Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano (born 27 October 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the France national team.
.jpg) Upamecano with Bayern Munich in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 27 October 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Évreux, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Bayern Munich | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Vaillante S. Angers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | FC De Prey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Évreux | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Valenciennes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | FC Liefering | 16 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Red Bull Salzburg | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2021 | RB Leipzig | 112 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021– | Bayern Munich | 79 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | France U16 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | France U17 | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | France U18 | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | France U19 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | France U21 | 16 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020– | France | 18 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:21, 20 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:23, 23 March 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life and career
Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano[2] was born on 27 October 1998[3] in Évreux, Normandy[4] and is of Bissau-Guinean descent.[5] He was raised in La Madeleine, a neighbourhood with many African immigrants.[6][7] He was named after his great-grandfather, who was king of the village on the island of Jeta in Guinea-Bissau, where his parents are from.[8] His mother is Senegalese.[9] He is the first son after four daughters, and has one younger brother.[7] He acquired French nationality on 19 November 2002, through the collective effect of his mother's naturalization.[10] As a 15-year-old, he followed speech therapy sessions to overcome dyslexia and stuttering disorders, which caused shyness and certain difficulties in expressing himself.[8]
Upamecano began playing football with local club Évreux, alongside the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Rafik Guitane and Samuel Grandsir.[7] He covered a variety of positions in his youth, before being fixed on the centre-back position.[7] He joined the youth academy of Valenciennes in 2013.[11] Described during the time as a youth in an adult body, Upamecano shaped his play after Sergio Ramos, and developed into a physically imposing defender.[7]
Club career
Red Bull Salzburg
After attracting the attention of a number of major European clubs, including Manchester United, Upamecano joined Red Bull Salzburg in July 2015 for a reported fee of €2.2 million.[12] He was an unused substitute in Red Bull's UEFA Champions League game against Malmö FF on 29 July 2015.[13] He made his professional debut for Red Bull's farm team, FC Liefering, two days later, in a 2–1 league win against St. Pölten.[14] On 19 March 2016, he made his league debut with Red Bull Salzburg in a 2–1 win over SV Mattersburg.[15]
In the first half of the 2016–17 season, Upamecano earned a regular place with the first team in both league and Europa League matches.[16]
RB Leipzig
On 13 January 2017, Upamecano joined RB Leipzig on a 4+1⁄2-year deal, for a reported €10 million fee.[17] On 4 February 2017, he made his Bundesliga debut under coach Ralph Hasenhüttl in a 1–0 defeat against Borussia Dortmund.[11] On 13 September 2017, he made his Champions League debut in a 1–1 draw against Monaco.[18] On 9 February 2018, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over Augsburg.[19] On 2 July 2018, he was shortlisted for the 2018 Golden Boy award.[20]
On 31 July 2020, Upamecano signed a new deal until 2023.[21] In the 2019–20 season, he reached with RB Leipzig the Champions League semi-finals under coach Julian Nagelsmann.[22]
Bayern Munich
On 14 February 2021, Bayern Munich announced an agreement for the signing of Upamecano on a five-year deal, to be effective as of 1 July 2021.[23] The club reportedly met his release clause from Leipzig, set at €42.5 million.[24][25] Upamecano's first game as a Bayern player came in a pre-season friendly on 16 July 2021 against fellow Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln that saw Bayern lose 3–2 after fielding a side largely consisting of reserve and youth players.[26][27]
He made his competitive debut on the opening day of the 2021–22 Bundesliga season, starting at centre-back alongside Niklas Süle in a 1–1 away draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach.[28] He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win over VfL Wolfsburg on 17 December, heading in a cross from Thomas Müller.[29]
During the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League, Bayern defeated Upamecano's France compatriot Kylian Mbappé's Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16,[30] only for them to be eliminated by a 4–1 defeat on aggregate to Manchester City in the quarter-finals, in which Upamecano's performances were heavily criticised.[31]
On 4 November 2023, he scored his first goal of the 2023–24 season in the fourth minute of a 4–0 away win over Borussia Dortmund.[32] In February 2024, Upamecano was sent off twice in the span of four days: on 14 February, he received his first straight red card in the Champions League during the round of 16 first leg away match against Lazio, which resulted in a penalty kick and a 1–0 defeat;[33] on 18 February, he received two yellow cards and again conceded a penalty in a 3–2 loss to Bochum in the Bundesliga.[34]
International career
Upamecano played for the France under-16 team that finished third in the 2014 Aegean Cup.[35] He played in three of his country's four games and was named the competition's best defender.[36][37] He subsequently moved up to the France under-17 squad, making his debut in a European Championship qualifier against Cyprus on 27 October 2014.[36] France won the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, with Upamecano playing in all six of his country's matches and being named in the team of the tournament.[38][39] He made his debut for France under-18 in a 0–0 friendly draw with United States under-18 on 4 September 2015.[40]
Upamecano made his debut for the France national football team, on 5 September 2020, starting in a UEFA Nations League group-stage match against Sweden.[41] Three days later on 8 September, he scored his first international goal in a 4–2 win against Croatia.[42]
Upamecano played a pivotal role in France's 2022 FIFA World Cup, starting five of France's seven matches.[citation needed] This includes playing the entire 120 minutes in the final in an eventual 3–3 loss in penalties to Argentina.[43]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 20 April 2024[44]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC Liefering | 2015–16 | Austrian First League | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2015–16 | Austrian Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Austrian Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[b] | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | ||
| Total | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |||
| RB Leipzig | 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11[c] | 0 | — | 41 | 3 | ||
| 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[e] | 0 | — | 38 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7[e] | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | ||
| Total | 112 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 30 | 0 | — | 154 | 4 | |||
| Bayern Munich | 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8[e] | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| 2022–23 | Bundesliga | 29 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10[e] | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 43 | 1 | |
| 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7[e] | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 30 | 1 | |
| Total | 79 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 111 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 226 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 60 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 305 | 7 | ||
International
- As of match played 23 March 2024[44]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2020 | 3 | 1 |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 18 | 2 | |
- As of match played 23 March 2024
- Scores and results list the France's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Upamecano goal.[44]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 September 2020 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | 2 |  Croatia | 3–2 | 4–2 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A |
| 2 | 24 March 2023 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | 13 |  Netherlands | 2–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
Honours
Bayern Munich
France U17
France
- UEFA Nations League: 2020–21[51]
- FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2022[52]
Individual
- UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2015[53]
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2019–20[54]
- ESM Team of the Year: 2019–20[55]
- VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2020–21,[56] 2022–23[57]
References
External links
- Profile at the FC Bayern Munich website
- Dayot Upamecano at the French Football Federation (in French)
- Dayot Upamecano – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Dayot Upamecano – FIFA competition record (archived)
