Ismaël Béko Fofana (born 8 September 1988) is an Ivorian 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 play 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 ...
Armenian Premier League
The Armenian Premier League ( hy, VBET Հայաստանի Պրեմիեր Լիգա, known as the VBET Armenian Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the compet ...
.
Fofana represented his country at all youth international levels from Under-17 to Under-23.
Club career
Early years
Born in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...
, Fofana came through the MimoSifcom academy, before being promoted to the first team of
ASEC Mimosas
The Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas, literally Mimosas Commerce Employees' Sporting Association, is an Côte d'Ivoire, Ivorian Association football, football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Mimosas A ...
at the age of 16 in 2005. He made his
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...
debut during that year, even scoring once against Egyptian club
Zamalek
Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east an ...
. He again played that competition the following year with the Mimosas, before signing with English side
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
, as a result of the cooperation between these two clubs.
Subsequently, Fofana was loaned to Norwegian club
Fredrikstad
Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad.
The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...
. However, his contract with FFK was terminated in September 2008, after failing to make an impact at the club, scoring only two goals in two seasons.
Fofana then spent some time with French clubs
Cherbourg
Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
and
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.Séwé Sport.
Shirak
In January 2012, Fofana came to Europe for the second time by joining Armenian club
Shirak
Shirak or Širak may refer to:
Places
*Shirak Province, administrative division of Armenia
*Shirak, Armenia, village in Shirak Province, Armenia
*Shanbarak, village in Qazvin Province, Iran, formerly known as Shīrak
*Shirag, village in South K ...
. He was their leading scorer in the 2012–13 season with 14 goals, despite leaving the club in the middle of the season. In December 2012, Fofana was loaned to Iranian club Zob Ahan. He returned to Shirak the following summer for their qualification matches for the
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 ...
. Fofana scored a hat-trick in the first leg of the first qualifying round against Sammarinese champions Tre Penne. He also showed good performances in a second qualifying round tie against
Partizan Partizan may refer to:
Sport
* JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs:
**AK Partizan, athletics
** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling
** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo
**FK Partizan, association fo ...
, securing a transfer to the Serbian club after agreement between two clubs.
Partizan
On 6 August 2013, it was announced that Fofana signed a four-year contract with Partizan. He was officially presented the following day and was given the number 10 shirt. On 17 August 2013, Fofana made his official debut for the club in a 0–0 away league draw against Radnički Niš. He scored his first competitive goal for Partizan in a 5–1 home league win over Radnički Kragujevac on 25 August 2013.
In the 2015 winter transfer window, Fofana was sent on loan to Chinese club Qingdao Jonoon.
After returning to Partizan from his season-long loan, Fofana appeared in only one league game, before being released by the club in the summer of 2016.
Čukarički
On 25 June 2016, it was announced that Fofana signed a two-year contract with Čukarički. He made his official debut for the club only five days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win over Kazakh club Ordabasy in the first leg of the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League
The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The 2017 UEFA Eu ...
first qualifying round. On 21 July 2016, Fofana scored his first goal for Čukarički in a 1–1 home draw with Hungarian club Videoton in the return leg of the Europa League second qualifying round.
Irtysh Pavlodar loan
On 1 March 2017, Fofana joined
Irtysh Pavlodar
FC Irtysh Pavlodar ( kk, Ертіс Футбол Клубы, ''Ertis Fýtbol Klýby'') was a Kazakh professional football club based at the Central Stadium in Pavlodar. Irtysh won the Kazakhstan Premier league in 1993 (as ''Ansat''), 1997, 19 ...
on loan until the end of the 2016/17 season.
Vojvodina
On 30 June 2018, Fofana signed a two-year-deal with Vojvodina. On 18 December 2018 Fofana and Vojvodina reached an agreement to mutually terminate the contract.
Zira
On 28 January 2019, Fofana signed a deal with Zira, leaving in May 2019 at the end of his contract.
2005 African U-17 Championship
The 2005 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Gambia. The top three teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship.
Qualification
...
, as well as their top scorer in the final tournament. He also played at the
2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship
The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru between 16 September and 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participa ...
, scoring in their opening match against Italy U17.
In preparation for the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
2008 Toulon Tournament
The 2008 Toulon Tournament was the 36th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 20 May to 29 May 2008. Tournament finished with the final between Italy and Chile at Stade Mayol in Toulon as Italy had the title after the final score of ...
, scoring the opener against Japan in the third-place match. He then missed in the penalty shoot-out, but Ivory Coast eventually managed to win the bronze medal.
Career statistics
Club
Honours
Club
ASEC Mimosas
*
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 ...
: 2005, 2006
*
Coupe de Côte d'Ivoire
The Coupe de Côte d'Ivoire de football, in English ''Côte d'Ivoire Cup'' or ''Ivory Coast Cup'', is the top knockout tournament in Ivorian football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to ...
Serbian Cup
The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round.
From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...