Ismaël Béko Fofana (born 8 September 1988) is an Ivorian 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 striker.
Fofana represented his country at all youth international levels from Under-17 to Under-23.
Club career
Early years
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 ...
, Fofana came through the MimoSifcom academy, before being promoted to the first team of
ASEC Mimosas
ASEC Mimosas (short for Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas; ) is an Ivorian professional football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Abidjan'', especially in international club competitions. Founded in 194 ...
at the age of 16 in 2005. He made his
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...
debut during that year, even scoring once against Egyptian club
Zamalek
Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...
. He again played that competition the following year with the Mimosas, before signing with English side
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
, as a result of the cooperation between these two clubs.
Subsequently, Fofana was loaned to Norwegian club
Fredrikstad
Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...
. However, his contract with FFK was terminated in September 2008, after failing to make an impact at the club, scoring only two goals in two seasons.
Fofana then spent some time with French clubs
Cherbourg
Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
and
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.Séwé Sport.
Shirak
In January 2012, Fofana came to Europe for the second time by joining Armenian club Shirak. He was their leading scorer in the 2012–13 season with 14 goals, despite leaving the club in the middle of the season. In December 2012, Fofana was loaned to Iranian club Zob Ahan. He returned to Shirak the following summer for their qualification matches for 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 ...
. Fofana scored a hat-trick in the first leg of the first qualifying round against Sammarinese champions Tre Penne. He also showed good performances in a second qualifying round tie against Partizan, securing a transfer to the Serbian club after agreement between two clubs.
Partizan
On 6 August 2013, it was announced that Fofana signed a four-year contract with Partizan. He was officially presented the following day and was given the number 10 shirt. On 17 August 2013, Fofana made his official debut for the club in a 0–0 away league draw against Radnički Niš. He scored his first competitive goal for Partizan in a 5–1 home league win over Radnički Kragujevac on 25 August 2013.
In the 2015 winter transfer window, Fofana was sent on loan to Chinese club
Qingdao Jonoon
Qingdao Hainiu Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Qingdao, Shandong, that competes in . Qingdao Hainiu plays its home matches at the Qingdao Youth Football Stadium, located within Chengyang District. Their curren ...
.
After returning to Partizan from his season-long loan, Fofana appeared in only one league game, before being released by the club in the summer of 2016.
Čukarički
On 25 June 2016, it was announced that Fofana signed a two-year contract with Čukarički. He made his official debut for the club only five days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win over Kazakh club Ordabasy in the first leg of the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League
The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.
The final was played between Ajax and ...
first qualifying round. On 21 July 2016, Fofana scored his first goal for Čukarički in a 1–1 home draw with Hungarian club Videoton in the return leg of the Europa League second qualifying round.
Irtysh Pavlodar loan
On 1 March 2017, Fofana joined
Irtysh Pavlodar
FC Irtysh () is a Kazakh professional football club based at the Central Stadium in Pavlodar. Irtysh won the Kazakhstan Premier league in 1993 (as ''Ansat''), 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2003. The club was also founding members of the top league an ...
on loan until the end of the 2016/17 season.
Vojvodina
On 30 June 2018, Fofana signed a two-year deal with
Vojvodina
Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...
. On 18 December 2018 Fofana and Vojvodina reached an agreement to mutually terminate the contract.
Zira
On 28 January 2019, Fofana signed a deal with Zira, leaving in May 2019 at the end of his contract.
2005 African U-17 Championship
The 2005 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Gambia. The top three teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship.
Qualification
...
, as well as their top scorer in the final tournament. He also played at the
2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship
The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru from 16 September to 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participate i ...
, scoring in their opening match against Italy U17.
In preparation for the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
, Fofana was a member of the Ivorian U23 team at the 2008 Toulon Tournament, scoring the opener against Japan in the third-place match. He then missed in the penalty shoot-out, but Ivory Coast eventually managed to win the bronze medal.
Career statistics
Club
Honours
Club
ASEC Mimosas
*
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 ...
Armenian Cup
The Armenian Cup () is the main football cup competition of Armenia. In its original form as the Armenian Cup, it started in 1939, when Armenia was a republic of the Soviet Union. It served as a qualification tournament for the Soviet Cup, and it ...
Serbian Cup
The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...
African U-17 Championship
The U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship purposes, is a biennial youth association football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for its nations consist ...
Bronze Medal:
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
*
Toulon Tournament
The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...
Bronze Medal:
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...