Benjamin Jacques Marcel Pavard (born 28 March 1996) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

and the France national team. Although usually deployed as a right-back, he is also capable of playing as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He began his career at

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

and transferred to

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

in 2016, where he won the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

in his first season. In January 2019 he agreed a move to Bayern Munich, which was completed after Stuttgart's relegation at the end of the season. In 2020, he completed an historic sextuple by winning the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, DFB-Pokal, Champions League, DFL-Supercup,

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

and

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

. Pavard made his international debut for France in November 2017, and won the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

and the

2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...

, also featuring at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

Early life

Benjamin Jacques Marcel Pavard was born on 28 March 1996 in

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical nl, Mabuse or nl, Malbode; pcd, Maubeuche) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border ...

, Nord.

Club career

Early career

Pavard first played with his hometown club in

Jeumont Jeumont () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies on the Belgian border and on the river Sambre, adjacent to the Belgian town Erquelinnes. It is part of the agglomeration (''unité urbaine'') of Maubeuge. Population E ...

, where former France international striker

Jean-Pierre Papin Jean-Pierre Roger Guillaume Papin (born 5 November 1963) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. He was named the Ballon d'Or and IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year in 1991. Papin was known for ...

also began his career. Spotted by

Jean-Michel Vandamme Jean-Michel Vandamme (; born 10 November 1959) is a French football executive, and former professional player and coach, who is currently the academy general manager of French Ligue 1 club Lille. Career After retiring from professional football ...

, Pavard joined

's academy at the age of nine. He made his

debut on 31 January 2015 against

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...

, playing the full game in a 1–1 away draw. Pavard made 21 league appearances across two seasons for Lille, before leaving the club in 2016.

VfB Stuttgart

On 30 August 2016, Pavard moved to

, signing a four-year contract. He made his debut in the

on 3 October, scoring in a 4–0 home win over

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following relegation from the B ...

. He played 21 games and his team ended the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

as league champions. Pavard made his

debut on 19 August in a 2–0 loss at

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

. He scored his first goal in the Bundesliga with a delightful back header on 29 October in a 3–0 win over

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. He extended his contract with Stuttgart on 20 December 2017 until 30 June 2021. He was one of only four players to feature in every single second of the

2017–18 Bundesliga The 2017–18 Bundesliga was the 55th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 18 August 2017 and concluded on 12 May 2018. The fixtures were announced on 29 June 2017. Following an offline test phase in the ...

season. He played in several positions, namely

, defensive midfielder and right wing, but after the appointment of

Tayfun Korkut Tayfun Korkut (; born 2 April 1974) is a football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Hertha BSC. Born in Germany, he represented the Turkey national team internationally. International career Korkut earned 42 cap ...

as manager in January 2018 he was exclusively a centre back; the team conceded 10 goals in their last 14 games as they went from near the relegation places to finish 7th, only just missing out on a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

place. In 2018–19, Pavard was again a regular as Stuttgart fought relegation all season, which was confirmed with defeat to

1. FC Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

in a playoff.

Bayern Munich

On 9 January 2019,

confirmed Pavard would join the club for the 2019–20 season, signing a five-year contract lasting until 30 June 2024. He made his competitive debut on 3 August in a 2–0 defeat in the

2019 DFL-Supercup The 2019 DFL-Supercup was the tenth edition of the German super cup under the name DFL-Supercup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions. The match was played on 3 August 2 ...

against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

, as an 80th-minute substitute for

Thiago Alcântara Thiago Alcântara do Nascimento ( es, Alcántara; born 11 April 1991), or simply Thiago (; ), is a professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and the Spain national team. Born in Italy to Brazi ...

. On 31 August, he scored his first goal for the club to equalise in a 6–1 home win over

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

. On 11 February 2021, Pavard scored Bayern's only goal in a 1–0 win against

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...

in the

2020 FIFA Club World Cup Final The 2020 FIFA Club World Cup Final was the final match of the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup, an international club football tournament hosted by Qatar. It was the 17th final of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised tournament between the club cha ...

, as the club won its sixth trophy in a year. On 26 October 2022, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–0 away win against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. A week later, he scored a goal in a 2–0 victory against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

, in which Bayern Munich finished top of their

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

with six wins out of six matches for the second consecutive season.

International career

On 6 November 2017, Pavard was selected by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

's head coach Didier Deschamps for the friendly matches against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He made his debut against the Welsh on 10 November in a 2–0 win at the

Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...

, replacing

Christophe Jallet Christophe Jean-Pierre Jallet (born 31 October 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right back. During his career, he played for Niort, Lorient, Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon, Nice and Amiens, as well as registering 16 c ...

at half time. On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23-man French squad for the

in Russia. On 16 June, Pavard made his World Cup debut in a 2–1 victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. On 30 June, Pavard scored his first international goal, a half-volley from outside the penalty area, in a 4–3 victory over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the World Cup's round of 16. The goal was later voted as goal of the tournament and nominated for the Puskas Award of the year. He also became the first French defender to score a goal in the World Cup since

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began playing football professionally in his homeland with Monaco and played in the top flight in France, Italy and Spai ...

scored against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

semi-final. Pavard won the World Cup, after starting all of France's games except for their last group match against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. At

, Pavard suffered a head injury in France's opening 1–0 win over

, but continued playing. He said after the game that he felt "a little knocked out for 10 to 15 seconds". This appeared to break UEFA's protocol that a player showing signs of concussion should be withdrawn from the match, whether or not he or the manager agreed with it. After analysing reports by the French team's doctors, UEFA concluded that Pavard never lost consciousness and it was right for him to play on. On 9 November 2022, he was called up to the 25-man French squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in Qatar.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Pavard goal''

Honours

VfB Stuttgart *

: 2016–17 Bayern Munich *

: 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 * DFB-Pokal: 2019–20 * DFL-Supercup:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 2019–20 *

France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

; runner-up:

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

Individual * FIFA World Cup Goal of the Tournament:

*UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI: 2019 *'' kicker'' Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2019–20 Orders *

Knight of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

: 2018

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Bayern Munich website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavard, Benjamin 1996 births Living people People from Maubeuge Sportspeople from Nord (French department) Footballers from Hauts-de-France French footballers Association football defenders Lille OSC players VfB Stuttgart players FC Bayern Munich footballers Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 3 players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players UEFA Champions League winning players France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers France international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players UEFA Nations League-winning players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur