Moïse Bombito Lumpungu (born 30 March 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

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 ...

club Colorado Rapids and the Canada national team.

Early life

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Bombito is of Congolese descent. He played youth soccer with CS St-Laurent, where he originally played as a forward. When he was 18, he declined an opportunity to join

CS St-Hubert CS St-Hubert is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Saint-Hubert, Quebec that plays in Ligue1 Québec. History The club was originally formed in 1980. Prior to joining the PLSQ, the club played in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Queb ...

in the semi-professional Première ligue de soccer du Québec, choosing to remain with St-Laurent in the amateur

Ligue de soccer élite du Québec The Ligue de soccer élite du Québec ( en, Quebec Elite Soccer League) is the top amateur league in Quebec, operating at a level below the semi-professional Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. It operates a number of youth and gender specific d ...

, as he was set for a bench role if he joined St-Hubert.

College career

Bombito originally attended Collège Ahuntsic and played for their men's soccer team. After attending a combine hosted by

António Ribeiro ''Dom'' António II Ribeiro (21 May 1928 – 24 March 1998) was a Portuguese cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who was Patriarch of Lisbon from 1971 until his death in 1998. Born at São Clemente de Basto, Celorico de Basto, son of José ...

and Frederico Moojen, he began attending junior college in the United States, joining

Iowa Western Community College Iowa Western Community College is a public community college in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was founded in 1967 and offers 84 programs in both vocational and technical areas as well as in liberal arts. It is also home to a flight school. Campus A ...

. He played two seasons, finishing as national runner-up in the 2021 spring season, following it up with a national championship in the fall 2021 season. He earned 2021 All-American accolades, was named the ICCAC Tournament MVP, and was selected to the ICCAC All-Tournament Team and the ICCAC All-Region First Team. In 2022, he transferred to the University of New Hampshire to play for the men's soccer team at the NCAA Division I level. On September 10, 2022, Bombito made his collegiate debut and also scored his first goal against the

FIU Panthers The FIU Panthers (also known as Florida INT Panthers) are the athletic teams representing Florida International University, an American public university located in Westchester, Florida. The Panthers currently compete in National Collegiate Athl ...

. That season, he was named the team MVP, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, the

America East The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research u ...

Defender of the Year, was named to the All-ECAC First Team and All-America East First Team, and a Second Team All-American. He was also a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, was invited to play in the MLS College Showcase, and became the first UNH player to be selected to the

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. ...

class. During his sole season with the school, he scored four goals, including two game winners.

Club career

In 2020, he began playing with

in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec, where he converted to centre-back. In 2022, Bombito played for the Seacoast United Phantoms in the USL League Two, helping them win the Northeast Division title and being named to the USL League Two Team of the Year. Ahead of the

2023 MLS SuperDraft The 2023 MLS SuperDraft was the 24th edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. It was held on December 21, 2022, becoming the first SuperDraft to be held in December, but will retain the 2023 branding. The draft was conducted ...

, Bombito was named to the

class of players, allowing him to enter the draft as an underclassman, as well signing a guaranteed contract. At the draft, he was selected in the first round (3rd overall) by the Colorado Rapids. He became the first player from the University of New Hampshire to be selected in the first round of the draft. After being an unused substitute in the opening match of the season, he suffered a knee injury in training causing him to miss the next few weeks of action. On May 7, he returned to action, debuting with the second team

Colorado Rapids 2 Colorado Rapids 2 is a professional soccer club based in Denver, Colorado area that competes in the MLS Next Pro league, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Socce ...

in MLS Next Pro against LA Galaxy II. He made his

debut on May 13. On May 24, he made his first start for the Rapids, in a

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

match against Real Salt Lake.

International career

In June 2023, Bombito was named to the Canadian national team for the

2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, as an injury replacement for

Derek Cornelius Derek Austin Cornelius (born 25 November 1997) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for Allsvenskan club Malmö FF and the Canadian national team. Early life Cornelius was born in Ajax, Ontario to a Barbadian ...

. He became the second-fastest Generation Adidas player to earn a national team call-up (171 days after the draft), behind only national team teammate Cyle Larin. He was then subsequently named to the 23-man squad for the

2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be the 17th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's football championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament will take place from Ju ...

. Bombito made his debut in the opening match of the tournament on June 27 against

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bombito, Moise 2000 births Living people USL League Two players Seacoast United Phantoms players Canadian men's soccer players Men's association football defenders New Hampshire Wildcats men's soccer players Soccer players from Montreal Colorado Rapids draft picks Iowa Western Reivers men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Colorado Rapids players MLS Next Pro players Ligue1 Québec players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CS St-Hubert players Colorado Rapids 2 players Major League Soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent