Johan Manzambi

Last updated

Johan Manzambi
Personal information
Date of birth (2005-10-14) 14 October 2005 (age 21)
Place of birth Geneva, Switzerland
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 44
Youth career
–2023 Servette
2023–2024 SC Freiburg
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2024–2025 SC Freiburg II 20 (3)
2024–2026 SC Freiburg 38 (7)
2026– Aston Villa 3 (1)
International career‡
2023 Switzerland U18 7 (0)
2023–2024 Switzerland U19 11 (0)
2024 Switzerland U20 5 (0)
2025 Switzerland U21 2 (1)
2025– Switzerland 20 (7)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 October 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 October 2026

Johan Manzambi (born 14 October 2005) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Switzerland national team.

Contents

Manzambi is a product of the Servette and SC Freiburg academies. He was a key player in Freiburg's run to the 2026 UEFA Europa League final and was named Europa League Young Player of the Season. Manzambi transferred to Aston Villa in July 2026.

Manzambi was ever-present in Switzerland's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, and played a key role in their run to the quarter-finals of the final tournament, becoming the youngest player in over 60 years to record five goal contributions (three goals and two assists) in a single World Cup campaign.

Early life

Manzambi was born on 14 October 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland. He started playing football at the age of four. [1] His parents are from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [2]

Club career

Freiburg

As a youth player, Manzambi joined the youth academy of Swiss side Servette. In 2023, he joined the youth academy of German Bundesliga side SC Freiburg and was promoted to the club's reserve team in 2024 before being promoted to the first team the same year. On 21 August 2024, he debuted for them during a 3–0 away loss to 1. FC Heidenheim in the league. [3] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 away win over Borussia Mönchengladbach on 12 April 2025. [4]

Manzambi became a regular starting player for Freiburg in the 2025–26 season, making 47 appearances and recording 16 goal involvements in all competitions. [5]

On 7 May 2026, he scored the second goal for Freiburg in a 3–1 win over Braga in the Europa League semi-final second leg, helping his club reach the final by winning 4–3 on aggregate. [6] He was eventually named the Europa League Young Player of the Season after the team finished runner-up to Aston Villa. [7]

Aston Villa

On 17 July 2026, Manzambi signed for Premier League club Aston Villa, for an undisclosed fee. [8] It was reported to be a club record transfer fee of £59.5 million, add-ons included. [9] Manzambi missed the start of the Premier League season due to an injury suffered at the World Cup and didn't make his debut until 12 September, in a 2–1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. [10] Manzambi scored his first goal for Aston Villa on his first start, a 2–3 league victory over Tottenham Hotspur on 19 September. [11]

International career

After being capped for Switzerland at every level from under-18 to under-21, Manzambi made his debut for the for Switzerland senior team in a 4–2 win over Mexico on 7 June 2025. [12] Three days later, he scored his first senior international goal for in a 4–0 friendly win over the United States. [13] He went on to appear in all six of the team's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, scoring in both the home and away fixtures against Sweden. [14] [15]

In May 2026, Manzambi was named to Switzerland's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. [16] He made his World Cup debut as a substitute for Dan Ndoye in the team's opening Group B fixture against Qatar. [17] On 18 June, he scored his first two World Cup goals in a 4–1 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, becoming the youngest Swiss player to score a brace at a FIFA World Cup at 20 years and 247 days and the only Swiss player to score multiple goals coming off the bench as a substitute. [18] In addition, he became the youngest substitute ever to score a brace in a World Cup match, surpassing the previous record set by Nelson Cuevas. [19] A week later, on 24 June, he scored a goal, provided an assist and earned Man of the Match award in a 2–1 win over hosts Canada, helping his team finish top of their group. [20] He later provided an assist in a 2–0 Round of 32 victory over Algeria, becoming the youngest player in over 60 years to record five goal contributions (three goals and two assists) in a single World Cup tournament, at 20 years and 261 days old. [21] He sustained a knee injury during a training session before the Round of 16 match against Colombia, which ruled him out for the remainder of the tournament. [22]

