Ibrahima Koné (born 16 June 1999) is a Malian 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for French club

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

and the Mali national team.

Club career

In February 2018, Koné signed for Norwegian

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

club

FK Haugesund Fotballklubben Haugesund (English: ''Football Club Haugesund''), usually referred to as FK Haugesund or FKH, is a professional Norway, Norwegian association football, football club from the city of Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. The club currently ...

on a contract until 2021. On 10 January 2021, he was transferred to fellow Eliteserien club

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, the ...

. He signed a three-year contract with the club. On 31 January 2022, Koné signed a 4.5-year contact with French

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 ...

club

International career

Koné made his debut for the Mali national team on 22 July 2017 against

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

, scoring a hat-trick in a 4–0 win. His next appearance for Mali took place four years later, in a 1–0

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

win over

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

on 1 September 2021. On 12 January 2022, Koné scored the only goal in Mali's opening AFCON game against Tunisia, winning the game 1–0 with a penalty in the 48th minute. This particular game received international attention as referee

Janny Sikazwe Janny Sikazwe (born 1979) is a former Zambian international football referee. He got his big break in 2008 at COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup in South Africa when he was called to replace another referee who had failed a fitness test. On 7 January ...

blew for full-time first in the 85th minute, then again in the 89th minute, creating great controversy as Tunisian coach Mondher Kebaier branded the referees actions "inexplicable".

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Mali's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Koné goal.''

References

External links

* 1999 births Living people Malian footballers Association football forwards Mali international footballers Mali under-20 international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players CO de Bamako players FK Haugesund players Adana Demirspor footballers Sarpsborg 08 FF players FC Lorient players Eliteserien players TFF First League players Ligue 1 players Malian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Norway Malian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Turkey Malian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in France Malian expatriate sportspeople in France 21st-century Malian people {{Mali-footy-bio-stub