Kalidou Koulibaly

Kalidou Koulibaly Bio

Kalidou Koulibaly (born June 6, 1991 in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France) is a professional soccer player.

Koulibaly initially began playing football on the streets of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges before joining local club SR Saint-Dié. He played for SR Saint-Dié for two years and then joined the youth team of the French side Metz in 2009. In 2010, Koulibaly was promoted to Metz’s senior squad where he made 19 appearances in the 2010/2011 season and scored his first professional goal against Clermont.

His talent was quickly recognized by the French National team who named him on France’s Under-20 squad for that summer’s World Cup in Colombia. Koulibaly made an impressive run in the competition playing alongside other upcoming sensations like Alexandre Lacazette, Antoine Griezmann, and Gael Kakuta and helping the team to a fourth place finish.

In 2012, Koulibaly moved to Belgian club Genk where he won the Belgian Cup in his first season. In 2014, Koulibaly switched to the Italian side, Napoli. Koulibaly played for Napoli for 8 years before joining the Premier League side, Chelsea, in 2022.

Koulibaly made his senior debut with Senegal in 2015, and was named on the Senegal squad that represented the country at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. He was also named on the squad that represented Senegal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2019, he helped Senegal to the final of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and in 2021, won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal. The team defeated Egypt (4-2 on penalties) in the final.