Breel Donald Embolo (born 14 February 1997) is a 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

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 ...

club

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 the Switzerland national team. Born in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, Embolo moved with his mother and siblings to France before finally settling in Switzerland. After working his way through their junior teams, Embolo made his professional debut for

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in March 2014, and won the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

in all three of his first seasons before moving to Germany after being signed by

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

for a reported fee of €20 million. Shortly after moving to the

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 ...

, he suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out for nearly a year. He later played for

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 ...

before moving to Ligue 1 to play for Monaco. Embolo made his senior international debut in 2015, earning over 70 caps. He represented Switzerland at the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, and at the

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 ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Breel Donald Embolo was born on 14 February 1997, in the Cameroonian capital of

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...

. His parents separated when he was young, and at the age of five, his mother moved to France where he attended school; he was raised along with his siblings between

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

and

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 ...

. The following year, the family moved to

, Switzerland.

Club career

Early career

Embolo started his youth football with Nordstern. At the age of ten, Embolo failed his first trial with

, so he moved to the Old Boys. He was finally allowed to join the FCB youth system in their U-13 team. In the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons he played in Basel's U-16. With the U-16 team he won the Swiss Championship title twice at this level. He received various individual prizes, such as the Basel youngster of the year 2013. On 8 March 2013, just three weeks after his 16th birthday, he signed his first professional contract with the club. In summer 2013 he advanced to play in their U-18 and U-21 teams.

FC Basel

During the winter break of their 2013–14 season, Embolo advanced to Basel's first team under head coach

Murat Yakin Murat Yakin ( ; born 15 September 1974) is a Swiss football coach and former player. He is the manager of the Switzerland national team. In 2021, following stints as manager at Swiss clubs including Basel, Grasshoppers and Sion, he was appoint ...

. After appearing in two test games, Embolo made his professional debut on 13 March 2014 as a 90th-minute substitute for Geoffroy Serey in the

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 ...

round of 16 first leg at

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

. The match against Red Bull Salzburg ended in a goalless draw. Three days later, he made his domestic league debut in the home game in the

, coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute. Embolo scored his first goal for the team four minutes later, concluding a 5–0 win against

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

. At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season he won the league championship with Basel; they also reached the final of the

2013–14 Swiss Cup The 2013–14 Swiss Cup was the 89th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition started on 14 August 2013 with the first game of Round 1 and ended in May 2014 with the Final. The winners of the competition qualified f ...

, but Embolo sat on the bench as they were beaten 2–0 by

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

after extra time. In their 2014–15 season new head coach was

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career ...

, and Embolo advanced to becoming a regular player and a regular goal scorer. On 4 November 2014, he scored his first goal in the

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 ...

, opening a 4–0 home group win against

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

. In the second round of the

2014–15 Swiss Cup The 2014–15 Swiss Cup was the 90th season of Switzerland's annual football cup competition. The competition started on 23 August 2014 with the first games of Round 1 and ended on 7 June 2015 with the Final, won by Sion. As winners of the compet ...

, the match on 21 September in the Schützenwiese, Embolo scored his first hat-trick for the team as they won 4–0 against

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

to advance to the next round. Basel reached the cup final, however, for the third consecutive season they finished the competition as runners-up. During the 2014–15 league season, in the match at home on 12 April 2015, Embolo scored his first domestic league hat-trick as Basel won 5–1 against

. At the end of the season Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row. After winning the title, Embolo called

Raphael Wicky Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composi ...

, the club's under-18 manager, and requested that he play their remaining games now the senior season was over. Basel hired

Urs Fischer Urs Fischer may refer to: * Urs Fischer (artist) (born 1973), Swiss-born contemporary visual artist * Urs Fischer (footballer) Urs Fischer (born 20 February 1966) is a Swiss football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of ...

as their new head coach for their 2015–16 season. Basel played in the

2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage was played from 17 September to 10 December 2015. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League knockout phase, knockout phase of the ...

, and Embolo achieved two goals in eight appearances and the team completed the group stage coming top in table. Late into the 2016 January transfer window,

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 ...

made a bid for Embolo, but it was rejected by Basel. The bid was reported to be close to €27 million. Under Fischer, Embolo won a third consecutive Swiss championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season. In June 2016, Embolo was described by ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

'' as "one of Europe's hottest prospects". On 26 June 2016 Basel announced that Embolo would leave the club and that he had signed a five-year contract. It was agreed not to disclose the terms of the transfer. During his time with their first team, Embolo played a total of 91 games for Basel and scored 31 goals. 61 of these games were in the

, six in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

and 24 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) . He scored 21 goals in the domestic league, six in the cup, and four in the European games.

