Cheick Tidiane Diabaté (born 25 April 1988) is a Malian 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 ...

. From 2005 to 2016, he played for the Mali national team internationally.

Club career

Bordeaux

Diabaté was promoted to the senior squad of

Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux () or simply Bordeaux, is a French football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It competes in the Championnat National 2 ...

for the 2008–09 season following a successful season in the CFA, where he made 35 appearances and scored 18 goals. As Bordeaux preferred to field more experienced strikers, manager

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 ...

loaned Diabaté out to the

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

-based and

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 ...

club

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccien (), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ACA or simply Ajaccio, is a French professional football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and plays in the Ligue 2, the sec ...

to enable him to get more playing time.

Ajaccio (loan)

Diabaté made his debut for

in their opening match of the

2008–09 Ligue 2 The Ligue 2 season 2008–09 was the sixty-seventh edition since its establishment, and began on 1 August 2008 and ended on 29 May 2009. The fixtures were announced on 23 May 2008. Promotion and relegation Teams relegated to Ligue 2 *FC Metz, re ...

season, in a loss to

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. In the second match, he scored a brace in their 3–1 away win over

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mo ...

. Three weeks later, he scored another brace, this time in a 4–0 home thrashing of

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

. He scored one goal in each of the following three Ligue 2 matches with Ajaccio earning wins over Brest and Clermont and drawing with

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

. Diabaté's positive play continued throughout the season scoring important match-winning goals in Ligue 2 matches against

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that 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'') ...

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

, and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. He also scored a goal in the '' Derby Corse'' against

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

, in a 1–1 home Ligue 2 draw. Diabaté finished the season with 14 Ligue 2 goals, which made him the club's top scorer and placed him 4th among the top Ligue 2 scorers of the season; Ajaccio managed to stave off relegation only on the final day of the season. While on loan to AC Ajaccio, Diabaté had his contract with

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 ...

extended until June 2013.

Nancy (loan)

Diabaté returned to Bordeaux on 1 July 2009. On 20 July, he was loaned out again, this time to fellow

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club Nancy. The striker spent most of the season playing for the reserve team, playing only three matches (two matches in Ligue 1 and one match in the Coupe de la Ligue) for the first team.

Return to Bordeaux

Diabaté scored two goals in the final of the 2013 Coupe de France to help Bordeaux defeat Evian TG 3–2. Diabaté had an excellent 2013–14 Ligue 1 season with Bordeaux, registering 12 goals in 25

matches and scoring in a 1–1 away draw against

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays it ...

, one goal in each of the two rounds of matches against

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (;), commonly referred to as FC Lorient (), is a French professional association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 2, having been relegated f ...

, and a second-half brace in a 4–1 home win against

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (; commonly referred to as FCSM or simply Sochaux) is a Football in France, French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Championnat N ...

Osmanlıspor

On 27 May 2016, Diabaté joined

Osmanlıspor Sincan Belediyesi Ankaraspor Kulübü, commonly known as Ankaraspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. The club was known as Osmanlıspor ...

on a three-year contract. Having returned from his loan to Metz in the summer, it was reported in mid-August 2017 that he had agreed to the termination of his contract.

Metz (loan)

On 30 December 2016, 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 ...

club

announced that Diabaté had been loaned to

club

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

until the end of the 2016–17 season, with Metz having an option to purchase him. Diabaté helped Metz avoid relegation scoring eight goals in 14 matches and the club expressed interest in signing him permanently in June 2017.

Benevento (loan)

In January 2018, Diabaté joined

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 ...

side

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

on loan for the rest of the 2017–18 season. He scored his first goal in his first match for the

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

n team in a 3–2 win against

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

. Diabate also scored two goals a piece against

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, and

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

. His goal scoring form was such that with six goals in three games he equaled a long-standing Serie A record held since 2001 by

Dario Hubner Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius. Given name *Dario Allevi (born 1965), Italian politician *Dario Argento (born 1940), Italian film director * Dario Badinelli (born 1946), Italian triple jumper *Dario Bellezza (19 ...

. He finished the season with eight goals in 11 games, having the best goal ratio among the players with more than one appearance in

in 2010s, ahead of likes of

Edinson Cavani Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors. Nicknamed "El Matador" (The Bullfighter), he is considered as one of the ...

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

and

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Ibrahimović is known for his acrobatic strikes and Volley (association footba ...

Emirates Club

On 18 September 2018, Diabaté joined

Emirates Club Emirates Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. They play in the UAE Pro League after being promoted from the UAE First Division League. They play their home game ...

on a one-year contract.

Esteghlal

On 9 July 2019, Diabaté signed for Iranian club Esteghlal on a two-year contract. He was handed the number 7 shirt. He debuted for the club on 23 August, coming on as 67th-minute substitute for Farshid Esmaeili in a league match against Machine Sazi. Six days later, he made his first start in his first appearance at

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium (, ), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium (), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium was designed by Abdol Aziz Mirza Farman-Farmaian Architects and Associates (AFFA) with other parts of the sports comple ...

in a 1–1 draw against Foolad. On 1 November, he scored his first goals for Esteghlal, netting a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against

Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

. He scored a brace in his

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 ...

debut against

Kuwait SC Kuwait Sports Club () is a Kuwaiti professional football club based in Kuwait City. Their football team has won Kuwait Premier League 19 times and has won over 50 trophies overall. The club plays in the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium located i ...

in a 3–0 victory. He ended the season with a tally of 18 goals in all competitions of which his 13 goals in the league made him the top scorer for that season.

Al-Gharafa

On 17 September 2021, Diabaté joined

Qatari Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the ...

club

Al-Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club () is a Qatari multi-sports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Ar Rayyan, Al Rayyan municipality. The club is best known for its association football, football team, although it also has teams for other sports. The ...

Persepolis

On 2 September 2022, Diabaté joined

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

side

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

on a one-year deal. He received the squad number 25 shirt. Diabaté debuted for the club on 13 October, coming on as 85th-minute substitute for

Jürgen Locadia Jürgen Leonardo Locadia (born 7 November 1993) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), striker for Primera Federación club CF Intercity, Intercity. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for ...

in a league match against Mes Rafsanjan.

International career

Diabaté started out with Mali's national under-17 team where they participated in the

2005 African U-17 Championship The 2005 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Gambia. The top three teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship. Qualification ...

. He scored a goal in each of their group stage matches but Mali failed to advance to the knock-out stage. Less than a month after that tournament, he made his senior debut against

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

in a 2006 World Cup qualifier 5 June 2005, coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for

Dramane Coulibaly Dramane Coulibaly (born 18 March 1979) is a Malian retired 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, Amer ...

; Mali won the match 4–1. Diabaté was a member of the Mali side that earned third place at the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

. He finished the tournament as one of the top scorers, having netted three goals in total, including two in the third place play-off against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

on 11 February 2012, which Mali won 2–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Mali's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Diabaté goal.''

Honours

Bordeaux *

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 ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Esteghlal *

Hazfi Cup Hazfi Cup (, ) formerly known as Pahlavi Cup () is an Iranian knockout football competition held annually by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Football League, Iranian football league was not held during the 1980s, h ...

runner-up: 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 ...

Persepolis *

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 ...

Iranian Super Cup The Iranian Super Cup (Persian language, Persian: سوپر جام ایران, ''Super Jam-e 'Iran'') is an Iranian association football trophy awarded to the winner of a match between the Persian Gulf Pro League's season champion and the winner of ...

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 ...

Mali *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

third place:

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 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Individual *

top scorer:

(three goals) *

top scorer:

(six goals) * Persian Gulf Pro League top scorer: 2019–20 (15 goals)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diabate, Cheick 1988 births Footballers from Bamako Living people 21st-century Malian sportsmen Men's association football forwards Malian men's footballers Mali men's youth international footballers Mali men's international footballers JS Centre Salif Keita players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players AC Ajaccio players AS Nancy Lorraine players Ankaraspor footballers FC Metz players Benevento Calcio players Emirates Club players Esteghlal F.C. players Al-Gharafa SC players Persepolis F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Süper Lig players Serie A players UAE Pro League players Persian Gulf Pro League players Qatar Stars League players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Malian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Malian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Malian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Malian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Malian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Malian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Malian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar