Christopher Katongo (born 31 August 1982) is a Zambian 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 striker. At international level, he amassed over 100 caps between 2003 and 2016 for the Zambia national team. He is an

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

winner and won the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's African Footballer of the Year award in 2012, winning just over 40% of the public vote. His win is stated to have inspired a number of young players in Zambia.

Club career

Born in

Mufulira Mufulira is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District. G ...

, Katongo played with Butondo West Tigers and Kalulushi Modern Stars before moving to Green Buffaloes in 2001. Whilst at Buffaloes, Katongo twice scored four times in

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

games. In 2004, Katongo moved to South African side

Jomo Cosmos Jomo Cosmos is a South African soccer club based in Johannesburg that plays in the ABC Motsepe League. The club is owned and coached by South African football legend Jomo Sono. At the end of the 2021–22 National First Division season, the ...

, before moving to Danish side

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

in January 2007. In August 2008, Katongo moved again, this time to German club

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...

. In July 2010, he moved to Greece to play for Skoda Xanthi. In July 2011, Katongo signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side Henan Construction. He made his Super League debut on 10 July in a 0–0 home draw against Changchun Yatai. His first goal for Henan came, in a 2–1 away defeat, against Dalian Shide on 10 September 2011. In March 2014, Katongo joined South African side Golden Arrows on a four-month deal, three months after leaving the Chinese club.

International career

Katongo made his international debut for

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

in 2003, and after scoring a hat-trick against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in September 2007, Katongo was promoted in the

Zambian Army The Zambian Army is the land military branch of the Zambian Defence Force. Like all branches of the Zambian military, citizens of the nation are required to register at 16 years old, and citizens can join at 16 years old with parental consent or a ...

from corporal to sergeant. Katongo has appeared in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. Katongo won the Player of the Tournament during the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, in which he was the captain for the winning side, having beaten

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 ...

8–7 on penalties after a goalless match, scoring the first of the penalties himself. He was called up to Zambia's 23-man squad for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

. In October 2014 he was thrown out of a Zambian training camp, and in December 2014 he was left out of Zambia's preliminary squad for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

. He was in the 2016 preliminary squad for the CHAN.

Coaching career

As of December 2016, he had begun training for his coaching qualifications.

Personal life

His younger brother Felix is also an international player.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Zambia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Brøndby IF *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

: 2007–08 Henan Construction *

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

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 ...

Zambia *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katongo, Christopher 1982 births Living people Footballers from Mufulira Men's association football forwards Zambian men's footballers 21st-century Zambian sportsmen Zambia men's international footballers Zambian expatriate men's footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Green Buffaloes F.C. players Jomo Cosmos F.C. players Brøndby IF players Arminia Bielefeld players Xanthi F.C. players Henan F.C. players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players Zambian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Danish Superliga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Super League Greece players Chinese Super League players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in China Africa Cup of Nations–winning players FIFA Men's Century Club Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Zambian expatriate sportspeople in China Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Zambia men's A' international footballers 2016 African Nations Championship players