Bafétimbi Gomis (born 6 August 1985) is a French former 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. Gomis played youth football with

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

before making his professional debut for the club in 2004, also spending time on loan at

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

. In 2009, he joined Saint-Étienne's Derby du Rhone rivals

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

for a fee of €13 million. Over five seasons at the

Stade Gerland The Stade de Gerland (known for sponsorship reasons as Matmut Stadium de Gerland and otherwise known as Municipal de Gerland or Stade Gerland ) is a stadium in the city of Lyon, France, which serves as home to Top 14 rugby club Lyon OU. It has a ...

, he played 244 official matches and scored 95 goals, winning the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

and the

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 cup, super cups found in many other count ...

in 2012. In 2014, he moved to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

on a free transfer. After a loan back in France at

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, he signed for

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

, where he was top scorer as they won the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

in 2018. Gomis announced his professional retirement in 2024. Gomis made twelve appearances for the

France national team France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

from 2008 to 2013, scoring three goals. He was a member of the squad for

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

Club career

Saint-Étienne

Born in

La Seyne-sur-Mer La Seyne-sur-Mer (; "La Seyne on Sea"; ), or simply La Seyne, is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. La Seyne-sur-Mer, which is part of the agglomeration of Toulon, is situated adja ...

, Var, Gomis made 13 appearances for

in his first season with the club, scoring two league goals. In the next season, he made six goalless appearances for the club before going on loan to

in a successful six-month loan deal, where he scored six goals in 13 matches. The 2005–06 season was not as successful as the previous season, as he made 24 league appearances for Saint-Étienne, scoring only two league goals. The 2006–07 season was when Gomis established himself with Saint-Étienne, scoring ten goals in 30 appearances. Gomis continued this form into the 2007–08 season where he scored an impressive 16 goals in 34 appearances. In the 2008 summer transfer window,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

under manager

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

reportedly offered a transfer fee of £10 million for Gomis' services. However, a move did not materialise and Gomis remained at Saint-Étienne. In an interview with French newspaper ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

'', Gomis stated he was attracted by a possible move to England, but revealed

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

would be his preference. In the weeks leading up to the 2009 January transfer window, his name was again touted in speculation surrounding various

sides, though he moved to allay the rumours, stating his desire to see out the Ligue 1 season with his current club. Gomis' form in the 2008–09 season was scrutinized more heavily than it was in the previous season. Despite this, Gomis successfully netted five times in 17 league appearances, and excelled with his performances in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, scoring three times in four matches.

Lyon

On 29 July 2009,

announced that they had signed the striker for €13 million and the player had agreed to a five-year contract. With the move, Gomis became just the sixth player in

French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. In 2024, 53% of people in France declared an interest in football, with 26% being very interested. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the natio ...

history to transfer directly from Saint-Étienne to Derby du Rhône arch-rivals Lyon. On the first day of the

2011–12 Ligue 1 The 2011–12 Ligue 1 season was the 74th since its establishment. Lille were the defending champions. The league schedule was announced on 31 March 2011 and the fixtures were determined on 10 June. The season began on 6 August 2011 and ended on ...

campaign, Gomis scored the winning goal in a 3–1 victory over

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

firing his side to a 3–1 away victory. Gomis bagged four goals in the last round of the

2011–12 UEFA Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...

group stage, helping Lyon to a 7–1 victory over

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

and progression to the Round of 16 on goal difference. He also created a new record for the fastest Champions League hat-trick ever scored, beating the record owned by Mike Newell. The record was later broken by

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a right winger or Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., L ...

in the

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League was the 68th season of Europe's premier club Association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions ...

group stage as

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

routed

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

7–1. On 25 February 2012, Gomis scored on a volley to bring his side level with league leaders PSG 1–1; the match finished in a dramatic 4–4 draw, after Lyon was winning 4–2. He replaced

Alexandre Lacazette Alexandre Armand Lacazette (; born 28 May 1991) is a French professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains club Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon. He p ...

in the 70th minute in a derby match against former club

on 17 March, and ten minutes later scored a 30-yard strike to earn his side a 1–0 victory. He continued his rich vein of form against relegation-threatened

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

on 24 March when he converted an

Anthony Réveillère Anthony Guy Marie Réveillère (born 10 November 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent most of his professional career with Rennes and Lyon, amassing Ligue 1 totals of 426 matches and five goals du ...

cross to earn his side a 2–1 victory.

Swansea City

On 27 June 2014, Gomis signed a four-year contract at

after leaving Lyon at the end of the

2013–14 Ligue 1 The 2013–14 Ligue 1 was the 76th season since its establishment. The season began on 9 August 2013 and ended on 17 May 2014. Paris Saint-Germain were the defending champions. As in the previous years, Adidas provided the official ball for all ...

season on a free transfer. He made his competitive debut in the opening match of the season on 16 August, replacing

Wilfried Bony Wilfried Guemiand Bony (born 10 December 1988) is an Ivorian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Having begun his career at Issia Wazy, Bony moved to AC Sparta Prague, Spa ...

for the last 13 minutes of an eventual 2–1 win over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. On 26 August he scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 1–0 victory over

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

in the Second Round of the League Cup. Gomis scored his first Premier League goal on 9 November 2014 scoring the winner barely a minute after entering the field, as his side came from behind to beat

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 ...

