# Souleymane Camara

Souleymane Camara (born 22 December 1982) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is a former Senegal international and has represented his nation at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in 2002, 2006, and 2012. As of 2021, he holds the record of the most appearances for French club Montpellier, with 433, and is the club's second-highest goalscorer, with 76 goals.

## Club career

Camara was influential in Montpellier winning their first ever Ligue 1 title in 2012, scoring 9 goals, including one goal in a crucial 2–0 victory over Rennes with two matches left in the season.
On 5 August 2017, Camara scored the only goal in Montpellier's 1–0 win against Caen on matchday 1 of the 2017–18 season. It was his 48th Ligue 1 goal for Montpellier and made him Montpellier's record scorer in Ligue 1, breaking Laurent Blanc's 26-year-old record of 47 Division 1 goals scored for Montpellier in four seasons.
In March 2019 he became the first player to score in 15 different seasons in France's Ligue 1 in the 21st century. In May 2019 he extended his contract with Montpellier for a further season.
In May 2020, it was announced that Camara would not extend his contract with Montpellier, and would retire at the end of the season. By the end of his Montpellier career, Camara played a club-record 433 games in all competitions during his 13-year stay with 76 goals scored – a record bettered only by Blanc.

## Career Statistics
### Club

    As of match played 8 March 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Coupe de France | Coupe de France | Coupe de la Ligue | Coupe de la Ligue | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Monaco | 2001-02 | Ligue 1 | 21 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | 2 |
| Monaco | 2002-03 | Ligue 1 | 22 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | 4 |
| Monaco | 2003-04 | Ligue 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 |
| Monaco | 2004-05 | Ligue 1 | 10 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 1 |
| Monaco | 2005-06 | Ligue 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 |
| Monaco | Total | Total | 59 | 7 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | — | — | 63 | 7 |
| Guingamp (loan) | 2003-04 | Ligue 1 | 13 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | 2 |
| Nice | 2005-06 | Ligue 1 | 16 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | 1 |
| Nice | 2006-07 | Ligue 1 | 15 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | 0 |
| Nice | Total | Total | 31 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| Montpellier (loan) | 2007-08 | Ligue 2 | 37 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | 11 |
| Montpellier | 2008-09 | Ligue 2 | 27 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | 6 |
| Montpellier | 2009-10 | Ligue 1 | 38 | 9 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 39 | 9 |
| Montpellier | 2010-11 | Ligue 1 | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 4 |
| Montpellier | 2011-12 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 35 | 9 |
| Montpellier | 2012-13 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 12 |
| Montpellier | 2013-14 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 36 | 4 |
| Montpellier | 2014-15 | Ligue 1 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 39 | 3 |
| Montpellier | 2015-16 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 36 | 8 |
| Montpellier | 2016-17 | Ligue 1 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 1 |
| Montpellier | 2017-18 | Ligue 1 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 30 | 5 |
| Montpellier | 2018-19 | Ligue 1 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 3 |
| Montpellier | 2019-20 | Ligue 1 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 0 |
| Montpellier | Total | Total | 347 | 58 | 17 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 387 | 64 |
| Career Total | Career Total | Career Total | 487 | 79 | 17 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 531 | 85 |
* 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearance(s) in Trophée des Champions

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Senegal | 2001 | 2 | 0 |
| Senegal | 2002 | 10 | 3 |
| Senegal | 2003 | 4 | 1 |
| Senegal | 2004 | 2 | 0 |
| Senegal | 2005 | 2 | 1 |
| Senegal | 2006 | 5 | 1 |
| Senegal | 2010 | 4 | 0 |
| Senegal | 2011 | 3 | 1 |
| Senegal | 2012 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 37 | 7 |
    Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Camara goal.
List of international goals scored by Souleymane Camara :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 26 January 2002 | Stade Modibo Kéïta, Bamako, Mali | Zambia | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2002 African Cup of Nations |
| 2 | 14 May 2002 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia | 1-1 | 2-3 | Friendly |
| 3 | 12 October 2002 | Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal | Nigeria | 1-2 | 2-2 | Friendly |
| 4 | 31 May 2003 | Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal | Cape Verde | 1-1 | 2-1 | Friendly |
| 5 | 12 November 2005 | EPRU Stadium, Gqeberha, South Africa | South Africa | 1-0 | 3-2 | Friendly |
| 6 | 31 January 2006 | Port Said Stadium, Port Said, Egypt | Nigeria | 1-0 | 1-2 | 2006 African Cup of Nations |
| 7 | 11 November 2011 | Mantes-la-Ville, France | Guinea | 2-0 | 4-1 | Friendly |

## Honours

Monaco
* Coupe de la Ligue: 2002–03
Montpellier
* Ligue 1: 2011–12
Senegal
* Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2002