Ignatius Ganago
 Ganago with Lens in 2020 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ignatius Kpene Ganago | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 16 February 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Douala, Cameroon | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Nantes | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 37 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2017 | EFCB | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Nice | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Nice B | 13 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Nice | 52 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Lens | 56 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Nantes | 47 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025 | → New England Revolution (loan) | 20 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Cameroon | 15 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:06, 13 February 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:38, 19 March 2025 (GMT) | |||||||||||||||||
Ignatius Ganago (born 16 February 1999) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Nantes and the Cameroon national team.[1]
Club career
Early career
Ganago was part of the EFCB junior academy in Cameroon before joining Nice in 2017.[2]
Nice
Ganago made his professional debut for Nice in a 4–0 Ligue 1 win against Monaco on 9 September 2017, coming on for Mario Balotelli in the 74th minute, during which he also scored his first goal for the club.[3]
Lens
On 10 July 2020, Ganago signed for newly promoted Ligue 1 club Lens.[4]
Nantes
On 1 September 2022, the last day of the 2022 summer transfer window, Ganago moved to Lens' league rivals Nantes on a four-year contract.[5] The transfer fee paid to Lens was reported as €3.5 million excluding bonuses.[5]
New England Revolution
On 10 January 2025, it was announced that Ganago would be joining New England Revolution in Major League Soccer on a six-month loan with an option to purchase, and the potential to extend the loan by six additional months if playing-time conditions are met.[6] Ganago made his MLS debut, and recorded his first start for the Revolution, in the 2025 season opener, a 0–0 draw against Nashville SC on 22 February.[7] He scored his first Revolution goal, and recorded his first Revolution assist, on 19 April against NYCFC.[8] He subsequently received MLS Team of the Matchday honors for week 9.[9]
International career
Ganago debuted for the senior Cameroon national team in a friendly 0–0 tie with Tunisia on 12 October 2019.[10] Later that month his club Nice refused to release him for the Under-23 AFCON tournament.[11]
Personal life
Ganago's four-year-old daughter died on 13 February 2023, following an illness.[12]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 13 February 2026[1]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Nice B | 2017–18 | National 2 | 12 | 8 | — | — | — | 13 | 8 | |||
| 2018–19 | National 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 13 | 9 | — | — | — | 13 | 9 | |||||
| Nice | 2017–18 | Ligue 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 22 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Ligue 1 | 26 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 4 | ||
| Total | 52 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 62 | 7 | ||
| Lens | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 7 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 29 | 6 | |||
| 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Total | 56 | 12 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 57 | 13 | ||||
| Nantes | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | 6[d] | 1 | 39 | 6 | |
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2025–26 | Ligue 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 47 | 5 | 7 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | 60 | 6 | |||
| New England Revolution (loan) | 2025 | MLS | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 184 | 33 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 208 | 36 | ||
- ^ Includes Coupe de France
- ^ Includes Coupe de la Ligue
- ^ One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 19 March 2025[13]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 0 | |
Honours
Cameroon
- Africa Cup of Nations bronze: 2021[14]
References
- ^ a b Ignatius Ganago at Soccerway. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ "10 African talents looking to break through in 2017 - Paul Nehf". www.paulnehf.de. 23 January 2017.
- ^ "Nice vs. Monaco - 9 September 2017 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
- ^ "Ignatius Ganago au RC Lens". Ligue 1. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ a b "Transferts : Ignatius Ganago (Lens) s'engage avec Nantes (officiel)". L'Équipe (in French). 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Revolution acquire forward/winger Ignatius Ganago on loan from FC Nantes". RevolutionSoccer.net. New England Revolution. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
- ^ "Revolution battle Nashville SC to 0-0 draw in 2025 MLS season opener". revolutionsoccer.net. 23 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "Revs make it three wins in four, keep climbing with 2-0 victory over NYCFC". revolutionsoccer.net. 20 April 2025. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
- ^ Ruderman, Justin (21 April 2025). "Team of the Matchday: Inter Miami remain unbeaten, Charlotte make a statement". mlssoccer. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
- ^ "Tunisia vs. Cameroon – 12 October 2019 – Soccerway". Soccerway.
- ^ Enow, Njie (30 October 2019). "Nice refuse to release Cameroon's Ignatius Ganago for Under-23 Afcon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
- ^ "L'attaquant de Nantes Ignatius Ganago endeuillé par la mort de sa fille" [Nantes striker Ignatius Ganago mourns the death of his daughter]. L'Équipe (in French). 14 February 2023. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Ignatius Ganago at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ AfricaNews (6 February 2022). "Cameroon beats Burkina Faso to end AFCON 2021 in third place". Africanews. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
External links
- Profile at the FC Nantes website
- Ignatius Ganago – UEFA competition record (archive)
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