Boubacar Kamara

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Boubacar Kamara
File:Lens - Marseille (22-01-2022) 17.jpg
Kamara warming up for Marseille in 2022
Personal information
Full name Boubacar Bernard Kamara[1]
Date of birth (1999-11-23) 23 November 1999 (age 26)[2]
Place of birth Marseille, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 44
Youth career
2005–2017 Marseille
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Marseille II 28 (0)
2017–2022 Marseille 130 (3)
2022– Aston Villa 84 (2)
International career‡
2015–2016 France U17 9 (0)
2016–2017 France U18 9 (0)
2017–2018 France U19 14 (0)
2018–2019 France U20 7 (0)
2019–2021 France U21 9 (0)
2022– France 5 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14 December 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2023 (UTC)

Boubacar Bernard Kamara (born 23 November 1999) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa and the France national team.[3] Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also play as a centre-back.[4]

Club career

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Marseille

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In September 2005, "Bouba", aged 5, entered the Olympique de Marseille Academy where he progressed through all the categories. He eventually became the captain of the U19 team that made its way to the final of the Coupe Gambardella.[5] At the age of 16, he was promoted to Marseille's reserve team, also making his debut with the senior team. As coach of the reserves, Jacques Abardonado made him a regular starter.

Kamara made his debut as a professional side on 13 December 2016 against Sochaux in a Coupe de la Ligue match. He started the match and was replaced by Hiroki Sakai in the 82nd minute of a 1–1 (4–3) away loss on penalties.[6] He scored his first professional goal on 5 February 2019, a header in a 1–0 home Ligue 1 victory over Bordeaux.[7]

Kamara went onto play 170 times for his boyhood club, under several different managers – being used mainly as a defensive midfielder, but also featuring as a right-back, left-back, central midfielder and right-sided midfielder.[8]

Aston Villa

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On 23 May 2022, it was announced that 22-year-old Kamara had signed a five-year contract with English Premier League club Aston Villa ahead of the expiry of his Marseille contract on 1 July.[9] He made his Aston Villa debut on 6 August 2022, in a 2–0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth.[10] On 16 September 2022, during a 1–0 victory over Southampton, Kamara jarred his knee in a tackle with Mohamed Elyounoussi – the subsequent ligament strain ruled Kamara out until November, meaning that he missed the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[11] Kamara returned to the pitch slightly ahead of schedule on 6 November 2022, in a 3–1 victory over Manchester United.[12]

On 27 September 2023, Kamara scored his first goal for Aston Villa in a 2–1 EFL Cup defeat to Everton.[13]

On 11 February 2024, Kamara suffered another knee injury in a league defeat to Manchester United, this time a more serious ACL injury that was expected to leave him sidelined for the rest of the season at the shortest.[14][15]

Kamara returned to football on 5 October 2024, playing 45 minutes for Aston Villa's Under-21 team in a Premier League 2 game against Newcastle United.[16] He made his full return to the first team on 22 October 2024, as a substitute in a 2–0 UEFA Champions League victory over Bologna.[17]

On 16 May 2025, Kamara scored his first Premier League goal for Aston Villa during a 2–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur.[18]

On 24 July 2025, Kamara signed a new contract with Aston Villa, lasting until 2030.[19]

International career

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Kamara was eligible to play for the national teams of France through birth, and Senegal through his family heritage. He played youth football for France at U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 levels. Featuring in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship for France.[8]

In 2022, Kamara was contacted directly by Senegal manager Aliou Cissé to convince him to declare for the Senegalese team after their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations victory to fill the space of ageing midfielders Idrissa Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyaté.[20]

However, despite Cissé stating that there was an "agreement in principle" between the parties, on 19 May 2022, Kamara was selected in the France first team for the first time.[21] 22-year-old Kamara made his debut on 6 June 2022, as a second half substitute in a 1–1 away UEFA Nations League draw against Croatia, thus committing his international future to France.[22]

Style of play

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Predominantly a defensive midfielder, Kamara can also occasionally be deployed as a centre-back, having previously played in this position during his youth career.[23]

While at Marseille, Kamara received praise for his awareness and positioning,[23] as well as his ability to win 50–50 duels and regain position in the final third of the pitch.[24] With Aston Villa, Kamara functioned as a playmaker, providing distribution to his teammates.[25] He would frequently drop back to a centre-back position when the team were defending[26] and take long touches to slow down play.[27]

Personal life

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Kamara was born in France to a Senegalese father and a French mother.[28] Kamara has been a supporter of OM since he was a child after going to the Stade Vélodrome with his mother Cathy.[29] He has two sons and a daughter with Coralie Porrovecchio.[30] According to the BBC, Kamara is a Muslim.[31]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 14 December 2025[4]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Marseille II 2015–16 Championnat National 2 8 0 — — — — 8 0
2016–17 Championnat National 2 15 0 — — — — 15 0
2017–18 Championnat National 2 4 0 — — — — 4 0
2018–19 Championnat National 2 1 0 — — — — 1 0
Total 28 0 — — — — 28 0
Marseille 2016–17 Ligue 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
2017–18 Ligue 1 6 0 2 0 0 0 6[c] 0 — 14 0
2018–19 Ligue 1 31 1 0 0 0 0 5[c] 0 — 36 1
2019–20 Ligue 1 24 1 3 1 1 0 — — 28 2
2020–21 Ligue 1 35 0 2 0 — 5[d] 0 1[e] 0 43 0
2021–22 Ligue 1 34 1 2 0 — 12[f] 0 — 48 1
Total 130 3 9 1 2 0 28 0 1 0 170 4
Aston Villa 2022–23 Premier League 24 0 0 0 2 0 — — 26 0
2023–24 Premier League 20 0 3 0 1 1 6[g] 0 — 30 1
2024–25 Premier League 26 1 4 0 1 0 10[d] 0 — 41 1
2025–26 Premier League 14 1 0 0 1 0 6[c] 0 — 21 1
Total 84 2 7 0 5 1 22 0 — 118 3
Career total 242 5 16 1 7 1 50 0 1 0 316 7
  1. ^ Includes Coupe de France, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes Coupe de la Ligue, EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearance in Trophée des Champions
  6. ^ Five appearances in UEFA Europa League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

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As of match played 18 November 2023[32]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
France 2022 3 0
2023 2 0
Total 5 0

Honours

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Marseille

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]].
  • Profile at the Aston Villa F.C. website
  • Boubacar Kamara at the French Football Federation (in French)Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • Boubacar Kamara at Premier League (archived)Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • Boubacar Kamara – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • Boubacar Kamara – UEFA competition record (archive)Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  • Boubacar Kamara at L'Équipe Football (in French)Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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