Joseph Fabrice Ondoa Ebogo (born 24 December 1995) is a Cameroonian 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for Latvian club RFS and the Cameroon national team. Having made his debut in 2014 at the age of 18, he represented

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 ...

at two

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 ...

tournaments, winning the 2017 edition.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Ondoa joined

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 2009, aged 13, after starting it out at

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian Association football, football administrator and former Football player, player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation. He is often regarded as one of the ...

Foundation. He progressed through the club's

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

, and renewed his link with the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

until 2017 in 2014. In June 2014, Ondoa was promoted to the reserves in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. However, he was only used as a backup to

Adrián Ortolá Adrián Ortolá Vañó (born 20 August 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 2 club Dunkerque. Club career Villarreal Born in Xàbia, Province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Ortolá joined local Vill ...

during the campaign. On 7 January 2016, Ondoa signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Gimnàstic also in the second level, after rescinding his link with ''Barça''. He was assigned to their

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

, Pobla de Mafumet of the third division, and made his senior club debut three days later in a 3–2 loss at

Reus Deportiu Reus Deportiu is a Catalan sports club best known for its professional roller hockey team based in Reus, Catalonia, Spain. History CD Reus was founded on 23 November 1909 after the dissolution of Reus Sport Club. On 29 September 1917, the club m ...

. On 17 August 2016, Ondoa was loaned to fellow second-tier club Sevilla B, for one year. Second choice to Churripi, he made his professional club debut on 18 March 2017 in a 2–1 win at

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

, in which he was punished for timewasting by conceding a free kick in the penalty area from which

Edu García Eduardo "Edu" García Martín (; born 24 April 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for club Shenzhen Peng City. He has played in a host of different countries, including China, India an ...

scored; with two minutes remaining he was sent off for a foul with all substitutions having been made, and debutant defender

José María Amo José María Amo Torres (born 9 April 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for CD Tenerife. Club career Sevilla Born in Las Pajanosas, Seville, Andalusia, Amo joined Sevilla FC's youth setup in 2006, aged e ...

had to replace him in goal. On 11 May 2017, Ondoa signed for the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns until 2020, as the club exercised his buyout clause. After suffering relegation, he signed a four-year deal with Belgian side Oostende. On 28 June 2024, Ondoa signed with Latvian club

FK RFS FK RFS (FC RFS) is a professional Latvian association football, football club based in Riga. The club competes in Latvian Higher League, Virslīga, the top tier of the Latvian football league system. Founded in 2005, the club has worn a blue h ...

International career

On 24 August 2014, Ondoa was called up to

for the matches against

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

and the

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 ...

. Thirteen days later he made his international debut, starting in a 2–0 win against the former, and being later praised by manager

Volker Finke Volker Finke (born 24 March 1948) is a German former football manager and a former player. He was the coach of SC Freiburg for 16 years. Coaching career Early career Finke was a player–coach for TSV Stelingen from 1 July 1974 to 12 February ...

. Ondoa and Barcelona teammate

Macky Bagnack Macky Frank Bagnack Mouegni (born 7 June 1995) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as defender for Serbian club TSC. Club career Born in Yaoundé, Bagnack came to FC Barcelona in 2008, through the Samuel Eto'o Foundation at the ...

were included in the 23-man 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 played all three of their matches at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea, as they came last in their group. At the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

in Gabon, Ondoa was again the undisputed goalkeeper for the ''Indomitable Lions''. He was

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in their quarter-final win over

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, in which he saved the decisive attempt from

Sadio Mané Sadio Mané (born 10 April 1992) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Senegal national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest African players o ...

in the

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 ...

. Cameroon won the title with a 2–1 victory over

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

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 ...

, and he was elected into the Team of the Tournament.

Personal life

His cousin,

André Onana André Onana Onana (; born 2 April 1996) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Manchester United and the Cameroon national team. Onana joined Barcelona's youth system in 2010. He signed for ...

, also a goalkeeper, plays for

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Barcelona *

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

: 2013–14 Auda *

Latvian Football Cup The Latvian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Latvian football. Since 2021, its full name is Responsible Gaming Latvian Football Cup (''Atbildīgas spēles Latvijas kauss'') due to the sponsorship by sports betting company W ...

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 ...

Cameroon *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual * CAF Team of the Tournament: 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ondoa, Fabrice 1995 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Cameroonian men's footballers 21st-century Cameroonian sportsmen Men's association football goalkeepers Segunda División B players Belgian Pro League players Latvian Higher League players Championnat National players FC Barcelona Atlètic players CF Pobla de Mafumet footballers Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Sevilla Atlético players K.V. Oostende players Deportivo Alavés players NK Istra 1961 players FK Auda players Nîmes Olympique players Cameroon men's international footballers Africa Cup of Nations–winning players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Latvia Expatriate men's footballers in France