Ibrahima Traoré (born 21 April 1988) is a 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

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Born in France, he represented

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

internationally. Coming through the youth system, Traoré began his senior career with French amateur club Levallois in 2005. He moved to Germany one year later, playing for

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

's reserve team

Hertha BSC II Hertha BSC II is the reserve team of Hertha BSC that is based in Berlin, Germany. Historically, during the time the senior team played in professional football the team has played as Hertha BSC Amateure. Since 2005 it has played under its current ...

. Following a season at

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

in 2009–10, Traoré joined

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

. He later moved to

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

in 2014, where he played until the end of his career in 2021. Born in France, Traoré was eligible to represent Guinea internationally through his father. He made his debut in 2010, and played for Guinea in three

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 ...

tournaments (

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and

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Early life

Traoré was born in Villepinte, France, to a

Guinean Demographics of Guinea describes the condition and overview of Guinea's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations. Population According to t ...

father and a Lebanese mother. He grew up in Guinea before returning to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the age of 4. He grew up on the same street as Gabriel Obertan.

Club career

Early career

Traoré played youth football with Charenton and Levallois. He made his senior debut with Levallois in the

Championnat de France Amateurs 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, before being transferred to German club

on 1 January 2007, making his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut for them on 9 December 2007, against 1. FC Nürnberg.

FC Augsburg

On 5 March 2009, Traoré began a trial with

, signing a two-year contract with them on 14 July.

VfB Stuttgart

In May 2011, it was announced that Traoré would move to

at the end of the 2010–11 season. In December 2013, Traoré stated that he had turned down offers from a number of English clubs over the summer.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

In April 2014, it was announced that Traoré would sign for

at the start of the 2014–15 season. On 8 August 2015, he marked his

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

debut by scoring in a 4–1 win at

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St. Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St. Pauli (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg. The team plays in the Bundesliga from the 2024–25 Bundesli ...

in the first round of the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

. In May 2017, he signed a new contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach, lasting until 2021. He made his 100th competitive appearance for the club in October the following year, after coming on as a substitute in a 4–0 win over

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. In May 2021, after a seven-year stay with the club, he left Mönchengladbach when his contract expired. He earned over 130 appearances for the club across all competitions.

International career

Traoré made his international debut for

on 11 August 2010, against

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. Guinea won the match 2–0, with Traoré scoring Guinea's second goal. In the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification 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 s ...

on 8 October 2011, Traoré scored in the last game of group B against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

a last-second equalizer in the 90+12-minute, meaning Guinea's qualification for 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 ...

. In November 2014, concerns were raised about Traoré playing for Guinea due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He was selected to Guinea's squad for the

2015 African 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 orga ...

and scored the team's equaliser in a 1–1 draw with

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

at the

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

. After the tournament, he took a break from international football, returning in March 2016.

Career statistics

International

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Traore, Ibrahima 1988 births Living people Footballers from Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis Men's association football wingers Guinea men's international footballers French men's footballers Guinean men's footballers 21st-century Guinean sportsmen Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players VfB Stuttgart players Hertha BSC players Hertha BSC II players FC Augsburg players Levallois SC players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Guinean people of Lebanese descent French sportspeople of Guinean descent French people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople of Lebanese descent 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate men's footballers Guinean expatriate men's footballers Black French sportspeople 21st-century French sportsmen