Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a French 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 defender, and currently television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career in the 1980s and 1990s with

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 ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and towards the end of his career had spells at Scottish club Rangers, at

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, and at Japanese side Urawa Reds. Although born in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, he also made 45 appearances and scored one goal for the France national team, and was part of the France squad at the 1992 European Championship.

Career

Born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

, Ivory Coast, Boli moved to France at an early age and began his career in local youth football in

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 ...

before signing for

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or by the abbreviation AJA, is a French professional association football, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club plays in L ...

in 1982. A powerful defender, Boli made his way into the Auxerre first team and soon made his debut for the France national team in 1986 for whom he went on to win 45 caps. His form meant that he soon became a transfer target for the leading clubs in France. Finally in 1990 Boli signed for

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

who, under Bernard Tapie, were fast becoming the leading club in France. Boli starred as the club won

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 ...

in 1991 and 1992 and was also a regular in the club's

1992–93 UEFA Champions League The 1992–93 UEFA Champions League, originally known as the 1992–93 European Cup, was the 38th UEFA Champions League, European Cup, the premier European club Association football, football tournament, and the first season with the UEFA Champio ...

campaign, topping the season off by scoring the only goal of the final against

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

that gave the cup to OM. Whilst at the club he even joined teammate

Chris Waddle Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He had a spell as Burnley manager during the 1997–98 season, but has not returned to coaching since. Largely since retiring he h ...

in recording a song entitled 'We've Got a Feeling'. He is remembered by football fans in England for his appearance for France against the England team in Euro 92 where he

headbutt A headbutt or butt is a targeted strike (attack), strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's Skull#Humans, cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of ...

ed Stuart Pearce. Despite his success at Marseille Boli was forced to leave in 1994 following revelations of a match fixing scandal and the relegation of the club. He signed for Rangers for £2 million in the summer of that year and went on to make 28 league appearances (two goals) during the 1994–95 season, securing a league winners' medal. Boli left Rangers at the end of that season and wound down his career with a season back in France with

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

before ending his career in 1997 after a spell in Japan with

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

Danse avec les stars

* In 2018 he participated in season 9 of ''

Danse avec les stars ''Danse avec les stars'' (''DALS''; ) is the French version of the British reality TV competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and is part of the ''Dancing with the Stars'' franchise. The show was first broadcast on TF1 on 12 February 2011, the parti ...

'' (the French version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'') with his partner Katrina Patchett and finished 7th out of 11 contestants. This table shows the route of Basile Boli and Katrina Patchett in Danse Avec Les Stars. Face to face aren't rated.

Personal life

Basile is the uncle of current players Yannick Boli, Charles Boli, Roli Boli and

Kévin Boli Kévin Gnonher Boli (born 21 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for A-League Men club Macarthur FC. After starting his professional career with Sedan in the French second division, he moved to Belgian side Mo ...

, and is the younger brother of former striker Roger Boli.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Auxerre * Coppa delle Alpi: 1984–85, 1986–87 Marseille * Division 1: 1990–91, 1991–92 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 1992–93 Rangers *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

: 1994–95 Individual *Division 1 Rookie of the Year: 1984 *Etoile d'Or: 1989 * World Soccer World XI: 1991 *The Dream Team 110 years of OM: 2010 Orders * Knight of the Legion of Honour: 2008

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boli, Basile 1967 births Living people Footballers from Abidjan French men's footballers Men's association football defenders AJ Auxerre players Olympique de Marseille players Rangers F.C. players AS Monaco FC players Urawa Red Diamonds players Ligue 1 players Scottish Football League players J1 League players UEFA Champions League–winning players France men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1992 players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland French expatriate sportspeople in Japan French expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Black French sportspeople Ivorian emigrants to France Knights of the Legion of Honour Naturalized citizens of France Boli family Association football people awarded knighthoods