Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano (born 27 October 1998) 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and the France national team.

Early life and career

Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano was born on 27 October 1998 in

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. History Antiquity In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...

, Eure, and is of Bissau-Guinean descent. He was raised in La Madeleine, a neighbourhood with many African immigrants. 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. His mother is Senegalese. He is the first son after four daughters, and has one younger brother. He acquired French nationality on 19 November 2002, through the collective effect of his mother's

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

. As a 15-year-old, he followed speech therapy sessions to overcome

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

and

stuttering Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

disorders, which caused shyness and certain difficulties in expressing himself. Upamecano began playing football with local club

, alongside the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Rafik Guitane and Samuel Grandsir. He covered a variety of positions in his youth, before being fixed on the

position. He joined the youth academy of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

in 2013. Described during the time as a youth in an adult body, Upamecano shaped his play after

Sergio Ramos Sergio Ramos García (; born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captain (association football), captains Liga MX club C.F. Monterrey, Monterrey. Regarded as one of the gr ...

, and developed into a physically imposing defender.

Club career

Red Bull Salzburg

After attracting the attention of a number of major European clubs, including

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, Upamecano joined Red Bull Salzburg in July 2015 for a reported fee of €2.2 million. He was an unused substitute in Red Bull's

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 ...

game against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

on 29 July 2015. He made his professional debut for Red Bull's farm team,

FC Liefering FC Liefering GmbH is an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club, originally from Salzburg#Districts, Liefering, Salzburg. It currently plays in the Austrian Football Second League, Second League, the second tier of Austrian f ...

, two days later, in a 2–1 league win against St. Pölten. On 19 March 2016, he made his league debut with Red Bull Salzburg in a 2–1 win over

SV Mattersburg SV Mattersburg was an Austrian association football club from Mattersburg, Burgenland. History The club was formed in 1922 and played its home games at the 17,100 capacity Pappelstadion. The club played in the Bundesliga The Bunde ...

. In the first half of the 2016–17 season, Upamecano earned a regular place with the first team in both league and

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

matches.

RB Leipzig

On 13 January 2017, Upamecano joined

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

on a -year deal, for a reported €10 million fee. On 4 February 2017, he made his

debut under coach

Ralph Hasenhüttl Ralph Hasenhüttl (; born 9 August 1967) is an Austrian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of VfL Wolfsburg. During his playing career, he played as a centre forward. As a manager, he has developed ...

in a 1–0 defeat against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. On 13 September 2017, he made his Champions League debut in a 1–1 draw against

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, ...

. On 9 February 2018, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

. On 2 July 2018, he was shortlisted for the 2018 Golden Boy award. On 31 July 2020, Upamecano signed a new deal until 2023. In the 2019–20 season, he reached with RB Leipzig the Champions League semi-finals under coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Bayern Munich

On 14 February 2021,

announced an agreement for the signing of Upamecano on a five-year deal, to be effective as of 1 July 2021. The club reportedly met his release clause from Leipzig, set at €42.5 million. 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 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

that saw Bayern lose 3–2 after fielding a side largely consisting of reserve and youth players. 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 Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win over

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

on 17 December, heading in a cross from

Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays for club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. Widely regarded as one o ...

. During the

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League was the 68th season of Europe's premier club Association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions ...

, Bayern defeated Upamecano's France compatriot

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Captain (association football), captains ...

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

in the round of 16, only for them to be eliminated by a 4–1 defeat on aggregate to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the quarter-finals, in which Upamecano's performances were heavily criticised. Due to this, an Arabic commentator referred to Upamecano as "Upamaguire" (this being due to Harry Maguire's poor form at the time). 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. 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 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

first leg away match against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, which resulted in a penalty kick and a 1–0 defeat; on 18 February, he received two yellow cards and again conceded a penalty in a 3–2 loss to

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

in the Bundesliga.

International career

Upamecano played for the France under-16 team that finished third in the 2014 Aegean Cup. He played in three of his country's four games and was named the competition's best defender. He subsequently moved up to the France under-17 squad, making his debut in a European Championship qualifier against Cyprus on 27 October 2014. France won the

2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 14th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (33rd edition if the Under-16 era was also included), the annual European youth football competition contested by the men's under-17 nation ...

, with Upamecano playing in all six of his country's matches and being named in the team of the tournament. He debuted for France under-18 in a 0–0 friendly draw with United States under-18 on 4 September 2015. On 5 September 2020, Upamecano debuted for the French senior squad, starting in a

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

group stage match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Three days later on 8 September, he scored his first international goal in a 4–2 victory against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Upamecano played a pivotal role in France's

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, starting five of France's seven matches. This included playing the entire 120 minutes in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

in an eventual 3–3 loss in penalties to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Bayern Munich *

: 2021–22, 2022–23, 2024–25 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

France U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

France *

: 2020–21 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

Individual *UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

Squad of the Season: 2019–20 * ESM Team of the Year: 2019–20 *Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2024–25 * VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2020–21, 2022–23, 2024–25 * ''The Athletic'' Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Bayern Munich website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Upamecano, Dayot 1998 births Living people Footballers from Eure Footballers from Angers French men's footballers Men's association football defenders FC Red Bull Salzburg players FC Liefering players RB Leipzig players FC Bayern Munich footballers Bundesliga players Austrian Football Bundesliga players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players UEFA Nations League–winning players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Austria French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Naturalized citizens of France Sportspeople with dyslexia French disabled sportspeople 21st-century French sportsmen