Nathanaël Mbuku Wa Mbuku (born 16 March 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 2 club Montpellier, on loan from Bundesliga club FC Augsburg. Born in France, he plays for the DR Congo national team.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nathanaël Mbuku Wa Mbuku[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 16 March 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team |
Montpellier (on loan from FC Augsburg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Villeneuvois | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2011 | Alfortville | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Maccabi Paris | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | US Ris-Orangis | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Lusitanos Saint-Maur | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Fleury | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Reims | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2023 | Reims B | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | Reims | 80 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | FC Augsburg | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | FC Augsburg II | 4 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | → Saint-Étienne (loan) | 18 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Dinamo Zagreb | 16 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | FC Augsburg | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | → Montpellier (loan) | 30 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | France U16 | 9 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | France U17 | 19 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | France U18 | 11 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | France U20 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | France U21 | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | France Olympic | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | DR Congo | 16 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 March 2026 | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
editReims
editOn 23 November 2018, Mbuku signed his first professional contract with Stade de Reims for three years.[2] He made his professional debut with Reims in a 2–0 Ligue 1 win over Olympique de Marseille on 10 August 2019.[3]
He scored his first goal in Ligue 1 in a 4–0 win against Montpellier on 25 October 2020, from an "acrobatic kick".[4] His teammate Boulaye Dia also scored from a penalty after Mbuku was fouled. The win was Reims' first in the league in the 2020–21 season.[5]
FC Augsburg
editOn 30 January 2023, Mbuku signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with FC Augsburg in German Bundesliga.[6]
In January 2024, he joined Ligue 2 club Saint-Étienne on loan for the remainder of the season.[7]
Dinamo Zagreb
editOn 3 September 2024, Mbuku signed a multi-year contract with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia.[8] Augsburg reserved an option to buy him back at the end of the 2024–25 season.[9]
Montpellier
editIn July 2025, Augsburg bought him back and Mbuku moved to Montpellier in France on loan with an option to buy.[10]
International career
editWith the France U-17 national team, Mbuku took part in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship held in Ireland. He featured in five matches during the tournament. He made an impact by scoring a goal against the Netherlands in the group stage, and later provided an assist in the semi-final against Italy, which ended in a 1–2 defeat.
A few months later, he participated in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil. During the tournament, he again played five matches. He stood out by scoring a hat-trick in the Round of 16 against Australia. In the quarter-final against Spain, he contributed with a goal and an assist. He scored once more in the semi-final against the host nation, Brazil. France eventually won the bronze medal by defeating the Netherlands in the third-place playoff on 17 November 2019.[11] Individually, Mbuku was awarded the Adidas Silver Boot as the tournament’s second-highest goalscorer.[12]
On 2 July 2021, he was named in the 21-man squad selected by Sylvain Ripoll to represent France at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in Japan in summer 2021.[13] He made his debut for the France Olympic team on 16 July, coming on as a substitute for Arnaud Nordin in the 69th minute of a friendly match against South Korea. Mbuku scored the winning goal late in the game, securing a 2–1 victory.[14]
In August 2024, he changed his sporting nationality and received his first call-up to the DR Congo national team for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification against Guinea on 6 September and Ethiopia on 9 September.[15]
Personal life
editCareer statistics
editClub
edit- As of match played 20 March 2026
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Reims B | 2018–19 | CFA 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | CFA 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | CFA 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 10 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
| Reims | 2019–20 | Ligue 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 32 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 33 | 4 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 80 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | 83 | 6 | |||
| FC Augsburg | 2022–23 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| FC Augsburg II | 2022–23 | Regionalliga Bayern | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Regionalliga Bayern | 3 | 2 | — | — | 3 | 2 | |||
| Total | 4 | 2 | — | — | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Saint-Étienne (loan) | 2023–24 | Ligue 2 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 1 | 21 | 4 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 2024–25 | Croatian Football League | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 20 | 2 |
| Montpellier (loan) | 2025–26 | Ligue 2 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | |
| Career total | 156 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 170 | 14 | ||
- ↑ Appearances in the Coupe de la Ligue
- ↑ One appearance and one goal in the Ligue 2 promotion play-offs, two appearances in the Ligue 1 relegation/promotion play-offs
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
edit- As of match played 31 March 2026
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| DR Congo | 2024 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | 11 | 2 | |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mbuku goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 September 2025 | Juba Stadium, Juba, South Sudan |  South Sudan | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 30 December 2025 | Al Medina Stadium, Rabat, Morocco |  Botswana | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations |
Honours
editFrance U17
- FIFA U-17 World Cup bronze: 2019[19]
Individual
- FIFA U-17 World Cup Silver Boot: 2019[20]
References
edit- ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019: List of Players: France" (PDF). FIFA. 31 October 2019. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2019.
- ↑ "Nathanaël Mbuku a signé professionnel au Stade de Reims". 23 November 2018.
- ↑ "Olympique Marseille vs. Reims - 10 August 2019 - Soccerway". www.soccerway.com.
- ↑ Lampin, Julien; Audabram, Alexandre (25 October 2020). "Ligue 1 (J8) | Le Stade de Reims cartonne à Montpellier (4-0) et valide son premier succès en championnat". France Bleu (in French). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ↑ "Reims stun Montpellier, Briand scores 100th goal". Ligue 1. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
- ↑ "FCA sign Nathanaël Mbuku from Stade de Reims". FC Augsburg. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ↑ "Nathanaël Mbuku s'engage avec les Verts" [Nathanaël Mbuku joins the Greens]. www.asse.fr (in French). 21 January 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ↑ "Nathanaël Mbuku novi igrač Dinama" [Nathanaël Mbuku is a new Dinamo player] (in Croatian). Dinamo Zagreb. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ↑ "Nathanaël Mbuku moves to Dinamo Zagreb". FC Augsburg. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ↑ "Nathanaël Mbuku rejoint le MHSC" [Nathanaël Mbuku joins the MHSC] (in French). Montpellier HSC. 8 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
- ↑ FIFA.com. "Coupe du Monde U-17 de la FIFA 2019 - Infos - La France se console avec le bronze (1-3) - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com (in French). Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ↑ FIFA.com. "Coupe du Monde U-17 de la FIFA 2019 - Infos - Récompenses et consolations en or - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com (in French). Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ↑ Dahbia Hattabi (2 July 2021). "Jeux Olympiques : la liste finale de la France". footmercato.net.
- ↑ Richard Loyant (16 July 2021). "Beau succès sur la Corée du Sud (2-1)". fff.fr.
- ↑ "12 players called up for international duty". fcaugsburg.de. FC Augsburg. 2 September 2024. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ↑ "Nathanaël MBUKU". unfp.org (in French). Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- ↑ "VOILA NIGHT - FOOT-FRANCE U17: DÉCOUVREZ 06 INTERNATIONAUX FRANÇAIS D'ORIGINE CONGOLAISE".
- ↑ Cite error: The named reference
NFTwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019 - France". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019.
- ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup 2019 - News - Brazilians headline list of award winners". www.fifa.com.
External links
edit
- Nathanaël Mbuku at Soccerway
- Stade de Reims Profile
- Nathanaël Mbuku at the French Football Federation (in French)
- Nathanaël Mbuku at the French Football Federation (archived) (in French)