Kara Mbodji

Kara Mbodji

Mbodji with Genk in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Serigne Modou Kara Mbodji[1]
Date of birth	(1989-11-22) 22 November 1989 (age 35)[2]
Place of birth	Ndiass, Senegal
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Youth career
	Diambars FC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2010	Diambars FC	43	(4)
2010–2012	Tromsø	70	(8)
2013–2015	Genk	75	(4)
2015–2019	Anderlecht	90	(6)
2018–2019	→ Nantes (loan)	6	(0)
2019–2022	Al-Sailiya	57	(3)
International career
2011–2012	Senegal U23	7	(1)
2011–2018	Senegal	47	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Serigne Modou Kara Mbodji (born 22 November 1989), commonly known as Kara or Kara Mbodji, is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays for the Senegal national team. He can be deployed as a defender, defensive midfielder or in the central midfield.

Club career

Tromsø

At the age of 15, Mbodji joined the Diambars academy in Dakar, Senegal.^[3] On 2 February 2010, he joined Norwegian club Tromsø IL. During his three seasons in the Norwegian Premier League, he was awarded best player of his team and twice second best player of the Championship.

Genk

On 31 December 2012, Mbodji joined KRC Genk for a fee of €1.4 million.^[4] After regularly starting for Genk in defence and winning the 2012–13 Belgian Cup, his contract was extended until June 2018.

Anderlecht

On 7 August 2015, he joined R.S.C. Anderlecht for a fee of €4.5 million, signing a four-year deal until June 2019.^[3] In August 2017, he agreed a contract extension with the club until 2020.^[5] In his time at the club he made 97 appearances scoring 7 goals.^[6]

Nantes

On 30 August 2018, one day before the closing of the 2018 summer transfer window, Mbodji moved to Ligue 1 side FC Nantes on loan for the 2018–19 season. Nantes also secured an option to sign him permanently.^[6] His loan ended early, in January 2019, with Mbodji citing lack of playing time.^[7]

Al-Sailiya

On 20 July 2019, Al-Sailiya signed Kara Mbodji for three season from Anderlecht.^[8]

International career

Mbodji was a part of the Senegal team for the 2012 Olympic Games.^[9] He was included in the Senegal national football team's squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and scored in a 1–1 draw with South Africa in the team's second group match.^[10]

In June 2018 he was named in Senegal's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.^[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of 7 February 2024^[12]

Club	Season	League			National Cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Tromsø	2010	Tippeligaen	22	0	2	0	—		—		24	0
	2011		26	5	1	0	4[b]	0	—		31	5
	2012		22	3	4	0	3[b]	1	—		29	4
	Total		70	8	7	0	7	1	—		84	9
Genk	2012–13	First Division	2	0	2	0	0	0	8[c]	2	12	2
	2013–14		26	0	3	0	10[b]	2	8[d]	0	47	2
	2014–15		24	2	1	0	—		6[c]	0	31	2
	2015–16		2	0	—		—		—		2	0
	Total		54	2	6	0	10	2	22	2	92	6
Anderlecht	2015–16	First Division	24	1	0	0	9[b]	1	8[c]	1	41	3
	2016–17	First Division A	21	3	0	0	7[b]	0	8[c]	1	36	4
	2017–18		12	0	1	0	5[e]	0	2[f]	0	20	0
	2018-19		9	0	—		—		8[c]	0	17	0
	Total		66	4	1	0	21	1	26	2	114	7
Nantes (loan)	2018–19	Ligue 1	6	0	1	0	—		1[g]	0	8	0
	Total		6	0	1	0	—		1	0	8	0
Al-Sailiya	2019-20	Qatar Stars League	22	1	0	0	1[h]	0	1[i]	1	24	2
	2020-21		17	2	2	0	—		8[j]	1	27	3
	2021-22		18	0	2	0	—		8[k]	0	28	0
	Total		57	3	4	0	1	0	17	2	79	5
Career total			253	17	19	0	39	4	66	6	377	27

1. Appearances in the Norwegian Football Cup, the Belgian Cup, the Coupe de France, and the Emir Cup
2. Appearances in the Europa League
3. Appearances in the Belgian First Division playoffs
4. Seven appearances in the Belgian First Division playoffs, and one appearance in the Belgian Super Cup
5. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
6. One appearance in the Belgian First Division A playoffs, and one appearance in the Belgian Super Cup
7. Appearances in the Coupe de la Ligue
8. Appearances in the AFC Champions League
9. Appearances in the Qatari Stars Cup
10. Five appearances in the Qatari Stars Cup, and three appearances in the Qatar FA Cup
11. Six appearances in the Qatari Stars Cup, one appearance in the Qatar FA Cup, and one appearance in the Qatari Stars League relegation play-off

International

As of 8 June 2018^[13]

Senegal
Year	Apps	Goals
2011	1	0
2012	1	0
2013	3	0
2014	7	1
2015	10	1
2016	6	0
2017	12	2
2018	1	0
Total	41	4

Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first^[13]

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	19 November 2014	Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Botswana	1–0	3–0	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.	23 January 2015	Estadio de Mongomo, Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea	South Africa	1–1	1–1	2015 Africa Cup of Nations
3.	15 January 2017	Stade de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon	Tunisia	2–0	2–0	2017 Africa Cup of Nations
4.	14 November 2017	Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	South Africa	2–1	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Genk

• Belgian Cup: 2012–13

Anderlecht

• Belgian First Division A: 2016–17
• Belgian Super Cup: 2017

Al-Sailiya SC

• Qatari Stars Cup: 2020-21, 2021-22

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players:" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
2. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
3. "Kara Mbodji tekent overeenkomst bij RSC Anderlecht". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 7 August 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
4. "Kara enig med Genk" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012.
5. Dove, Ed (13 August 2017). "Kara Mbodji extends Anderlecht deal". ESPN FC. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
6. Okeleji, Oluwashina (30 August 2018). "Senegal's Kara Mbodji joins Nantes on season's loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
7. Okeleji, Oluwashina (15 January 2019). "Senegal's Kara Mbodji confirms and explains Nantes exit". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
8. "Kara Mbodji (ex-Nantes) quitte Anderlecht pour Al-Sailiya". L'Équipe (in French).
9. "Kara Mbodj Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
10. "South Africa 1-1 Senegal". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
11. Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
12. Kara Mbodji at Soccerway
13. "Kara Mbodji". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 15 July 2018.

External links

• Kara Mbodji at Tromsø IL official website