Stéphane Mbia Etoundi (born 20 May 1986) is a Cameroonian 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 defensive midfielder or defender. He played 179 games and scored nine goals in

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 ...

over nine seasons playing for

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 ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. He spent two years at Sevilla, winning the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

in both. Mbia played for Cameroon 68 times from 2005 to 2016 and scored five goals for the national team. He was included in the squads for the

2008 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 Nati ...

, two

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

tournaments and two

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 ...

Club career

Rennes

Born in Yaoundé, Mbia made his debut for the

first team during the 2005–06 season, going on to make a handful of appearances over the campaign. The Cameroonian scored his first

goal in November 2006 against the incumbent French champions

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 ...

. On 18 April 2007, Mbia was abused by Lyon player Milan Baroš. This led to disciplinary action being taken against Baroš by the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

, who banned the striker for three matches.

Marseille

On 14 July 2009, Mbia completed his £10.4 million move to

from Rennes, going on to play a vital role in Marseille's victorious Ligue 1 campaign that season, starting off as a defensive midfielder but later making the transition to the role of centre back alongside former

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 ...

player

Souleymane Diawara Souleymane Diawara (born 24 December 1978) is a Senegalese former professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent most of his career in France, playing for Le Havre, Sochaux, Bordeaux, Marseille and OGC Nice, apart from a brief stint ...

. His redeployment at centre back was a success and he went on to play the rest of the season in this position, where he was considered to be one of the best performers in Didier Deschamps' talented squad, as he formed a formidable defensive partnership with Diawara.

Queens Park Rangers

On 31 August 2012 Mbia signed a two-year deal with English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Queens Park Rangers, signing for an undisclosed fee, with Joey Barton heading in the opposite direction on a season-long loan. On 27 October 2012, Mbia was sent off seventeen minutes from the end of only his fourth league appearance for QPR, a 1–0 defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

. He was dismissed in the 79th minute for violent conduct after kicking Gunners defender

Thomas Vermaelen Thomas Vermaelen (born 14 November 1985) is a retired Belgian professional footballer who is currently an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Being left-footed, he usually played as a left-sided centre-back and could play at left-bac ...

in retaliation to a strong challenge that had left Mbia floored. He received the standard three-match ban from the FA, and became ineligible for QPR's league games against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. On 6 May 2013, Mbia tweeted to Joey Barton, asking him if he would like to switch seats with him at Marseille in hinting that he wanted to leave Queen Park Rangers after they were relegated from the Premier League. In July 2013 Mbia scored his first goal for the club in a pre-season friendly against Southend United and expressed desire to stay at QPR.

Sevilla

On 26 August 2013, Mbia was loaned out to Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

for the rest of the season. Mbia made his Sevilla debut on 1 September, providing an assist for

Kevin Gameiro Kevin Dominique Gameiro (born 9 May 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Strasbourg. He is a strong striker who is known for his clinical finishing, which compensates for his relatively light frame. ...

's first goal in a 2–2 draw with

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

. On 27 October, Mbia provided assists for both Ivan Rakitić and

Jairo Samperio Jairo Samperio Bustara (born 11 July 1993), known simply as Jairo, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Hungarian club Budapest Honvéd FC. Club career Racing Santander Born in Cabezón de la Sal, Cantabria, Jairo ...

as Sevilla overcame 10-man

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

2–1. His first goal in

came in the

Seville derby The Seville derby (''Derbi Sevillano''), also known as The Great Derby (''El Gran Derbi''), is the name of a local city derby located in Seville, Spain contested between Real Betis and Sevilla. Sevilla FC were founded in 1890. This was followe ...

against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

on 24 November, heading in Sevilla's second goal in a 4–0 win. Mbia scored with a back-heel in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against compatriots Valencia CF on 24 April 2014 in a 2–0 home win. In the second leg on 1 May, he scored the winning away goal with a header in the fourth minute of added time to take Sevilla into

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. Sevilla subsequently won the final in a shootout against Benfica at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on 14 May, with Mbia converting his penalty kick after the match had ended 0—0. On 3 June, Mbia was selected in the 18-man Europa League "Team of the Year" along with teammates Ivan Rakitić,

Nicolás Pareja Nicolás Martín Pareja (born 19 January 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a central defender. After starting out at Argentinos Juniors he went on to spend most of his career with Spartak Moscow and Sevilla, winni ...

and Beto. At the LFP Awards, he was a nominee for the league's best African player, alongside the Granada CF duo of Yacine Brahimi and

Youssef El-Arabi Youssef El-Arabi (; born 3 February 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Greek Super League club Olympiacos and the Morocco national team. He began his career with hometown club Caen in Ligue 1, making his debut in 200 ...

