Aaron Boupendza

**Aaron Salem Boupendza Pozzi** (7 August 1996 – 16 April 2025) was a Gabonese footballer. He played as a forward for teams in Gabon, France, Portugal, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Romania, and China. He notably won the Gabon Championnat National D1 with CF Mounana, the Qatar FA Cup with Al Arabi and the MLS Supporters' Shield with FC Cincinnati, and was also the top goalscorer in the 2020–21 Süper Lig.

He was capped 35 times for Gabon, scoring eight goals. Boupendza scored Gabon's only goal at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, in a 1–0 win against Comoros, and also scored in their penalty shootout loss against Burkina Faso in the round of 16. He also played for Gabon's A team at the 2016 African Nations Championship.

Boupendza died on 16 April 2025, at the age of 28, after falling from the 11th floor of a building in Hangzhou, China. Gabonese president Brice Oligui Nguema paid tribute to him shortly after his death. Chinese police investigations found that the fall was an accident, and ruled out criminal activity.

### 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|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|CF Mounana|2015–16|Gabon Championnat National D1|6|6|—|—|—|—|6|6||||||
|Bordeaux B|2016–17|CFA 2|20|8|—|—|—|—|20|8||||||
|Pau (loan)|2017–18|Championnat National|21|15|0|0|—|—|—|21|15|||||
|Pau B (loan)|2017–18|Championnat National 3|3|2|—|—|—|—|3|2||||||
|Gazélec Ajaccio (loan)|2018–19|Ligue 2|10|0|0|0|1|0|—|—|11|0||||
|Tours (loan)|2018–19|Championnat National|12|3|1|1|—|—|—|13|4|||||
|Tours B (loan)|2018–19|Championnat National 3|1|0|—|—|—|—|1|0||||||
|Feirense (loan)|2019–20|Primeira Liga|9|0|2|0|1|0|—|—|12|0||||
|Hatayspor|2020–21|Süper Lig|36|22|2|0|—|—|—|38|22|||||
|rowspan="3"|Al-Arabi|2021–22|Qatar Stars League|16|8|0|0|3|1|—|3|1|22|10||
|2022–23|Qatar Stars League|1|0|1|0|—|—|—|2|0||||||
|Al Shabab|2022–23|Saudi Pro League|17|11|0|0|—|0|0|—|17|11||||
|rowspan="3"|FC Cincinnati|2023|MLS|10|5|1|0|—|—|7|1|18|6|||
|2024|MLS|14|2|—|—|3|1|—|17|3||||||
|Rapid București|2024–25|Liga I|9|3|2|2|—|—|—|11|5|||||
|Zhejiang FC|2025|Chinese Super League|6|4|0|0|—|—|—|6|4|||||

### International

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="8"|Gabon|2016|4|1|
|2017|6|0|||
|2018|0|0|||
|2019|3|2|||
|2020|3|0|||
|2021|7|1|||
|2022|7|3|||
|2023|5|1|||

- _Scores and results list Gabon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Boupendza goal_.

|scope="col"|No.|scope="col"|Date|scope="col"|Venue|scope="col"|Opponent|scope="col"|Score|scope="col"|Result|scope="col"|Competition|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|20 January 2016|Amahoro Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda||1–2|1–2|2016 African Nations Championship||||||||
|2|15 October 2019|Stade Ibn Batouta, Tangier, Morocco||1–0|3–2|Friendly||||||||
|3|17 November 2019|Stade de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon||1–0|2–1|2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification||||||||
|4|25 March 2021|Stade de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon||1–0|3–0|2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification||||||||
|5|10 January 2022|Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo, Yaoundé, Cameroon||1–0|1–0|2021 Africa Cup of Nations||||||||
|6|17 November 2022|Atilla Vehbi Konuk Tesisleri, Antalya, Turkey||1–0|3–1|Friendly||||||||
|align="center"|7|align="center"|2–1|||||||||||
|8|17 October 2023|Estádio Algarve, Algarve, Portugal||1–0|1–1|Friendly||||||||

## Honours

- CF Mounana
- Gabon Championnat National D1: 2015–16

- Al-Arabi
- Qatar FA Cup: 2022

- FC Cincinnati
- Supporters' Shield: 2023

- Individual
- Süper Lig Golden Boot: 2020–21
- Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2020–21

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Aaron Boupendza
- **image**: Aaron Boupendza (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Boupendza in 2022
- **full name**: Aaron Salem Boupendza Pozzi
- **birth place**: Moanda, Gabon, Moanda, Gabon
- **death place**: Hangzhou, China
- **height**: 1.80 m
- **position**: Forward (association football), Forward
- **youthyears1**: –2015
- **youthclubs1**: CF Mounana
- **years1**: 2015–2016
- **clubs1**: CF Mounana
- **caps1**: 6
- **goals1**: 6
- **years2**: 2016–2017
- **clubs2**: FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Bordeaux B
- **caps2**: 20
- **goals2**: 8
- **years3**: 2017–2020
- **clubs3**: FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- **caps3**: 0
- **goals3**: 0
- **years4**: 2017–2018
- **clubs4**: → Pau FC, Pau (loan)
- **caps4**: 21
- **goals4**: 15
- **years5**: 2017–2018
- **clubs5**: → Pau FC, Pau B (loan)
- **caps5**: 3
- **goals5**: 2
- **years6**: 2018
- **clubs6**: → Gazélec Ajaccio (loan)
- **caps6**: 10
- **goals6**: 0
- **years7**: 2018–2019
- **clubs7**: → Tours FC, Tours (loan)
- **caps7**: 12
- **goals7**: 3
- **years8**: 2019
- **clubs8**: → Tours FC, Tours B (loan)
- **caps8**: 1
- **goals8**: 0
- **years9**: 2019–2020
- **clubs9**: → C.D. Feirense, Feirense (loan)
- **caps9**: 9
- **goals9**: 0
- **years10**: 2020–2021
- **clubs10**: Hatayspor
- **caps10**: 36
- **goals10**: 22
- **years11**: 2021–2022
- **clubs11**: Al-Arabi SC (Qatar), Al-Arabi
- **caps11**: 17
- **goals11**: 8
- **years12**: 2022–2023
- **clubs12**: Al Shabab FC (Riyadh), Al-Shabab
- **caps12**: 17
- **goals12**: 11
- **years13**: 2023–2024
- **clubs13**: FC Cincinnati
- **caps13**: 24
- **goals13**: 7
- **years14**: 2024–2025
- **clubs14**: FC Rapid București, Rapid București
- **caps14**: 9
- **goals14**: 3
- **years15**: 2025
- **clubs15**: Zhejiang Professional F.C., Zhejiang FC
- **caps15**: 6
- **goals15**: 4
- **totalcaps**: 191
- **totalgoals**: 89
- **nationalyears1**: 2016–2023
- **nationalteam1**: Gabon national football team, Gabon
- **nationalcaps1**: 35
- **nationalgoals1**: 8