Brice Lauriche Samba (born 25 April 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Lens. Born in the Republic of the Congo, he plays for the France national team.
_6_(cropped).jpg) Samba playing for Lens in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brice Lauriche Samba[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 25 April 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Linzolo, Republic of the Congo | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lens | ||
| Number | 30 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2002 | Pacy Vallée-d'Eure | ||
| 2002–2006 | Madeleine Evreux | ||
| 2006–2011 | Le Havre | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2013 | Le Havre B | 27 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Le Havre | 0 | (0) |
| 2013–2017 | Marseille B | 9 | (0) |
| 2013–2017 | Marseille | 1 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | → Nancy B (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | → Nancy (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Caen B | 3 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | Caen | 43 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Nottingham Forest | 125 | (0) |
| 2022– | Lens | 70 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2023– | France | 3 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2024 | |||
Club career
Le Havre
Samba joined Le Havre in 2006, working his way through their youth teams before appearing in the first-team in 2011.[3]
Marseille
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On 4 January 2013, Samba joined Marseille from Le Havre, signing a four-and-a-half year contract. He made his professional debut for Marseille on 5 January 2014 in a Coupe de France game against Reims keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win.[4] On 9 July 2015, Samba joined Nancy on a season-long loan.[5]
Caen
Samba joined Caen on a four-year deal from Marseille on 30 June 2017.[6][7]
Nottingham Forest
On 7 August 2019, Samba joined EFL Championship side Nottingham Forest on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[8][9][10] He was initially brought in as a backup for on loan goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, but earned his place as Forest's number one after Muric made a number of costly mistakes.[11]
Samba made his debut for Forest on 13 August 2019 in a 1–0 EFL Cup victory over Fleetwood Town.[12] His league debut came on 24 August 2019 in a 2–1 win against Fulham.[citation needed] His impressive performances led him being named the Championship Fans' Player of the Month for November 2019.[13] On 8 September 2020, Samba was included in the PFA Championship Team of the Year for the 2019–20 season.[14]
In the 2022 Championship play-off semi-final, Samba saved three penalties to send Forest through to the final against Huddersfield Town.[15] He subsequently started in the 2022 EFL Championship play-off final before being substituted for Ethan Horvath in the 90th minute with a groin injury as Forest held on to a 1–0 lead to confirm their return to the Premier League for first time in 23 years.[16]
Lens
On 5 July 2022, it was announced that Samba had signed a five-year contract with Ligue 1 club Lens for an undisclosed fee.[17][18] In the first half of the 2022–23 Ligue 1 season, he had 9 clean sheets out of 19 games.[19] He ended the season with 15 clean sheets out of 38 league matches, the highest in the season and was awarded the Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year whilst being named in the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year.[20][21] He conceded the least goals (29 goals) in the league helping Lens to place second with 84 points, one point behind league winners Paris Saint-Germain and secure a champions league spot for the first time in 20 years since 2002–03 season and the third time in the club's history.[22][23][24]
International career
Born in the Republic of the Congo, Samba holds both Congolese and French nationalities.[25]
In March 2023, he received his first call-up to the France senior national team for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.[26][27]
On 16 June 2023, he made his debut playing the whole game in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against Gibraltar.[28]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 12 May 2024[29]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Le Havre B | 2010–11 | CFA | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2011–12 | CFA | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||||
| 2012–13 | CFA | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 27 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 27 | 0 | ||||||
| Le Havre | 2012–13 | Ligue 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Marseille B | 2012–13 | CFA 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | CFA 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||||
| 2014–15 | CFA 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||||
| 2016–17 | CFA | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||||
| Marseille | 2012–13 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Nancy B (loan) | 2015–16 | CFA 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Nancy (loan) | 2015–16 | Ligue 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| Caen B | 2017–18 | Championnat National 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Caen | 2017–18 | Ligue 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | Ligue 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 43 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| Nottingham Forest | 2019–20 | Championship | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Championship | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 46 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Championship | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
| Total | 125 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 134 | 0 | ||
| Lens | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 37 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8[d] | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | |||
| Total | 70 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 281 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 312 | 0 | ||
International
- As of match played 23 March 2024[30]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2023 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | |
Honours
Nottingham Forest
Individual
- PFA Championship Fans Player of the Month: November 2019[13]
- PFA Team of the Year: 2019–20 EFL Championship[14]
- Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year: 2022–23[21]
- UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2022–23[20]
References
External links
- Brice Samba at the French Football Federation (in French)
