tournament, he scored his only two goals so far against the Shizuoka national team in the second group stage match and the hosts Japan in the final group stage match.

Ngbakoto was called up to the DR Congo national team in March 2017, eligible through heritage.[19] He made his first appearance in a 2–1 friendly loss to Kenya on 26 March 2017.[20][21]

Career statistics

Club
As of 16 May 2021[22][23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Metz 2009–10 Ligue 2 0010—10
2010–11 22242—264
2011–12 20040—240
2012–13 Championnat National 381153—4314
2013–14 Ligue 2 371420—3914
2014–15 Ligue 1 30551—356
2015–16 Ligue 2 381243—4215
Total 185442590021053
Queens Park Rangers 2016–17 Championship 26321—284
2017–18 5021—71
Total 3134200355
Guingamp 2017–18 Ligue 1 16411—175
2018–19 15142—193
2019–20 Ligue 2 21420—234
2020–21 21510—225
Total 731483008117
Panathinaikos 2020–21 Superleague Greece 14020—160
Career total 3036139140034275

International goals
As of match played 5 June 2017
Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ngbakoto goal.
List of international goals scored by Yeni Ngbakoto
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 5 June 2017Sports Center of FAR, Rabat, Morocco2 Botswana2–02–0Friendly

References
  1. "Retained List 2016-17" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  2. "Yeni N'Gbakoto signe pour 5 ans". Espoirs du Football. 25 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  3. "The Premier League today". The Times Online. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  4. "Premier contrat pour Ngbakoto". FC Metz. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  5. "Lyon v. Metz Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  6. "Ajaccio v. Metz Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  7. "Coupe de France, 8ème tour". FC Metz. 18 December 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  8. "Yeni Ngbakoto: QPR sign Metz forward for an undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  9. "QPR 2-2 Swindon". BBC Sport. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  10. "Ngbakoto leaves QPR for Guingamp". English. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  11. "Mercato : Yeni Ngbakoto est Guingampais ! - En Avant de Guingamp". En Avant de Guingamp (in French). 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. "Στα πράσινα ο Ενγκμπακοτό". www.pao.gr (in Greek). 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  13. "Ngbakoto en attaque" (Press release) (in French). Nancy. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  14. "Wanderers secure N'gbakoto". wswanderersfc.com.au. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  15. "Wanderers confirm four Isuzu UTE A-League departures". Western Sydney Wanderers. 24 May 2023.
  16. Vejle Boldklub har Yeni N'Gbakoto på plads som klubbens nye angriber, vejle-boldklub.dk, 2 September 2023
  17. "Scotland v. France Match Report". Union of European Football Associations. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  18. "France v. Belarus Match Report". Union of European Football Associations. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  19. "QPR attacker Yeni Ngbakoto looks back on Saturday's 5-1 victory against Rotherham United". Queens Park Rangers. 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Ngbakoto is thriving under Holloway and the man himself is eager to go from strength-to-strength following the international break, where he'll link up with Congo for the very first time.
  20. "Léopards : La RDC chute 2-1 en amical face au Kenya". 26 March 2017.
  21. "Kenya v Congo DR". BBC Sport.
  22. Yeni Ngbakoto at L'Équipe Football (in French)
  23. Yeni Ngbakoto at Soccerway. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
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