Presnel Kimpembe (born 13 August 1995) 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 ...

who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club

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 ...

and the France national team. He was part of the France squad that won the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Early years

Kimpembe was born in

Beaumont-sur-Oise Beaumont-sur-Oise (, literally ''Beaumont on Oise'') is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. The classical cellist Jean-Henri Levasseur (1764–1823) was born in Beaumont-sur-Oise. Population Notable p ...

, France, to a Congolese father and a Haitian mother. He was named after his maternal grandfather.

Club career

Kimpembe made his professional debut for

(PSG) on 17 October 2014 against

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

, replacing

Thiago Motta Thiago Motta (; ; born 28 August 1982) is a professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of club Bologna. A midfielder, Motta spent his early career at Barcelona, where he was injury-prone. He played two and ...

after 76 minutes in a 3–1 away win. He made his

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 competi ...

debut on 14 February 2017, keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 win against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. On 12 February 2019, Kimpembe scored his first goal for PSG against Manchester United in an away match at Old Trafford, turning home at the far-post from an

Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Argentina national team. He can play as either a winger or attacking midfielder. Di María began his career with R ...

corner in the 53rd minute. However, in the return leg at Parc des Princes in Paris, he jumped to block a shot from

Diogo Dalot José Diogo Dalot Teixeira (; born 18 March 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a full-back for club Manchester United and the Portugal national team. Dalot is a product of the Porto youth system and made his professio ...

in injury time that was given as a penalty for handball after the referee consulted

VAR Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

. PSG went on to lose the match 3–1, and were subsequently knocked out due to the away goals rule. Lens_-_PSG_(10-09-2020)_10

On 11 July 2020, Kimpembe signed a contract extension with PSG, a deal lasting until 2024. In the

2019–20 UEFA Champions League The 2019–20 UEFA Champions League was the 65th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 28th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Bayern Munich d ...

, PSG went on to reach the final of the competition, losing 1–0 to Bayern Munich. Kimpembe participated in the match. On 3 January 2022, he scored his second goal for the club in a 4–0

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

win over

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who live ...

. He also contributed an assist for a Kylian Mbappé goal. Kimpembe scored his first Ligue 1 goal in a 5–1 win away to

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 region, the prefecture of the N ...

on 6 February.

International career

Kimpembe got his first call up to the senior

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

side after

Eliaquim Mangala Eliaquim Hans Mangala (born 13 February 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Born in France, he moved to Belgium as a child and began his career there at Standard Liège, going onto Porto in 2011 where he won c ...

withdrew through injury for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in October 2016. In January 2018,

William Gallas William Eric Gallas (born 17 August 1977) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played most of his footballing career in France and England before finishing his career in Australia with A-League club Perth Glo ...

, former Arsenal and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

player said that Kimpembe is the future of the French team. Kimpembe finally made his first team debut on 27 March 2018, a year and a half after his first call-up, in a friendly against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. He came on for

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the France national team. Dembélé began his career at Rennes before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2016. He ...

in the 72nd minute of a 3–1 away victory. On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23 man French squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in

. Kimpembe won the World Cup with France in 2018, a tournament in which he played a total of 90 minutes, against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. On 18 May 2021, he was called up to the 26-man French squad for the 2020 European Championships. He started in all four matches for France, playing in every minute of the tournament until their eventual defeat to Switzerland in the round of 16. On 9 November 2022, he was named in the French squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. On 14 November, he withdrew from the tournament with an injury and was replaced by Axel Disasi.

Personal life

In July 2018, Kimpembe's name featured in the hit

Vegedream Satchela Evrard Djedje (born 25 August 1992 in Orléans, France), better known by the artistic name Vegedream, is a French hip hop, R&B and urban pop singer (male) songwriter of Ivorian origin. He is signed to Universal Music France and is best ...

single

Ramenez la coupe à la maison "Ramenez la coupe à la maison" ("Bring the Cup Back Home") is a song by French musician Vegedream. It was released on 19 July 2018, a few days after the France national football team won at the 2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup wa ...

. The line featuring his name, ‘Maestro Kimpembe (x7)', earned him the nickname 'Maestro'. Kimpembe provided the French voice acting for Spider-Man's enemy

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

in the 2018

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

film '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse''. In June 2020, Kimpembe began his own streetwear collection called PK3 Paris. On 1 November 2021, he launched an auction for objects belonging to sportspeople for which the profits would be given to

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. ...

in order to help the

Haitian people Haitians (French: , ht, Ayisyen) are the citizens of Haiti and the descendants in the diaspora through direct parentage. An ethnonational group, Haitians generally comprise the modern descendants of self-liberated Africans in the Caribbean terr ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain * Ligue 1: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22 *

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 * Coupe de la Ligue: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 *

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 ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

runner-up: 2019–20 France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

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 ...

Individual * UNFP Ligue 1

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

Orders * Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2018

References

External links

Profile
at the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimpembe, Presnel 1995 births Living people People from Beaumont-sur-Oise Footballers from Val-d'Oise Citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo through descent Democratic Republic of the Congo footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo under-20 international footballers French footballers France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers France international footballers Association football defenders Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players FIFA World Cup-winning players UEFA Nations League-winning players Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Black French sportspeople Democratic Republic of the Congo people of Haitian descent French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent French sportspeople of Haitian descent