Ignatius Ganago

Ignatius Ganago

Ganago with Lens in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Ignatius Kpene Ganago
Date of birth	(1999-02-16) 16 February 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth	Douala, Cameroon
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position	Forward
Team information
Current team	Nantes
Youth career
2011–2017	EFCB
2017	Nice
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2020	Nice B	13	(9)
2017–2020	Nice	52	(6)
2020–2022	Lens	56	(12)
2022–	Nantes	45	(5)
2025	→ New England Revolution (loan)	20	(3)
International career‡
2019–	Cameroon	15	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Cameroon Africa Cup of Nations 2021 Cameroon
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:54, 1 November 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:38, 19 March 2025 (GMT)

Ignatius Ganago (born 16 February 1999) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Nantes and the Cameroon national team. ^[1]

Club career

Early career

Ganago was part of the EFCB junior academy in Cameroon before joining Nice in 2017. ^[2]

Nice

Ganago made his professional debut for Nice in a 4–0 Ligue 1 win against Monaco on 9 September 2017, coming on for Mario Balotelli in the 74th minute, during which he also scored his first goal for the club. ^[3]

Lens

On 10 July 2020, Ganago signed for newly promoted Ligue 1 club Lens. ^[4]

Nantes

On 1 September 2022, the last day of the 2022 summer transfer window, Ganago moved to Lens' league rivals Nantes on a four-year contract. ^[5] The transfer fee paid to Lens was reported as €3.5 million excluding bonuses. ^[5]

New England Revolution

On 10 January 2025, it was announced that Ganago would be joining New England Revolution in Major League Soccer on a six-month loan with an option to purchase, and the potential to extend the loan by six additional months if playing-time conditions are met. ^[6] Ganago made his MLS debut, and recorded his first start for the Revolution, in the 2025 season opener, a 0–0 draw against Nashville SC on 22 February. ^[7] He scored his first Revolution goal, and recorded his first Revolution assist, on 19 April against NYCFC. ^[8] He subsequently received MLS Team of the Matchday honors for week 9. ^[9]

International career

Ganago debuted for the senior Cameroon national team in a friendly 0–0 tie with Tunisia on 12 October 2019. ^[10] Later that month his club Nice refused to release him for the Under-23 AFCON tournament. ^[11]

Personal life

Ganago's four-year-old daughter died on 13 February 2023, following an illness. ^[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 May 2025 ^[1]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		League cup [b]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Nice B	2017–18	National 2	12	8	—		—		—		13	8
	2018–19	National 2	1	1	—		—		—		1	1
	Total		13	9	—		—		—		13	9
Nice	2017–18	Ligue 1	6	1	1	0	1	0	3 [c]	0	11	1
	2018–19	Ligue 1	20	2	1	0	1	0	—		22	2
	2019–20	Ligue 1	26	3	2	1	1	0	—		29	4
	Total		52	6	4	1	3	0	3	0	62	7
Lens	2020–21	Ligue 1	24	7	0	0	—		—		24	7
	2021–22	Ligue 1	28	5	1	1	—		—		29	6
	2022–23	Ligue 1	4	0	0	0	—		—		4	0
	Total		56	12	1	1	—		—		57	13
Nantes	2022–23	Ligue 1	28	5	5	0	—		6 [d]	1	39	6
	2023–24	Ligue 1	6	0	0	0	—		—		6	0
	2024–25	Ligue 1	11	0	1	0	—		—		12	0
	2025–26	Ligue 1	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		45	5	6	0	—		6	1	57	6
New England Revolution (loan)	2025	MLS	15	1	0	0	—		—		15	1
Career total			182	33	11	2	3	0	9	1	205	36

1. Includes Coupe de France
2. Includes Coupe de la Ligue
3. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 19 March 2025 ^[13]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Cameroon	2019	3	0
	2021	4	0
	2022	4	0
	2023	3	0
	2025	1	0
Total		15	0

Honours

Cameroon

• Africa Cup of Nations bronze: 2021 ^[14]

References

1. Ignatius Ganago at Soccerway. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
2. "10 African talents looking to break through in 2017 - Paul Nehf". www.paulnehf.de. 23 January 2017.
3. "Nice vs. Monaco - 9 September 2017 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
4. "Ignatius Ganago au RC Lens". Ligue 1. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
5. "Transferts : Ignatius Ganago (Lens) s'engage avec Nantes (officiel)". L'Équipe (in French). 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
6. "Revolution acquire forward/winger Ignatius Ganago on loan from FC Nantes". RevolutionSoccer.net. New England Revolution . Retrieved 10 January 2025.
7. "Revolution battle Nashville SC to 0-0 draw in 2025 MLS season opener". revolutionsoccer.net. 23 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
8. "Revs make it three wins in four, keep climbing with 2-0 victory over NYCFC". revolutionsoccer.net. 20 April 2025. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
9. Ruderman, Justin (21 April 2025). "Team of the Matchday: Inter Miami remain unbeaten, Charlotte make a statement". mlssoccer. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
10. "Tunisia vs. Cameroon – 12 October 2019 – Soccerway". Soccerway.
11. Enow, Njie (30 October 2019). "Nice refuse to release Cameroon's Ignatius Ganago for Under-23 Afcon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
12. "L'attaquant de Nantes Ignatius Ganago endeuillé par la mort de sa fille" [Nantes striker Ignatius Ganago mourns the death of his daughter]. L'Équipe (in French). 14 February 2023. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
13. Ignatius Ganago at National-Football-Teams.com
14. AfricaNews (6 February 2022). "Cameroon beats Burkina Faso to end AFCON 2021 in third place". Africanews. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

External links

• Profile at the FC Nantes website
• Ignatius Ganago – UEFA competition record ( archive )