Mathis Gazoa Kippersund Bolly (born 14 November 1990) is a 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 forward. Bolly made his professional debut for the Norwegian top flight side

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

. He represented

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

at youth international level, but chose to represent Ivory Coast national.

Club career

Born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

to a Norwegian mother and an Ivorian father, Bolly grew up at

Holmlia Holmlia is a neighborhood in Oslo, Norway with around 12,000 residents. It is located in the south-western part of Søndre Nordstrand, the southernmost borough in Oslo. The neighborhood is served by Holmlia Station on the Østfold Line, which ...

in Oslo and played youth football for Lyn, Oppsal IL and

before transferring to

in 2008. He made his debut for the first team in the

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

match against Stabæk and played two matches in his first season with the club. In the 2009 season, Bolly's second season with Lillestrøm, he played 10 matches in Tippeligaen. Bolly scored his first Tippeligaen goal in the 1–0 victory against

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

on 3 October 2010. During the 2012 season Bolly scored four goals and made four assists. His contract with Lillestrøm lasted till the end of the 2013 season, though he had told the club that he didn't want to renew his contract. Lillestrøm subsequently accepted an offer from

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

and on 2 January 2013, Bolly signed for a three-and-a-half-year contract with the German side. Bolly made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut in the match against

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

when he came on as a substitute. He started the next match against Bayern Munich on 9 March 2013, where he also scored one of Fortuna Düsseldorf's goals in the 3–2 loss. The next week, Bolly scored another goal when Fortuna Düsseldorf drew 1–1 away against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

. Fortuna Düsseldorf was relegated after the 2012–13 season, but Bolly stayed with the team when they played in the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

in the following season. On 19 February 2019, Bolly joined Molde on a one-year contract. He got his Molde debut on 18 July 2019 when he came on as a 62nd minute substitute in Molde's 0–0 draw away against KR in the

2019–20 UEFA Europa League The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla defeated Inter Milan in the fin ...

first qualifying round. On 1 October 2019, Molde announced that they had agreed a contract extension with Bolly that will keep him at the club till the end of the 2022 season.

International career

Bolly played three matches for the Norwegian under-19 team in 2009, and was called up for the under-21 team in February and March 2013. He was also included in the Norwegian preliminary squad for the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

, but withdrew from the squad when he in May 2013 was called up for the Ivory Coast national team for the World Cup qualifiers against Gambia and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

. His former manager at Lillestrøm,

Henning Berg Henning Stille Berg (; born 1 September 1969) is a Norwegian football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Cypriot First Division club Pafos FC. His career lasted from 1988 to 2004, most notably in the Premier League where h ...

, stated that it was a big loss for Norway and that Bolly could have been an important player for the national team in the future. He played his first game for the Ivory Coast against Gambia on 8 June 2013. He played his second match for Ivory Coast in the friendly match against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in August 2013, playing alongside Didier Drogba. Bolly was an unused substitute in the decisive play-off match against

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

when Ivory Coast qualified for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. He was selected to represent the Ivory Coast at the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, and got his World Cup debut as a second-half substitute in the Ivory Coast's second group game against Colombia.

Style of play

When he joined Lillestrøm in 2008, Bolly ran 40 meters in 4.77 seconds. After the 2009 season, he ran 40 meters in 4.61 seconds, which makes him the second fastest Tippeligaen player ever, only beaten by

Luton Shelton Luton George Kieshawn Shelton (11 November 1985 – 22 January 2021) was a Jamaican professional footballer who played as a striker or winger. At the time of his death, he was the top scorer for the Jamaican national football team with 35 g ...

. When

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

released the video game

FIFA 14 ''FIFA 14'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released in September 2013 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStat ...

, Bolly was the fastest player in the game in terms of sprint speed. As of FIFA 17, he still holds this achievement. However, in the FIFA 18 edition,

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang (born 18 June 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Chelsea. He is renowned for his pace, finishing, and off-ball movement. Born in France, he is a former ...

replaces him as the fastest player in the game in terms of sprint speed and acceleration.

Career statistics

Honours

Molde *

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

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 ...

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolly, Mathis 1990 births Living people Footballers from Oslo Ivorian footballers Ivory Coast international footballers Norwegian footballers Ivorian people of Norwegian descent Norwegian people of Ivorian descent Association football midfielders Holmlia SK players Lillestrøm SK players Molde FK players Eliteserien players Fortuna Düsseldorf players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Ivorian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany 2014 FIFA World Cup players