Marcus Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 6 August 1997) 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 striker for

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

and the

France national team France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Thuram began his professional career at

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy ...

in 2015, where he played in three

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

seasons, before moving to

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

in 2017, spending two years in

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 ...

. He then joined

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 ...

, spending four seasons in Germany, before signing for Inter Milan as a free agent in 2023, and winning the Serie A title in his first season. Thuram made his senior international debut for France in 2020 and was part of their squads 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 ...

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 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 ...

, finishing as runner-up at the latter.

Club career

Sochaux

Thuram started his professional career at

, where he also played for the club's youth team. He made his

debut on 20 March 2015 against

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

, replacing Edouard Butin on 83 minutes. He played 43 total matches for Sochaux and scored one goal, in a 3–1 loss at

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

on 14 April 2017.

Guingamp

On 5 July 2017, Thuram joined

club

for an undisclosed fee. In August 2018, he gained attention for playing against

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 ...

goalkeeper

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is ...

, a long-term teammate of his father at Parma and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. Thuram scored an added-time penalty on 9 January 2019 to eliminate holders PSG from the quarter-finals of the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

, having earlier missed from the spot in the 2–1 win at the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

. Twenty days later he scored the equaliser in a 2–2 home draw with

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, ...

in the semi-final, and his attempt in the subsequent penalty shootout was saved by Danijel Subašić though Guingamp nonetheless advanced.

Borussia Mönchengladbach

2019–20: Debut season

On 22 July 2019,

announced they had signed Thuram on a four-year deal. The transfer fee paid to Guingamp was reported as €12 million. He was given the number 10 shirt, vacated by

Thorgan Hazard Thorgan Ganael Francis Hazard (born 29 March 1993) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and Winger (association football), winger for Belgian Pro League club R.S.C. Anderlecht, Anderlecht ...

after his move to

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 ...

. He made his debut for ''Gladbach'' on 9 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 2. Bundesliga club

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 ...

, and scored the only goal. He got his first

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 ...

goals on his fifth appearance on 22 September, scoring both of a 2–1 home win over

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

. On 31 May 2020, Thuram scored twice in a 4–1 win over

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

. He took a knee after his first goal of the match and dedicated the strike in honour of ongoing protests in the United States following the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

2021–2023: Later seasons and Champions League qualification

On 27 October 2020, Thuram scored twice in a 2–2 draw with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the group stage of 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 ...

. On 19 December, Thuram was sent off for spitting in the face of opponent

Stefan Posch Stefan Posch (; born 14 May 1997) is an Austrian Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), right-back or centre-back for club Atalanta BC, Atalanta, on loan from Bologna FC 1909, Bologna, and the Austria na ...

as Gladbach fell to a 2–1 defeat to

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

, and was given a six-match ban and a €40,000 fine. Thuram failed to score in his first 15 Bundesliga matches of the

2021–22 Bundesliga The 2021–22 Bundesliga was the 59th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 13 August 2021 and concluded on 14 May 2022. The fixtures were announced on 25 June 2021. Bayern Munich were the defending champi ...

season. He later scored only three goals, one each against

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and Greuther Fürth. As of November 2022, Thuram managed to score 10 goals in 15

matches, in which he equaled his personal best since the debut season. In April 2023, Gladbach's

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

Roland Virkus confirmed that Thuram would depart the club at the end of the 2022–23 campaign, having chosen not to renew his contract.

Inter Milan

On 1 July 2023, Thuram was officially signed as a free agent by the

team,

. His contract with the club is set to last until June 2028. On 3 September, he scored his first goal in a 4–0 win over

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. On 3 October, he scored his first Champions League goal for the club in a 1–0 victory over Benfica in the group stage, becoming the third Frenchman to score in this competition for Inter after

Youri Djorkaeff Youri Raffi Djorkaeff (born 9 March 1968) is a French former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or forward. Throughout his club career, he played for teams in France, Italy, Germany, England, and the United States. At ...

(1998 vs

Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian professional association football club, based in Graz, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austr ...

) and

Patrick Vieira Patrick Paul Vieira (; born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager and former player who is the head coach of Serie A club Genoa CFC, Genoa. He was named in the FIFA 100 of the greatest living footballers i ...

(2006 vs

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, ...

). He scored 13 goals and added an equal number of assists as Inter won the league in his first season.

International career

Thuram was a member of France U19 which won the 2016 UEFA European Championship. In November 2020, he was called up for the first time to the senior team, ahead of games against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He debuted on 11 November in a friendly against the Finns, a 2–0 loss at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

. He was called up for the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

in May 2021. On 14 November 2022, Thuram received a late call-up for the

, raising the squad to 26 players. 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 ...

against

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 ...

, he and

Randal Kolo Muani Randal Kolo Muani (born 5 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Juventus, on loan from club Paris Saint-Germain, and the France national team. Kolo Muani began his professional career at Nantes, ...

were brought on in place of

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (; born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for ...

and

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (; born 30 September 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Giroud began his senior club career ...

with France losing 2–0 in the 41st minute. He assisted

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 ...

's equalizer to make it 2–2 at the end of regulation time, and was also booked for

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

in the penalty area; France lost in a penalty shootout after a 3–3 draw. On 7 September, he scored his first international goal in a 2–0 win over

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

during the

Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

Personal life

Thuram is the son of the former French international footballer

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French author, Philanthropy, philanthropist and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

, and the older brother of the professional footballer

Khéphren Thuram Khéphren Thuram-Ulien (; born 26 March 2001) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Juventus and the France national team. Formed at Monaco where he made three substitute appearances, he signed for r ...

. He was born in the Italian city of

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

while his father played for the

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

, and was named after Jamaican activist

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

. Despite his father playing for

and

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 ...

, he as a child supported

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

and

. Thuram is of Guadeloupean descent through his father.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Thuram goal.''

Honours

Guingamp *

runner-up: 2018–19 Inter Milan *

: 2023–24 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

runner-up: 2024–25 France U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

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 ...

France *

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:

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 ...

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 ...

third place: 2024–25 Individual *

Rookie of the Month: September 2019, October 2019, November 2019 *

Serie A Goal of the Month The Serie A Goal of the Month, officially known as the Iliad Goal of the Month for sponsorship reasons, is an association football award that recognises the player who is deemed to have scored the best Serie A goal each month of the season. The ...

: September 2023 * Serie A Player of the Month:

August 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 ...

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Football in Italy, Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best d ...

: 2023–24 * Serie A Goal of the Year:

Team of the Season: 2024–25 * ''The Athletic'' Serie A Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Inter Milan website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thuram, Marcus 1997 births Living people Footballers from Parma French men's footballers Men's association football forwards AC Boulogne-Billancourt players FC Sochaux-Montbéliard players En Avant Guingamp players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Inter Milan players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 3 players Bundesliga players Serie A players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Black French sportspeople French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French people of Guadeloupean descent Thuram family 21st-century French sportsmen