Alban Lafont’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Alban Lafont (born 23 January 1999) is a Burkinabé-born French professional footballer who currently plays as goalkeeper for Ligue 1 side Toulouse and the France U18 national football team. He currently holds the record for being the youngest goalkeeper ever to play in Ligue 1.

Club career

Early career

Lafont started his career at amateur side AS Lattoise where he initially began playing as an attacking midfielder, before converting to a goalkeeper. He spent six years with Lattoise before signing with Ligue 1 side Toulouse in 2014.

Toulouse

2015–16 season

Lafont spent little more than a year in the academy at Toulouse before club manager Dominique Arribagé handed him his Ligue 1 debut on 28 November 2015 against OGC Nice. Upon doing so, he became the youngest ever goalkeeper to play in Ligue 1 at the age of 16 years and 310 days, surpassing the record previously held by Mickaël Landreau. Having replaced Ali Ahamada and Mauro Goicoechea as Toulouse’s starting goalkeeper, Lafont kept clean sheets in his first two competitive fixtures before finally conceding in a 3-2 loss against Lorient on 5 December 2015. In January 2016, Lafont was named as the 34th best U-20 player in the world star by Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport and featured as one of only two goalkeepers on the list alongside A.C. Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma. Having been 10 points adrift of safety at the time of Lafont’s introduction into the first team, Toulouse managed to avoid relegation on the final day of the season, thanks in part to the eight clean sheets he kept in his 24 appearances for the campaign. He was rewarded for his form on 30 June 2016 when he signed a new contract with Toulouse, extending his stay with the club until 2020.

2016–17 season

Lafont retained the number one spot for Toulouse in the following season and started the campaign by keeping a clean sheet against Marseille on the opening weekend. On 22 October he was named as the man of the match for his performance in Toulouse’s 0-0 draw with Angers, with his form in goal earning him his fourth clean sheet in only his tenth league appearance for the campaign. Lafont’s previous three clean sheets had come against esteemed opposition in the form of Marseille, Saint-Étienne and defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain. Four days later, Lafont made his Coupe de la Ligue debut and kept another clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Ligue 2 side Auxerre. He then made his first ever appearance in the Coupe de France on 8 January 2017, starting in a 2-1 extra-time loss to Marseille.

Club Statistics

(Correct as of 14 January 2017)

International career

French national youth teams

Lafont has represented France at various youth levels. He made six appearances for the France U16 team and captained the side on three separate occasions. He then made his debut for France U17 on 20 October 2015 against N. Ireland, keeping a clean sheet in the process. Lafont was, however, not seleced for France’s 2016 European Under-17 Championship squad after Toulouse lobbied for him to remain with the club for their last two games of the season to aid their relegation battle.

In September 2016, Lafont was named in the 20-man France U18 squad by manager Bernard Diomede for the 2016 Limoges Tournament. He was an ever-present as France ended the tournament on top of the standings having won 2 out of their 3 matches and drawn the other.

Honours

Individual

Records

• Youngest goalkeeper to have played in Ligue 1: 16 years and 310 days in 2015

Personal life

Lafont was born in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso to a French father and Burkinabe mother. His parents separated when he was nine years old with Lafont moving to France to live with his father in Herault while his mother remained in Burkina Faso, where she later became a Minister of Parliament for the People’s Movement for Progress in the Burkina Faso National Assembly. Lafont comes from a sporting family. His maternal grandfather played football for ten years and later served as president of Ouagadougou Shooting Star while his mother was a member of the national handball team. His father also played tennis. In January 2016, relatives of Lafont were among the 30 people killed in the Ouagadougou attacks when a group of armed gunmen opened fire in a Cappuccino restaurant.

On 25 September 2016, Lafont became the youngest ever player to be invited as a guest on French football programme, Téléfoot.