Schalke 04

On 26 June 2016,

side

confirmed the signing of Embolo from Basel on a five-year deal, for a reported fee of €20 million plus add-ons. He made his debut on 20 August in the first round of the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

away to sixth-tier

FC 08 Villingen FC 08 Villingen is a German association football club based in Villingen-Schwenningen, Baden-Württemberg. The association was founded on 1 October 1908 and over time absorbed other local clubs including ''Germania'', ''Alemania'' and ''Phönix' ...

, starting and scoring in a 4–1 victory. A week later he made his league debut in a 1–0 loss at

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, replacing Franco Di Santo at half time in the season opener. He scored his first league goals for the

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

-based club on 2 October, a brace in a 4–0 win over

. Eleven days later in his next match against

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 ...

, he suffered a serious injury following a foul from

Kostas Stafylidis Konstantinos "Kostas" Stafylidis (; born 2 December 1993) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a left-back for APOEL. He has represented the Greece national team. Early career Stafylidis started his football career at the age of 6, ...

, a complicated ankle fracture, ruptured syndesmosis and medial collateral ligament damage which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. On 16 September 2017, Embolo made his return after missing nearly a full year of football, coming on as an 80th-minute substitute for

Amine Harit Amine Harit (; born 18 June 1997) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille, Marseille. Born in France, he plays for the Morocco national football team, Morocc ...

in a 2–1 win at

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

Borussia Mönchengladbach

Embolo signed for fellow Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach on 28 June 2019 on a four-year contract. He made his debut in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on 9 August, coming on at half time for

Jonas Hofmann Jonas Hofmann (; born 14 July 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Germany national team. Club career Early career Hofmann began his club career in 1998 playing at F ...

in a 1–0 win at

SV Sandhausen Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a Football in Germany, German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. It is Ger ...

. Fifteen days later, again from the bench, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win at

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

. On 27 October 2021, Embolo scored twice in a 5–0 surprise win over

FC 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 association foo ...

in the cup second round – Bayern Munich's biggest ever defeat in the DFB-Pokal, and their first ever cup elimination to ''Gladbach''.

Monaco

On 15 July 2022, Embolo joined

club

for a four-year deal. The transfer fee paid to Mönchengladbach was reported as a little over €12 million. He made his debut on 2 August in a Champions League third qualifying round first leg at home to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, as a 76th-minute substitute for Aleksandr Golovin, while his first league game four days later was a start in a 2–1 win at

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. On 13 August, he scored his first goal to equalize in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

at the

Stade Louis II The Stade Louis II (, ), or simply Louis II is a stadium located in the Fontvieille district of Monaco, near the border with Cap-d'Ail commune of France. It serves primarily as a venue for Athletics and football, being the home of AS Monaco ...

. He scored 14 goals in 40 total appearances during his first season at the club. In the last league match of the season against

, Embolo came off for

Kevin Volland Kevin Volland (born 30 July 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a striker or a winger for Bundesliga club Union Berlin. He has had 15 caps for the Germany national team. Volland gained prominence at the 2015 UEFA European ...

in the closing stages of the game due to a knee injury. While undergoing individual training to regain form ahead of the 2023–24 season, Embolo sustained a severe

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

during a training session, sidelining him for an extended period.

International career

Embolo made four appearances for the Switzerland U16 national team. He scored his first international goal on 1 November 2012 in the 3–0 away win against the Ukraine U16. He was also eligible to play for Cameroon, however in December 2014 he pledged his international allegiance to Switzerland. He made his senior international debut on 31 March 2015, replacing

Josip Drmić Josip Drmić (; born 8 August 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for HNL club Dinamo Zagreb. Drmić began his career with Zürich and moved to 1. FC Nürnberg in 2013, where he scored 17 goals in h ...

after 56 minutes of an eventual 1–1 friendly draw against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. On 9 October, he scored his first international goal, a penalty in a 7–0 win over

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

at the

AFG Arena The Kybunpark, formerly known as AFG Arena, is a multi-use stadium in St. Gallen, Switzerland, completed in 2008. It is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of FC St. Gallen of the Swiss Super League. It replaces the Es ...

St Gallen St. Gallen is a Swiss city and the capital of the canton of St. Gallen. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century. Today, it is a large urban agglomeration (with around 167,000 inhabitants in 2019) and rep ...