Style of play

Manzambi plays as a midfielder and is right-footed. Swiss newspaper Blick wrote in 2024 that he is a "fast box-to-box player who is dynamic and energetic". [23]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 October 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [a] League cup [b] Europe OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SC Freiburg II 2023–24 3. Liga 102————102
2024–25 Regionalliga Südwest 101————101
Total203————203
SC Freiburg 2024–25 Bundesliga 11200———112
2025–26 Bundesliga27550—15 [c] 2—477
Total38750—152—589
Aston Villa 2026–27 Premier League 3100101 [d] 10052
Career total61115010163008314
  1. ↑ Includes DFB-Pokal, FA Cup
  2. ↑ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 6 October 2026 [24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Switzerland 202583
2026124
Total207
Scores and results list Switzerland goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Manzambi goal. [24]
List of international goals scored by Johan Manzambi
No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
110 June 2025 Geodis Park, Nashville, United States2Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4–04–0 Friendly
210 October 2025 Strawberry Arena, Solna, Sweden5Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 2–02–0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
315 November 2025 Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland7Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 4–14–12026 FIFA World Cup qualification
418 June 2026 SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, United States14Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–04–1 2026 FIFA World Cup
53–0
624 June 2026 BC Place, Vancouver, Canada15Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 2–02–12026 FIFA World Cup
76 October 2026 Thermoplan Arena, Lucerne, Switzerland20Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia 2–03–0 2026–27 UEFA Nations League

Honours

SC Freiburg

Individual

References

  1. ↑ ""Genau am richtigen Ort"" ["Exactly in the right place"] (in German). SC Freiburg. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  2. ↑ "Johan Manzambi: Who is Freiburg and Switzerland's young midfield marvel?". www.bundesliga.com. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "L'espoir genevois Johan Manzambi a fait ses débuts en Bundesliga" [Geneva hopeful Johan Manzambi made his Bundesliga debut] (in French). 22 September 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "Johan Manzambi's late strike seals crucial Freiburg win over Borussia Mönchengladbach". Bundesliga. 12 April 2025.
  5. ↑ "Football Extra's Dream Signings: Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 2 June 2026. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  6. ↑ "Freiburg 3-1 Braga (agg 4-3) highlights: Freiburg overturn away defeat to reach first Europa League final". UEFA. 7 May 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Johan Manzambi named 2025/26 UEFA Europa League Revelation of the Season". UEFA. 21 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Aston Villa confirm Johan Manzambi signing". Aston Villa FC. 17 July 2026. Retrieved 17 July 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ "Johan Manzambi: Aston Villa sign Newcastle target from Freiburg in club-record £59.5m deal". Sky Sports. 17 July 2026. Retrieved 17 July 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ "Villa 1-2 Nottingham Forest. Unai Emery's side remain winless after Forest defeat". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Johnston, Neil; Begley, Emlyn (19 September 2026). "Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 September 2026.
  12. ↑ "A 19-year-old outshines everyone - the Nati scores for the USA victory". Swisscom blue News. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  13. ↑ "United States 0–4 Switzerland". ESPN. 10 June 2025.
  14. ↑ "Sweden 0–2 Switzerland". ESPN. 10 October 2025.
  15. ↑ "Die Nati schlägt Schweden klar und das WM-Ticket liegt bereit". SRF (in German). 16 November 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "Männer-Nationalteam: Murat Yakins Aufgebot mit 18 WM-erfahrenen Spielern" [Men's National Team: Murat Yakin's roster features 18 players with World Cup experience] (in German). Swiss Football Association. 20 May 2026. Archived from the original on 21 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "Qatar stun Switzerland to snatch first ever World Cup point". BBC Sport. 13 June 2026.
  18. ↑ "Super sub Manzambi sends Swiss soaring". FIFA. 18 June 2026.
  19. ↑ "Records broken at the World Cup 2026". FIFA. 21 July 2026.
  20. ↑ "Manzambi shines again for super Swiss". FIFA. 24 June 2026.
  21. ↑ "FIFA World Cup 2026 stats: Ronaldo's first ever and all-time record 25; Yamal's perfect 100; Manzambi youngest with 5". ESPN. 3 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Abad, Emilio (11 July 2026). "Why isn't Johan Manzambi playing today for Switzerland vs Argentina at the 2026 World Cup?". bolavip.com.
  23. ↑ "Drei junge Schweizer auf dem Weg, die Bundesliga zu erobern" [Three young Swiss on their way to conquering the Bundesliga] (in German). Blick. 13 July 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  24. 1 2 Johan Manzambi at National-Football-Teams.com
  25. ↑ "Freiburg 0-3 Aston Villa: Rampant Villans win Europa League for the first time". UEFA. 20 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
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