Eduardo Celmi Camavinga (born 10 November 2002) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and the France national team.

Early life

Camavinga was born in a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

in Cabinda, Angola in 2002, to Congolese parents from

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

. He has five siblings. His family moved to France when he was two. They moved to

Fougères Fougères (; br, Felger; Gallo: ''Foujerr'') is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine department in the region of Brittany in northwestern France. As of 2017, Fougères had 20,418 inhabitants. The Fougères area comprises appr ...

, where he grew up. He practiced

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

for a time, before giving it up to focus solely on football. In 2013, the Camavingas' house was burnt down, destroying most of the family's property; Camavinga stated that this was a source of motivation that pushed him to pursue a career in football and help his family. On 7 July 2020, he obtained the ''

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' ES (Economic and Social) without mention.

Club career

Rennes

Camavinga joined

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

' youth system when he was 11. He signed his first professional contract on 14 December 2018, at the age of 16 years and one month, becoming the youngest ever professional for the club. He made his professional debut for Rennes in a 3–3

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 ...

tie with

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

on 6 April 2019, becoming the youngest player to ever play for Rennes' first team, at 16 years and six months old. On 18 August 2019, Camavinga recorded an assist and was awarded the man of the match award in a 2–1 win against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

. He scored his first goal for Rennes in a 1–0 win against

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

on 15 December 2019, in the 89th minute of the game. In the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defeat ...

, he featured in four matches for Rennes against

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

Real Madrid

On 31 August 2021,

announced Camavinga had signed a contract until 30 June 2027 From

. He made his debut in a 5–2 win over

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

on 12 September 2021, in which he scored a goal shortly after coming off the bench. Three days later, on 15 September 2021, he made his Champions League debut for Real Madrid, coming on as a substitute for

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an attack ...

in the 80th minute and assisting

Rodrygo Rodrygo Silva de Goes (; born 9 January 2001), simply known as Rodrygo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazil national team. He began his career with Santos, where he playe ...

for the winner 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 ...

. Camavinga made a substitute appearance in the 85th minute of the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final, helping Real Madrid win 1–0 over

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to earn the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League title with his team.

International career

On 5 November 2019, Camavinga obtained French citizenship. Six days later, he was selected to represent France's under-21 team for games against Georgia and Switzerland, after

Matteo Guendouzi Matteo Elias Kenzo Guendouzi Olié (; born 14 April 1999) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille, Marseille and the France national football team, France nation ...

was called up to the senior team. On 27 August 2020, Camavinga was called up to play on France's senior team after

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, de ...

was sidelined by a positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

test. He became, in the process, the youngest player to be called up to the French senior team since René Gérard in 1932, who was only 17 years, nine months and 17 days old. On 8 September, he debuted in a 4–2 win 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

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 ...

, replacing

N'Golo Kanté N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Chelsea and the France national team. Considered by many to be one of the world's best midfielders, Kanté is widely praised ...

midway through the second half. In doing so he became the youngest player to play for French national team since

Maurice Gastiger Maurice Gastiger (3 October 1896 — 22 January 1966) was a French Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward for :fr:Football Étoile Club de Levallois, FÉC Levallois, Stade Rennais F.C., Rennes and ...

in 1914 at 17 years, nine months, and 29 days old. On 7 October 2020, Camavinga made his first start for France in a 7–1 win against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

where he scored his first international goal, opening the scoring with an overhead kick. This made him the youngest goalscorer for France since

in 1914. On 25 June 2021, Camavinga was named in

Sylvain Ripoll Sylvain Ripoll (born 15 August 1971) is a French former football player and current manager who manages the French under-21 football team. Career As a player, Ripoll played with Stade Rennais, Le Mans and FC Lorient. On 25 May 2014, he was ...

's 18-man France squad for the Summer Olympics in 2021. However he was later removed from the squad after his club, Rennes, objected. In November 2022, he was named in the 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

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Camavinga goal''

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 2021–22 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

: 2021–22 *

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 ...

: 2021–22 *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

runner-up:

Individual * UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: August 2019 * IFFHS Men's Youth (U20) World Team: 2020, 2021

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Madrid CF website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Camavinga, Eduardo 2002 births Living people People from Cabinda Province People from Fougères Sportspeople from Ille-et-Vilaine Footballers from Brittany French footballers Association football midfielders Stade Rennais F.C. players Real Madrid CF players Championnat National 3 players Ligue 1 players La Liga players UEFA Champions League winning players France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers France international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Naturalized citizens of France Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Republic of the Congo descent