; the result qualified the Swiss to

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

. In the same game, he also set up Michael Lang for the first goal and won a spot-kick scored by

Johan Djourou Danon Issouf Johannes Djourou Gbadjere (; born 18 January 1987), known as Johan Djourou, is a Swiss former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), centre back. According to his profile on the ...

. Embolo was selected by manager

Vladimir Petković Vladimir Petković (; born 15 August 1963) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He is currently the coach of the Algeria national team. He was previously the head coach of French side Bordeaux, the Switzerland nation ...

for the final tournament in France. A substitute in the first two group games, he then started against the hosts in a goalless draw in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

and came off the bench in the last 16, a 1–1 draw and

penalty shootout 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 ...

loss to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, Embolo scored once to open a 2–0 win over European champions

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at his former club ground in Basel. Petković named him for the squad to compete in the finals in Russia. Embolo scored once in

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, intended to be playe ...

, putting the Swiss 3–0 up in an eventual 3–3 draw at home to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 27 March 2019. At the major tournament, held in 2021, he scored the opener in their first group game, a 1–1 draw with

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. In Switzerland's first game of the

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 ...

against Cameroon, Embolo scored the only goal. He was the second player in World Cup history to score against the country of his birth; the first was

Alfred Bickel Alfred Bickel, also referred to as Fredy Bickel (12 May 1918 – 18 August 1999) was a Swiss football player and coach. He played as a forward for local club Grasshopper Club Zürich and the Switzerland national team, participating with the la ...

, also for Switzerland, against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

. Out of respect, Embolo chose not to celebrate, standing still with his hands up to his face as his teammates mobbed him and did the more vigorous celebrating. In the final group game against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, he equalized as the Swiss came from behind to win 3–2 and advance to the last 16. On 7 June 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. On 15 June, he scored a stoppage-time goal, securing a 3–1 victory over

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in Switzerland’s opening match of the tournament.

Style of play

UEFA.com The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

writer Steffen Potter praised Embolo as a complete striker: "He is powerful, technically strong and decisive. He has explosive pace and is a composed finisher."

Fabian Frei Fabian Frei (born 8 January 1989) is a former Swiss professional footballer who primarily played as a defensive midfielder and a centre-back. He is best known for holding the records for most appearances in competitive games for giants FC Basel ...

, who was 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

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

at the same time with Embolo, complimented him as well, for keeping his feet on the ground.

I think he is a sensation – playing like that aged 17. I like him as a person as much as I do as a player. His feet will stay on the ground – he won't be shooting from 50 metres to score the goal of the season. You can give him good advice and he is ready to take it without getting angry.

Embolo has cited

Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''Birth name, né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Genoa CFC, Genoa. Balotelli started his ...

as one of his inspirations. Both players like to lurk between defenders, and both have great control allied to physical prowess. Embolo can also play in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

; according to David Lemos of

Radio Télévision Suisse The Radio Télévision Suisse (; "Swiss Radio Television"), shortened to RTS, is a subsidiary of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), operating in French-speaking Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2010 by a merger of Radio Suis ...

he resembles

N'Golo Kanté N'Golo Kanté (born 29 March 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad and the France national team. He is known for his work rate and defensive acumen. Kanté is widely ...

in this role, using his power to retrieve the ball and give it to the attackers.

Personal life

At the age of 18, he created the Embolo Foundation to support refugee children in Switzerland and disadvantaged youth in his birth country of Cameroon. Embolo received Swiss citizenship on 12 December 2014. His girlfriend Naomi gave birth to their daughter Naliya in June 2018.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Basel *

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

runner-up: 2013–14, 2014–15 Individual * FC Basel Young Player of the Year: 2013 *

Swiss Footballer of the Year The Swiss Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the best footballer based in Switzerland and the best Swiss national team player. From the 1972–73 season until the 1997–98 season, the award was chosen by the now defunct Swiss ...

: 2015 *

top scorer: 2014–15 *

Young Player of the Year: 2014–15 *

Player of the Year: 2015–16 *

Team of the Year: 2015–16

References

External links

Profile
at the AS Monaco FC website
Profile season 2015/16
on the Swiss Football League homepage * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Embolo, Breel 1997 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Men's association football forwards Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's international footballers Swiss people of Cameroonian descent Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players FC Basel players FC Schalke 04 players Borussia Mönchengladbach players AS Monaco FC players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Swiss expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Cameroonian emigrants to France Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Naturalised association football players 21st-century Swiss sportsmen