Global InformationDidier Drogba information
 Drogba in 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Didier Yves Drogba Tébily[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 11 March 1978[2] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Striker | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dunkerque | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Tourcoing[4] | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1991 | Abbeville | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1993 | Vannes | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1997 | Levallois | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Le Mans | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2002 | Le Mans | 64 | (12) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Guingamp | 45 | (20) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Marseille | 35 | (19) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2012 | Chelsea | 226 | (100) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Shanghai Shenhua | 11 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Galatasaray | 37 | (15) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Chelsea | 28 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Montreal Impact | 33 | (21) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Phoenix Rising | 21 | (13) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 500 | (212) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2014 | Ivory Coast | 105 | (65) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (French pronunciation: [didje iv dʁɔɡba tebili]; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker.[5] He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at Chelsea, for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player and is currently the club's fourth highest goal scorer of all time. Drogba was named Chelsea's greatest ever player in a poll of 20,000 fans conducted by Chelsea FC Magazine in 2012, and he was also named in the Chelsea team of the 2010–2020 decade by Chelsea's fans in 2020.[6][7] Regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, he was noted for his physical strength, speed, ability in the air, powerful and accurate strikes, and ball retention. Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the award in 2006 and 2009.
After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans, and signed his first professional contract aged 21. After finishing the 2002–03 season with 17 goals in 34 appearances for Ligue 1 side Guingamp, he moved to Olympique de Marseille, where he finished as the third highest scorer in the 2003–04 season with 19 goals and helped the club reach the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.
In July 2004, Drogba moved to Premier League club Chelsea for a club record £24 million fee, making him the most expensive Ivorian player in history. In his debut season he helped the club win their first league title in 50 years, and a year later he won another Premier League title. His displays saw him named in the FIFA World XI for 2007. In March 2012, he became the first African player to score 100 Premier League goals.[8] Just two months later, he scored in Chelsea's 2012 FA Cup Final win over Liverpool to become the first (and as of 2017[update], the only) player to score in four separate FA Cup finals.[9] He also played in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, in which he scored an 88th-minute equaliser and the winning penalty in the deciding shoot-out against Bayern Munich.[10] After spending six months with Shanghai Shenhua in China, and one and a half seasons with Turkish club Galatasaray where he scored the winning goal in the final of the 2013 Turkish Super Cup, Drogba returned to Chelsea in July 2014.[11][12] With a career record of scoring 10 goals in 10 finals winning 10 trophies at club level, Drogba has been referred to as the "ultimate big game player".[13][14] He joined Canadian club Montreal Impact in 2015 as a Designated Player and played 41 matches over two seasons, scoring 23 goals. Drogba became a player–owner for Phoenix Rising of the United Soccer League in 2017, and retired a year later at the age of 40. On 21 April 2022, he was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.[15][16]
An Ivory Coast international between 2002 and 2014, Drogba captained the national team from 2006 until his retirement from the Ivory Coast team and is the nation's all-time top goalscorer with 65 goals from 105 appearances.[1][17] He led the Ivory Coast to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament, and also scored their first goal. He later captained the Ivory Coast at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.[18] He was part of the Ivory Coast teams that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2012, but were beaten on penalties on both occasions. On 8 August 2014, he announced his retirement from international football.[19] In 2018, Drogba retired from professional football at the age of 40.[5]
Active in social issues in Africa, Drogba played a vital role in the peace process in his home country.[20] In 2007 he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, and in December 2018 he became Vice President of the international organization Peace and Sport.[21]
- ^ a b "Didier Yves Drogba Tébily – Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
- ^ Didier Drogba at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ "Montreal Impact profile". Montreal Impact. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ^ "Histoire Palmares" Archived 29 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Footeo.com. Retrieved 28 August 2018
- ^ a b "Didier Drogba retires with defeat in USL Cup final". Sky Sports. 9 November 2018. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ "Top Drog: Chelsea fans pick Euro hero Didier as club's greatest ever player". Daily Mirror. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ "Chelsea Team of the Decade – the Supporters' Choice Unveiled". Chelsea FC. 31 December 2019. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ "Drogba dedicates goal landmark to fans". Premier League. Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "Frank Lampard urges Chelsea to offer Didier Drogba new contract". BBC Sport. 7 May 2012. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "Didier Drogba will leave Chelsea this summer". BBC Sport. 22 May 2012. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
- ^ "Didier Drogba: Chelsea re-sign club legend on free transfer". BBC Sport. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- ^ "Drogba signs". Chelsea Football Club. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- ^ "Didier Drogba broke another record with his goal against Schalke last night.. here's five more!". EuroSports. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
- ^ "Drogba not the player he was but can still do Chelsea damage – if he really wants to". Four Four Two. 16 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ^ "Drogba inducted into Premier League Hall of Fame | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club". ChelseaFC. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- ^ "Didier Drogba : Chelsea Legends". shedwall.chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- ^ "Didier Drogba: Chelsea striker announces Ivory Coast retirement". BBC Sport. 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
- ^ Baxter, Kevin (4 June 2014). "It's an old World Cup story for Ivory Coast". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
intlretirewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Ankawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Calendar, Event (13 December 2018). "Didier Drogba named Vice President of Peace and Sport". HelloMonaco. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2018.