N'Golo Kanté

N'Golo Kanté is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder, regarded as one of the greatest players in his position, known for his stamina, work-rate and ball-winning. ¹ The English article describes him as a practising Muslim; it names no school for him, so his data record leaves his faith as unknown. ¹

He was born on 29 March 1991 in Paris to Malian parents who had migrated to France from Mali in 1980, and grew up in a small apartment in Rueil-Malmaison. ¹ His father died shortly after he turned 11, and his older sibling Niama died of a heart attack before the 2018 World Cup. ¹ He is named after King Ngolo Diarra of the Bamana Empire, began his career at age eight at JS Suresnes, and at 21, while playing for Boulogne, earned a diploma in vocational accounting. ¹

He made his professional debut for Boulogne on 18 May 2012 and played a full season in the third tier before joining Caen in 2013, playing all 38 games as Caen won promotion to Ligue 1, and recovering the ball more times in his first top-flight season than any other player in Europe. ¹ On 3 August 2015 he joined Leicester City for a fee reported at £5.6 million and was a central figure in Leicester's surprise 2015–16 Premier League title, topping the league's tackling and interception figures. ¹

On 16 July 2016 he signed for Chelsea for a reported £32 million and won the league again, becoming the first outfield player since Eric Cantona to win consecutive English titles with different clubs; he was named PFA Players' Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season for 2016–17. ¹ With Chelsea he went on to win the FA Cup (2018), the Europa League (2019), the Champions League (2021) — in whose final against Manchester City he was named player of the match — the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, and was named UEFA Men's Midfielder of the Year in 2021. ¹

After seven seasons at Chelsea he joined Saudi club Al-Ittihad on a free transfer in the summer of 2023, and in 2024–25 won the Saudi Pro League and King's Cup double with them, before moving to Fenerbahçe in February 2026. ¹ For France, he made his senior debut in March 2016, was a runner-up at Euro 2016, was named French Player of the Year in 2017, and was a key member of the squad that won the 2018 World Cup and the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League; he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2018. ¹

The English article's personal-life section calls him "a practicing Muslim". ¹ That is an account of his practice as the source reports it; no source used here names a school or madhhab for him, so his data record leaves his faith as unknown. ¹

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