N'Golo Kanté
Squad number 13 · Fenerbahçe
Their 2026 World Cup
N'Golo Kanté travelled to the 2026 World Cup with France, wearing number 13, without ever getting on the pitch. His side played 8 matches (6 wins and 2 defeats) and bowed out in the third-place play-off, beaten by England 6-4.
Midfield went to M. Olise (8 matches, 650′) and O. Dembélé (8 matches, 597′).
Another 2 players in the France squad ended up the same way, without a single minute. The full run is on the France team page.
Who he is
- Born
- 29 March 1991 · aged 35 at the World Cup
- Birthplace
- Paris
- Club
- Fenerbahçe Istanbul
- Height
- 1.71 m
- Individual awards
- Knight of the Legion of Honour
Data: Wikidata (CC0).
Biography
N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the France national team. Regarded as one of the greatest defensive midfielders of all time, he is known for his stamina and work-rate on the pitch. Kanté made his senior professional debut with Boulogne in 2012, appearing as a substitute in one Ligue 2 match, and played an entire season in the third division the following year. After that he joined Ligue 2 side Caen on a free transfer, finished third and won promotion to Ligue 1. He stayed with the club for one more year, where he helped lead the team to a mid-table finish. In 2015, Kanté joined Leicester City for a fee worth £5.6 million. Kanté was an integral part of the Leicester City team that were surprise Premier League champions in 2016. The following year, he joined Chelsea for a fee worth £32 million and again won the league, making him the first outfield player to win consecutive English league titles with different clubs since Eric Cantona in 1992 and 1993.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · opening summary of the article.
See all the tournament stats on the World Cup data hub.
Photo: Bryan Berlin · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)