. On 31 August 2014, Mbia rejoined Sevilla on permanent basis. He scored his first goal of the new season on 18 September, heading in a cross from

Gerard Deulofeu Gerard Deulofeu Lázaro (; born 13 March 1994) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays for Serie A club Udinese Calcio, Udinese. Mainly a Forward (association football), forward, he can also play as a Winger (associa ...

as Sevilla started the defense of their Europa League title with a 2–0 win over

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

. Mbia netted a brace as Sevilla earned a comfortable 4–1 victory over Deportivo de La Coruña at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium on 5 October. On 27 May 2015, Mbia started for Sevilla in the

2015 UEFA Europa League Final The 2015 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, the 44th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA E ...

defeat of

FC Dnipro Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced in ...

at Poland's National Stadium, thus retaining their

crown, and qualifying the team for next season's Champions League

Later career

On 2 July 2015, Mbia joined

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

on a free transfer, signing a three-year deal. On 29 January 2016, Mbia signed for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club

Hebei China Fortune Hebei Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Langfang, Hebei and their home stadium is the La ...

. In March 2018, he left the club by mutual consent. In August 2018, Mbia joined Ligue 1 side

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

on a season-long contract. He left the club in January 2019. On 3 February 2019, Mbia returned to China to join top-flight newcomers

Wuhan Zall Wuhan Yangtze River Football Club, formerly Wuhan Zall Football Club (), is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in ...

. A year later, he moved across the league to

Shanghai Greenland Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in E ...

. He left after one season to re-join Wuhan Zall, now renamed Wuhan F.C., and reunited with his former Sevilla team-mate

Daniel Carriço Daniel Filipe Martins Carriço (born 4 August 1988) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays mainly as a central defender. He spent most of his early professional career with Sporting CP, appearing in 154 official matches over four and ...

. On 31 August 2021, Mbia returned to Spain after six years, and joined

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

on a one-year deal. The following 21 January, he left the club after alleging "personal problems".

International career

Mbia has played international football at junior level for Cameroon. He was part of the Cameroon squad that competed in the

2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland between 13 and 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1986 could particip ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, where his side were eliminated at the group stage. He made his debut for the full Cameroon national team in 2005. He was part of the squad which were runners up at the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederat ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, where he scored twice in a 3–2 win against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in the quarter-finals. Mbia was part of the Cameroon squad for the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, playing in all four of his team's matches, and scoring once against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. Mbia was also selected to represent Cameroon at the

2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange (telecommunications), Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial association football, football championship of Africa (Confederat ...

in Angola and the World Cup in South Africa. On 2 June 2014, Mbia was included by Cameroon manager

Volker Finke Volker Finke (born 24 March 1948) is a German football manager. He was the coach of SC Freiburg for 16 years. Coaching career On 6 December 2008, Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds announced they signed a contract with Finke as head coach until ...

in the final 23-man squad for the World Cup in Brazil. The team were eliminated after losing all of their group games amidst a bonuses dispute that led to Mbia replacing Samuel Eto'o as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the national team.

Personal life

Mbia is the older brother of footballer

Franck Etoundi Franck M'bia Etoundi (born 30 August 1990) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker. At international level, he made eleven appearances for the Cameroon national team scoring once. Career Born in Douala, Etoundi began h ...

, who was also a Cameroonian international.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honours

Club

Rennes *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

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; ...

Marseille *

: 2009–10 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2011–12 * Trophée des Champions:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Sevilla *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15

International

Cameroon *

runner-up:

Individual

Team of the Tournament:

CAF Team of the Year The CAF Team of the Year is an annual football award given by the Confederation of African Football during the CAF Awards. In 2007, the CAF did not choose the team of the year, but rather the best ten players of the last fifty years. The ten playe ...

: 2014 *

Squad of the season: 2013–14, 2014–15

References

External links

* *
Stade Rennais profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mbia, Stephane 1986 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Association football midfielders Cameroonian footballers Cameroon international footballers Ligue 1 players Premier League players La Liga players Süper Lig players Chinese Super League players Segunda División players Kadji Sports Academy players Stade Rennais F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Sevilla FC players Trabzonspor footballers Hebei F.C. players Toulouse FC players Wuhan Yangtze River F.C. players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players CF Fuenlabrada footballers Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Cameroon 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate footballers in France Cameroonian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in China Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in England Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in China UEFA Europa League winning players