Ilombe Mboyo (born 22 April 1987) is a 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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

Virton Virton (; Gaumais: ''Viertån''; wa, Vierton) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is also the administrative centre of the district (''arrondissement'') of the same name, as well as the princ ...

. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and raised in Belgium, Mboyo originally represented

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

internationally before switching to represent the Belgium national team.

Club career

Born in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, Mboyo played youth football for

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

and

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

, before going to prison when he was 17 for his part in a gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in 2004. Mboyo was a member of one of the most notorious street gangs in Belgium. While in prison, Mboyo was scouted under an initiative started by

Queen Paola of Belgium Paola (born Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria;AlthougThe Belgian Monarchy websiteattributes the title of "Princess" to Queen Paola prior to marriage, Burke's Peerage 1973, The Descendants of Louis XIII 1999, ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels'' 200 ...

and trained with

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, joining the club after his release, signed by

John Collins John Collins may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Collins (poet) (1742–1808), English orator, singer, and poet * John Churton Collins (1848–1908), English literary critic * John H. Collins (director) (1889–1918), American director an ...

. He joined

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

on loan in May 2010; the deal was made permanent in September 2010 He moved to

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, a ...

in January 2011. He quickly became an important player for Gent and received the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

's armband. Two months later, however, in a game against Waasland-Beveren, Mboyo missed a carelessly taken penalty and provoked his own supporters after being booed. The club forced him to apologize for his behaviour and youngster Hannes van der Bruggen became the new captain. In August 2013, West Ham United pulled out of signing Mboyo after fans protested due to his conviction. On 3 February 2019,

Al-Raed Al Raed Saudi Football Club ( ''Nādī ar-Rāʾid'', "Pioneer Club") is a Saudi football club based in Buraidah, and the first of its kind in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. One of the club's notable founders is Abdulaziz Al-Aboudi. Established ...

has signed Mboyo for one seasons from

. In January 2021, Mboyo joined fellow

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

side Sint-Truiden on a permanent deal. On 31 August 2021, he returned to

on a two-year contract. On 26 December 2022, Mboyo signed with

Career statistics

International career

In August 2011 Mboyo played for the

national team in the 3–0 defeat 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 ...

. However, as this was a friendly game, he remained eligible for Belgium. In October 2012, Mboyo was called up to the senior

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

national team. Due to his conviction, the selection was controversial. Assistant manager

Vital Borkelmans Vital Philomene Borkelmans (born 10 June 1963) is a Belgian football coach and a former left fullback who mainly played for Club Brugge (350 matches with that club), in the Belgian First Division. He also played for Patro Eisden, SV Waregem, ...

said that he deserved a second chance, while

François De Keersmaecker François De Keersmaecker (born 12 April 1958 in Willebroek) was the president of the Royal Belgian Football Association (URBSFA/KBVB) from 24 June 2006 until 24 June 2017. In that function he has been actively committed in the candidacy of Belg ...

, President of the Royal Belgian Football Association, said that his presence could set a good example. He made his debut on the 16th in a 2–0 win over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

, replacing Christian Benteke for the final four minutes at the

King Baudouin Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium (french: Stade Roi Baudouin , nl, Koning Boudewijnstadion ) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. Located in the Heysel district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel Plateau in v ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mboyo, Ilombe 1987 births Footballers from Kinshasa Belgian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to Belgium Living people Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Dual men's international footballers Club Brugge KV players R. Charleroi S.C. players K.V. Kortrijk players K.A.A. Gent players K.R.C. Genk players FC Sion players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players Al Raed FC players Sint-Truidense V.V. players URSL Visé players R.E. Virton players Belgian Pro League players Swiss Super League players Swiss Promotion League players Challenger Pro League players Saudi Pro League players Belgian National Division 1 players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 21st-century criminals Belgian prisoners and detainees Belgian people convicted of rape Prisoners and detainees of Belgium