Kevin Guy-Noel Pierre Tapoko (born 13 April 1994) 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 club

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

Club career

Early career

Tapoko initially started his footballing career with hometown club

but moved on to

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 ...

where he would go on to spend two years as an academy player. In 2011, he transferred to

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

where he featured for the club's reserve team before leaving at the end of the season. In August 2012 Tapoko moved abroad to

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

club

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

on a free transfer. He made his league debut for Lausanne on 16 March 2013 in a 3–1 away loss against

St. Gallen , neighboring_municipalities = Eggersriet, Gaiserwald, Gossau, Herisau (AR), Mörschwil, Speicher (AR), Stein (AR), Teufen (AR), Untereggen, Wittenbach , twintowns = Liberec (Czech Republic) , website ...

, coming on as a substitute for the final 12 minutes. During the 2012–13 season, Tapoko also featured for the reserve team and went on trial with

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Tapoko signed for two years with

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division (known as the Proximus League for sponsorship reasons) was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Associa ...

side

Dessel Dessel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Dessel proper. In 2021, Dessel had a total population of 9,659 inhabitants. The total area is 27.03 km². Nuclear industries ...

. He went on to play for two teams from the

Belgian Pro League 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 ...

OH Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, ''D ...

and

Royal Excel Mouscron Royal Excel Mouscron (, ), commonly known as Mouscron or familiarly as REM, was a Belgian professional football club based in Mouscron. The team was formed as ''Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz'' in the spring of 2010 as a result of the merging between ...

. After that he also had a short spell with

RWS Bruxelles RWS Bruxelles (Royal White Star Bruxelles) was a Belgian football club located in the municipality of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels. History The club, founded in 1948, was formerly known as Kapelleveld FC, playing in Evere, but they changed ...

, playing at the third level of Belgian football. On 14 January 2017, Tapoko signed a contract till the end of the 2016–17 season with Greek club

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

of the

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

. In January 2018 he moved to

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the Tsirion Stadium. ...

of the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

. On 12 June 2018, Tapoko returned to the Superleague Greece, signing a contract with

Apollon Smyrni Apollon Smyrnis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Απόλλων Σμύρνης), or in its full name Gymnasticos Syllogos Apollon Smyrnis ( el, links=no, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Απόλλων Σμύρνης, ''Gymnastics Club Apollon o ...

. He was released after a very short time.

In Israel

On 20 August 2018, ahead of the

2018–19 Israeli Premier League The 2018–19 Israeli Premier League, also known as Ligat Japanika for sponsorship reasons, was the twentieth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 77th season of top-tier football in Israel. The season began on 25 August 2018 and conclude ...

, Tapoko signed with Hapoel Hadera of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

. On 18 August 2018, he made his debut in a 2–1 win over

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

in the

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League ( Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. Fro ...

Yud-Alef Stadium The Yud-Alef Stadium ( he, אצטדיון הי"א, ''Etztadion HaYudAlef'', lit. ''The 11 Stadium'') is a football stadium in Ashdod, Israel, that was built for local football sides Maccabi Ashdod, Beitar Ashdod (both merged in 1981 to form Macca ...

. On 25 August, Tapoko made his debut in a 1–2 win over

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv ( he, הפועל תל אביב) is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, suc ...

in the

Netanya Stadium The Netanya Stadium ( he, אצטדיון נתניה), commonly known as The Diamond Stadium, is a multi-use stadium in Netanya, Israel. It is used as the permanent home ground of Maccabi Netanya, and it has been used as the temporary homeground ...

. On 28 October, Tapoko scored his first goal in a 2–3 win over Ashdod in the Israeli Premier League at Netanya Stadium. On 4 January 2019, Tapoko signed with

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The cl ...

for three and a half years. As part of the deal it was agreed that the player would move to Hapoel Be'er Sheva on 13 January, after Hapoel Hadera's match against

Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Sakhnin F.C. ( ar, اتحاد أبناء سخنين, he, איחוד בני סכנין, ''Ihud Bnei Sakhnin''; ''Ittihad Abna Sakhnin'', ) is an Israeli football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful club ...

on 12 January at Netanya Stadium. In May 2020 Tapoko as signed a deal to be loaned out to

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

playing in the

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

for the 2020–21 season. On 5 September 2021, he returned to

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

on a permanent basis.

Return to France

On 21 June 2022, Tapoko signed with

International career

Tapoko was a France youth international, having previously competed at France national under-16 team. In 2010, he was part of the France national under-16 team that played at the 2010

Montaigu Tournament The Montaigu Tournament (french: Tournoi de Montaigu) is an international association football competition that is contested by under-16 national teams and clubs. The tournament is also known as Mondial Minimes. The games are held in stadiums lo ...

, finishing in third place.

Personal life

Born in France, Tapoko is the son of the Cameroon international footballer Guy-Noël Tapoko. He holds French and Cameroonian nationalities.https://www.unfp.org/joueur/kevin-tapoko-16932/

References

External links

The successor to John Ogu? The story of Kevin Tapoko
at Ynet
Kevin Tapoko
at Israel Football Association * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapoko, Kevin 1994 births Living people People from Laval, Mayenne French men's footballers France men's youth international footballers Cameroonian men's footballers FC Lausanne-Sport players K.F.C. Dessel Sport players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players Royal Excel Mouscron players Aris Limassol FC players Apollon Smyrnis F.C. players Hapoel Hadera F.C. players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players Hapoel Haifa F.C. players Grenoble Foot 38 players PFC Beroe Stara Zagora players Stade Lavallois players Swiss Super League players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Israeli Premier League players Ligue 2 players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Men's association football forwards French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Greece French expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus French expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Israel French expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria French expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Sportspeople from Mayenne Footballers from Pays de la Loire