N'Golo Kanté

**N'Golo Kanté** (; born 29 March 1991) is a French football player. He plays for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad and the French National Team.

He made his name in the English Premier League with Leicester City. They won the league on 2015/16, largely because his tackles in midfield and passes to Jamie Vardy created so many goals.

Chelsea bought him next year (2016–17) for £32 million, and they also won the league that year. Since then opposing sides have adjusted to his particular skills, and he has been somewhat less successful. Nevertheless, his performance has been extraordinary as a midfielder only 5'6" tall in an era where most defenders are much taller.

Kanté made his senior international debut for France in 2016. In 2017 Kanté was named the French Player of the Year, a first for a player from the Premier League in seven years. 12 months later he was a key member of the 2018 FIFA World Cup winning squad.

## Personal life

Kanté's parents moved to France in 1980 from the African country of Mali 11 years before his birth.

### Club

|rowspan="2"|Club|rowspan="2"|Season|colspan="3"|League|colspan="2"|National cup|colspan="2"|League cup|colspan="2"|Continental|colspan="2"|Other|colspan="2"|Total|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="3"|Boulogne|2011–12|Ligue 2|1|0|0|0|0|0|—|—|1|0|||
|2012–13|Championnat National|37|3|2|1|0|0|—|—|39|4|||||
|rowspan="3"|Caen|2013–14|Ligue 2|38|2|4|1|1|0|—|—|43|3|||
|2014–15|Ligue 1|37|2|1|1|1|0|—|—|39|3|||||
|Leicester City|2015–16|Premier League|37|1|1|0|2|0|—|—|40|1||||
|rowspan="8"|Chelsea|2016–17|Premier League|35|1|5|1|1|0|—|—|41|2|||
|2017–18|Premier League|34|1|5|0|2|0|6|0|1|0|48|1|||
|2018–19|Premier League|36|4|2|0|5|1|10|0|0|0|53|5|||
|2019–20|Premier League|22|3|1|0|0|0|4|0|1|0|28|3|||
|2020–21|Premier League|30|0|4|0|1|0|13|0|—|48|0||||
|2021–22|Premier League|26|2|3|0|4|0|6|0|3|0|42|2|||
|2022–23|Premier League|7|0|0|0|0|0|2|0|—|9|0||||
|Al-Ittihad|2023–24|Saudi Pro League|25|2|3|1|—|6|0|6|1|40|4|||

### International

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="7"|France|2016|13|1|
|2017|7|0|||
|2018|16|0|||
|2019|3|0|||
|2020|5|1|||
|2021|7|0|||
|2022|2|0|||

- _France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kanté goal_

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Cap|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|scope="col" class="unsortable"||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|29 March 2016|Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France|2||1–0|4–2|Friendly|||||||||||
|2|14 November 2020|Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal|44||1–0|1–0|2020–21 UEFA Nations League A|||||||||||

## Honours

**Leicester City**
- Premier League: 2015–16

**Chelsea**
- Premier League: 2016–17
- FA Cup: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
- UEFA Champions League: 2020–21
- UEFA Europa League: 2018–19
- UEFA Super Cup: 2021
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2021
- EFL Cup runner-up: 2018–19, 2021–22

**France**
- FIFA World Cup: 2018
- UEFA Nations League: 2020–21
- UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2016

**Individual**
- PFA Team of the Year: 2015–16 Premier League, 2016–17 Premier League
- ESM Team of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17
- Leicester City Players' Player of the Year: 2015–16
- L'Équipe Team of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018
- PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2016–17
- Premier League Player of the Season: 2016–17
- FWA Footballer of the Year: 2016–17
- Chelsea Players' Player of the Year: 2016–17
- Chelsea Player of the Year: 2017–18
- UNFP Best French Player Playing Abroad: 2017, 2018
- French Player of the Year: 2017
- FIFA FIFPro World11: 2018, 2021
- UEFA Team of the Year: 2018
- UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2018–19
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21
- UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season: 2020–21

**Orders**
- Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2018

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: N'Golo Kante
- **image**: N'Golo Kanté (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Kanté warming up for France national football team, France in 2018
- **fullname**: N'Golo Leon Jules Kanté
- **birth place**: Paris, France
- **height**: 1.68 m
- **position**: Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, Defensive midfielder
- **currentclub**: Chelsea F.C., Chelsea
- **clubnumber**: 7
- **youthyears1**: 1999–2010
- **youthclubs1**: JS Suresnes
- **youthyears2**: 2010–2012
- **youthclubs2**: US Boulogne, Boulogne
- **years1**: 2012–2013
- **clubs1**: US Boulogne, Boulogne
- **caps1**: 38
- **goals1**: 3
- **years2**: 2013–2015
- **clubs2**: Stade Malherbe Caen, Caen
- **caps2**: 75
- **goals2**: 4
- **years3**: 2015–2016
- **clubs3**: Leicester City F.C., Leicester City
- **caps3**: 37
- **goals3**: 1
- **years4**: 2016–
- **clubs4**: Chelsea F.C., Chelsea
- **caps4**: 152
- **goals4**: 9
- **nationalyears1**: 2016–
- **nationalteam1**: France national football team, France
- **nationalcaps1**: 44
- **nationalgoals1**: 2
- **club-update**: 15.49, 13 March 2021 (UTC)
- **nationalteam-update**: 23.19, 14 November 2018 (UTC)