2–1. At the beginning of 2015, with Bony leaving to the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

Gomis became the main forward for the Swans, starting the year with a brace at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Prenton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers F.C., Tranmere Rovers Football Club since opening in 1912, and formerly the home ground ...

in a 2–6 win in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. On 10 January, after equalising in a 1–1 home draw against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, he displayed a

French flag The national flag of France () is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue ( hoist side), white, and red. The design was adopted after the French Revolution, whose revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped r ...

in support of victims of recent shootings in Paris. On 4 April 2015, Gomis scored in the 38th minute against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

with a volley and further sealed the victory by chipping the ball over the Hull City keeper giving him his first

brace and

a 3–1 victory.

Loan to Marseille

On 29 July 2016, Gomis signed on loan to

for the 2016–17 season. On 14 August, he made his debut in a 3–1 loss against

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

. On 21 November, coach

Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Belgium national team. Garcia began his professional career with Lille, and went on to have stints ...

made him the captain of the squad for the remainder of the season. Across all competitions, Gomis scored 21 goals in 33 matches for ''l'OM''. This included a hat-trick on 27 January 2017 in a 5–1 win over Montpellier.

Galatasaray

On 28 June 2017, Gomis joined the Turkish club

for an undisclosed fee. He was convinced to join by their former players and his friends,

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

and Aurélien Chedjou. He made his debut for the

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

-based club on 13 July in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League away to Östersunds, a 2–0 loss. On 14 August, he made his

debut as his team opened the season with a 4–1 win over

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. Gomis scored twice and assisted

Younès Belhanda Younès Belhanda (; born 25 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Qatar Stars League club Al-Shamal. Born in France, he played for the Morocco national team. Early life Belhanda was born in Avigno ...

. In a game against

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

on 9 December, Gomis equalised in a 4–2 comeback win at the

Türk Telekom Stadium Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi (commonly known as Ali Sami Yen Stadium), branded as Rams Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium serving as the home ground of the Süper Lig club Galatasaray. It is located in the Seyrantepe quarter of th ...

but was later given a red card. On 23 February 2018, Gomis scored his first hat-trick in Turkey, in a 5–0 home win over

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

. He added four more goals on 3 March in a 7–0 victory at

Kardemir Karabükspor Kardemir Demir Çelik Karabükspor, known simply as Kardemir Karabükspor or Karabükspor, was a Turkish sports club based in Karabük. The team was founded in 1969 after a merger between "Karabük Gençlikspor" and "Demir Çelik Spor". The club ...

, between the 17th and 33rd minutes. He finished the campaign with 29 goals from 33 games, including the sole goal away to Göztepe to win the league title on the last day, making him the Gol Kralı (top scorer).

Al-Hilal

On 24 August 2018, Gomis signed for Saudi champions Al-Hilal, on a two-year deal for a €7 million fee. The club finished as runners-up to

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

rivals

Al-Nassr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

due to a dip of form in the final stretch of the season from Gomis and the rest of the team. With 21 goals, he was joint second top scorer behind the rivals'

Abderrazak Hamdallah Abderrazak Hamdallah (; born 17 December 1990) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab and the Morocco national team. He is nicknamed The Executioner for his goal scoring ability. He s ...

. Gomis scored 11 goals in the

2019 AFC Champions League The 2019 AFC Champions League was the 38th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 17th under the current AFC Champions League title. Al-Hilal defeated Urawa Red Diamo ...

, finishing the tournament as the top scorer, and contributing to winning the competition for Al-Hilal for the third time in 19 years. In the second leg of the 2019 AFC Champions League Final on 24 November, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 away win over

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

, which saw Al-Hilal win the title with a 3–0 aggregate victory; the title also allowed the team to qualify for the

2019 FIFA Club World Cup The 2019 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 presented by Alibaba Cloud for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club association football, fo ...

. Gomis was also awarded with the tournament MVP award for his role in delivering the title to Al-Hilal and became the first European player to be top scorer in the competition. On 14 December, Gomis led Al-Hilal into the semi-finals of

by scoring the only goal of the match against African champions

Espérance de Tunis :''See also Esperance (disambiguation)'' Espérance is one of the two French language, French words that can be translated into "hope", the other being "espoir". Whereas the latter is closer to the idea of "dream" or "fantasy" and corresponds to mo ...

. On 21 December, he played in the second half of the third place game against CONCACAF champion

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

and scored a goal in the 64th minute that leveled the match 2–2. He also scored in the penalty shoot-out, but his team still lost the shoot-out 4–3. Overall, Gomis played three games in the Club World Cup and scored two goals.

