Jonathan Christian David (born January 14, 2000) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player 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

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

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 ...

. Born in the United States to Haitian parents, David was raised in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, and represents the Canada national team. David was born in New York City, but moved to Haiti when he was still a baby, and immigrated to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada at the age of six. Raised in the

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of On ...

community of east-Ottawa, he played for several local youth clubs before moving to Belgium in 2018, where he recorded his professional debut for

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 ...

. Two years later he joined French side Lille, where he aided in winning one Ligue 1 title and one

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

. In 2019, David was named the male

Canada Soccer Player of the Year The Canada Soccer Player of the Year award celebrates Canada's top male and female soccer players in recognition of their achievements with both the national teams and their respective clubs. Since 2007, voting has been conducted by Canadian coac ...

Early life

David was born in New York City to Haitian parents, and moved to

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

when he was three months old. At the age of six, he and his parents emigrated from Haiti to Canada and settled in

. Growing up, David went to the Francophone public school

École secondaire publique Louis-Riel ''École secondaire publique Louis-Riel'' (Louis Riel Public Secondary School) is a high school in the Blackburn Hamlet neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the ''Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario'' (Eastern Ontario ...

. He cites this as a reason for his success: "It helped to always have the ball at my feet when I was at Louis Riel." David began playing organised soccer at age ten with Ottawa club Gloucester Dragons SA. A year later he joined Ottawa Gloucester SC, where he played for the club's Hornets team until 2015. In 2016, he joined Ottawa Internationals SC. Growing up, David watched European soccer but not

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

as he had no desire to play professionally in North America. Instead, he was singularly focused on playing professionally in Europe. He credits youth coach Hanny El-Magraby with being an early mentor and father figure who helped him achieve his dream of playing professional football in Europe. Before signing with Gent, David had trials at

FC Salzburg FC Red Bull Salzburg is an Austrian professional football club based in Wals-Siezenheim, that competes in the Austrian Bundesliga, the top flight of Austrian Football. Their home ground is the Red Bull Arena. Due to sponsorship restrictions, ...

and

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 ...

, but was rejected by both.

Club career

Gent

In January 2018, David joined

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

. He made his professional debut on August 4, 2018, against

Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish a ...

and scored a goal in stoppage time to salvage a 1–1 draw. Just five days after his league debut, David came in as a second-half substitute in a Europa League Third Round Qualifier against

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the Reserve Battalion in Białystok. Jagiellonia play their home g ...

, scoring a goal in the 85th minute to secure a 1–0 win for his team. David continued his scoring streak three days later, coming in as a 71st minute substitute and scoring two late goals to secure a 4–1 league win against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren is a professional Belgian association football club located in the municipality of Beveren, East Flanders. They play in the Belgian First Division B. History The club was founded in 1936 as Red Star and registered to an amate ...

. After scoring five goals in his first five games, Gent signed David to a contract extension through 2022. He further extended his contract by a year to 2023 in September 2019. In the January 2020 transfer window, Gent chairman Ivan de Witte indicated there was significant interest in David from bigger clubs, with his value estimated at €20 million.

Lille

2020–21 season: Ligue 1 champions

On August 11, 2020,

side

confirmed the signing of David on a five-year contract. The reported fee for David was €30 million, making him the most expensive Canadian transfer to date. He made his competitive debut for Lille on August 22 against

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 ...

in their

season opener. After a difficult start to the season, David scored his first goal for Lille on November 22 against

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 ...

, netting the final goal in a 4–0 victory. After going scoreless in his previous seven games, David netted an extra-time winner against

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

to even Lille on points with

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 ...

(PSG) at the top of the table. On February 3, 2021, David scored as Lille defeated

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

by a score of 3–0. Continuing his run of form, David netted his first career Ligue 1 brace, scoring two goals on February 7 against

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. After only scoring two goals during the first half of the 2020–21 campaign, this brace marked David's fifth goal in as many games. On April 3, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 away win over PSG, to be Lille's first away league win over the Parisians since April 1996. On May 23, he scored a goal in a 2–1 away win over

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 ...

to win the

2020–21 Ligue 1 The 2020–21 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 83rd season since its establishment. The season started on 21 August 2020 and ended on ...

with Lille. David finished his first season with 13 league goals, with 11 coming since the turn of the year. This included the winner against PSG in a closely contested match at the Parc des Princes and a late double against Marseille, becoming an important player for Lille's title charge and one of the league's most in-form players.

International career

Youth

David was first identified by the Canadian youth national team program in 2015 after attending several under-15 camps and was regularly called up to Canada under-17 camps in the lead-up to the

2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (18th edition if all eras included), the men's under-17 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in Panama between 21 ...

. David subsequently represented Canada at the tournament and scored a brace against

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

in the final group game. In May 2018, David was called up to the Canadian Under-21 team for the

2018 Toulon Tournament The 2018 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 46ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 26 May to 9 June 2018. Engl ...

. David received a call-up to the United States under-20 team by

Tab Ramos Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and current head coach of Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a midfielder in Spain, ...

in 2018. He declined the invitation to focus on his club career, and because his desire was to represent Canada.

Senior

David received his first senior call up to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on August 30, 2018, for a CONCACAF Nations League qualifier against the U.S. Virgin Islands. He made his senior debut in the match on September 9, starting and netting a brace in an 8–0 victory. David was named to the final squad for the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

on May 30, 2019. In Canada's final group game during the tournament against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, he scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 win. Despite Canada's elimination to

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

in the quarter-finals, David would finish the tournament as the Golden Boot winner with six goals. After Canada's 6–0 victory over

on September 7, 2019, David set the record for most Canada senior international goals in a single year with eight in 2019. For his efforts, he was named the 2019 Canadian Men's Player of the Year. On June 8, 2021, David scored his second hat-trick for Canada in a 4–0 win over

in a 2022 World Cup qualification match. At the end of the

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 ...

campaign, David tallied a total of nine goals, five of them coming from the third and final round. In November 2022, he was confirmed as part of the 26-man squad going to 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 ...

Style of play

A versatile forward, David plays primarily as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in a 4–4–2 formation or as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

; he is also capable of playing as an out–and–out striker, and is known for his goalscoring ability. As a second striker, in a partnership he plays just behind the other primary striker. David is able to find gaps in the defence and to attack these areas with his pace, noted for his high top speeds. He is also able to play short passes and combine with teammates to attack the goal area, he is able to play best with his tight control and sharp interplay between teammates. Due to his pace and speed, David is also effective on counterattacks. Moreover, he is known for his tactical intelligence, defensive work-rate, and ability to read the game, as well as his willingness to press opposing players off the ball.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Lille *

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 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 ...

Individual *CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

Golden Boot:

* Belgian First Division A Top Scorer: 2019–20 (shared with

Dieumerci Mbokani Dieudonné "Dieumerci" Mbokani Bezua (born 22 November 1985) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Beveren. He is captain of the DR Congo national football team. He has previously played for TP Mazembe, Anderlecht, V ...

) * Canadian Men's Player of the Year: 2019 *

Jean-Claude Bouvy Trophy Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:David, Jonathan 2000 births Living people Association football forwards Canadian soccer players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Soccer players from New York City Sportspeople from Port-au-Prince Soccer players from Ottawa American soccer players American sportspeople of Haitian descent American emigrants to Canada Black Canadian soccer players Canadian sportspeople of Haitian descent Naturalized citizens of Canada Canadian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in France Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Canadian expatriate sportspeople in France K.A.A. Gent players Lille OSC players Belgian Pro League players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players