Axel Thomas Ngando Elessa (born 13 July 1993) is a French 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 plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

club

Araz-Naxçıvan PFK Araz-Naxçıvan PFK () is an Azerbaijani professional football (soccer), football club based in Nakhchivan City, Nakchivan. The club played in the Azerbaijan Premier League again in 2014–15 Azerbaijan Premier League, 2014–15 after being prom ...

. At international level, he has represented France at various youth levels.

Club career

Early career and loans

Ngando started his career playing for the "B" team of

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, who played in the

Championnat de France Amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

. He scored his first goal for the "B" team on 21 May 2011 against Poiré-sur-Vie, in which he scored in the 47th minute to help his team to a 3–2 victory. His second goal for Rennes's reserves came on 4 November 2012 against

La Chapelle-des-Marais La Chapelle-des-Marais (; Gallo: ''La Chapèll-dez-Marèsc'', ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.La Chapelle-des-Marais is located 25 km north of Saint-Nazaire, 42 km south of Redon, 57 km east o ...

, in which he scored in the 82nd minute to provide his team a 2–0 victory. After several impressive matches for the Rennes "B" team, Ngando made his debut for the first-team in a

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 ...

game on 2 February 2013 against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, in which he came on as a 90th-minute substitute for

Romain Alessandrini Romain Alessandrini (born 3 April 1989) is a French former professional footballer who played as a winger. Club career Alessandrini spent six years of his youth career at Marseille. In 2005, he moved to Gueugnon making his debut in the third- ...

and scored a goal, just one minute into his debut in the 91st minute to equalize for Rennes and finish the match at a score of 2–2. Rennes loaned Ngando to

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

on 4 September 2013, to continue his progress. Three days later, he made his first start with Auxerre B against

Feurs Feurs (; ) is a commune in the department of Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. History Antiquity The city was founded by the Romans. The name ''Feurs'' is a contraction of ''Forum Segusiavorum'', in reference to the forum of the Gallo-Ro ...

. On 12 January 2015, Ngando was loaned to

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 ...

for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.

Later career

On 31 August 2015, Ngando joined

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

on a three-year deal. In 2017, he joined

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 ...

side Göztepe S.K. Ngando returned to France on 1 August 2019, rejoining

permanently. On 30 December 2021, he signed for Ligue 2 side

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

. On 18 September 2023, Ngando joined Azerbaijani club

, on a one-year deal.

International career

Ngando is a France youth international, having represented his country at under-18 through under-21 levels, including winning the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

, in which he scored in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in the final.

Personal life

He is the nephew of former Cameroon international

Patrick Mboma Henri Patrick Mboma Dem (born 15 November 1970) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the fourth all-time top goal-scorer for the Cameroon national team. Club career Born in Douala, Cameroon, Mboma sta ...

, and is eligible to represent either Cameroon or France at senior level.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

France U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngando, Axel 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Asnières-sur-Seine French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 3 players Championnat National 2 players Stade Rennais FC players AJ Auxerre players Angers SCO players SC Bastia players Grenoble Foot 38 players Göztepe S.K. footballers Araz-Naxçıvan PFK players Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey 21st-century French sportsmen