Return to Galatasaray

On 2 February 2022,

announced the signing of Gomis on a one-and-a-half-year deal. He finished the season by playing 16 matches and scoring nine goals. Gomis became the champion in the

in the

2022–23 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 ...

season with Galatasaray. Defeating Ankaragücü 4–1 away in the match played in the 36th week on 30 May 2023, Galatasaray secured the lead with two weeks before the end and won the 23rd championship in its history. On 8 June 2023, it was announced that he left Galatasaray and a thank you message was published.

Kawasaki Frontale

On 8 August 2023, two days after his 38th birthday, Gomis was announced as the new player of four-time

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

champions,

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium i ...

. Ten days later, he was assigned number 18 shirt, previously worn by

Chanathip Songkrasin Chanathip Songkrasin (, ; born 5 October 1993), is a Thai professional Association football, footballer who plays as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for Thai League 1 club BG Pathum United F.C., BG Pathum United. Chanat ...

. This was also the number that

Kaoru Mitoma is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a left winger for club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Japan national team. He is best known for his dribbling ability. Club career Early years Born in Hita, Ōita, Mitoma eventually moved ...

once wore. He scored a hat-trick against

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of the 2024 season. Th ...

on 11 May 2024, which proved to be his only goals for the club. After 13 months, he left Kawasaki Frontale by mutual consent. He announced his retirement on 10 November 2024.

International career

Born in France, Gomis was also eligible to play for

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

through his ancestry. On 8 May 2008, he said regarding his international future: "I don't have to choose between the French or Senegalese teams, as I have not been called yet. The French team? It would be pretentious to ask for it, but I am not adverse to the French team." On 18 May 2008, Gomis was called up for the provisional French

squad, ahead of experienced striker

David Trezeguet David Sergio Trezeguet (, ; born 15 October 1977) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Trezeguet began his career in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense at ...

, due to his particularly good form towards the end of Saint-Étienne's season. Gomis scored two goals in 26 minutes in a warm-up match against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

on 27 May. He was the first player to score twice on his debut for the national team since

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; ; ''Zineddin Lyazid Zidan''; ; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as an attacking midfi ...

. On 28 May, he was selected in the French squad ahead of

striker

Djibril Cissé Djibril Cissé (born 12 August 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Cissé started his career at his boyhood club Arles-Avignon in 1989, before playing for the youth teams at Nîmes and Auxerre. Cissé sp ...

. On 9 June, Gomis won his third cap by coming on as a substitute for

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly featur ...

in the scoreless draw against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. On 7 October 2009, he collapsed in the training for the match against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

. In 2011, after a good start of the season with Lyon,

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

called up Gomis for

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

qualification matches against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Personal life

Gomis has a medical condition, suspected to be

reflex syncope Reflex syncope is a brief loss of consciousness due to a neurologically induced drop in blood pressure and/or a decrease in heart rate. Before an affected person passes out, there may be sweating, a decreased ability to see, or ringing ...

, which means he is liable to faint during times of stress. This has caused him to faint during a number of matches. He is the cousin of fellow footballers

Nampalys Mendy Nampalys Mendy (born 23 June 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lens. Born in France, he represents Senegal at international level. Due to his small stature, simple distribution, and reliable ...

and Alexandre Mendy.

In popular culture

Gomis' iconic goal celebration is inspired by Salif Keïta. It is nicknamed "The Black Panther" and features in the FIFA video game series, first appearing in

FIFA 17 ''FIFA 17'' is a football simulation video game developed and published by Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., A ...

. An image of Gomis after his goal against

on 14 August 2015, captured by

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (stylized as gettyimages) is a visual media company and supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video, and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three mark ...

Stuart Forster was nominated for football picture of the year at the Sports Journalism Awards.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gomis goal''

Honours

Saint-Étienne *

: 2003–04 Lyon *

: 2011–12 *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Galatasaray *

: 2017–18,

Al-Hilal *

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

: 2019–20,

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 ...

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

: 2019–20 *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup () is the annual super cup tournament in Saudi Arabian football. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the Super Cup has been contested by four teams since 2022: the winners and runners-up of the King's Cup and the Sa ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Kawasaki Frontale *

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * UNFP Player of the Month: January 2007 * Süper Lig Player of the Season: 2017–18 * Süper Lig Forward of the Season: 2017–18 * Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2017–18 * Gol Kralı: 2017–18 * Saudi Professional League Player of the Month: February 2019 * AFC Champions League Top scorer:

* AFC Champions League Most Valuable Player:

Fans' Best XI:

OPTA Best XI:

* Saudi Professional League Top Goalscorer:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomis, Bafetimbi 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from La Seyne-sur-Mer Footballers from Var (department) French men's footballers Men's association football forwards SC Toulon players AS Saint-Étienne players ES Troyes AC players Olympique Lyonnais players Swansea City A.F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Al-Hilal Saudi FC players Kawasaki Frontale players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Süper Lig players Saudi Pro League players J1 League players AFC Champions League Elite–winning players France men's youth international footballers France men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Japan French expatriate sportspeople in Wales French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia French expatriate sportspeople in Japan Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Senegalese descent 21st-century French sportsmen