| Intro | French footballer |
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From | France |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 12 August 1990, Huéscar |
| Age: | 29 years |
| Star sign | Leo |
Wissam Ben Yedder (born 12 August 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Sevilla FC. He is nicknamed “Benyebut”, incorporating but, the French word for a goal.
Having begun his career at amateurs UJA Alfortville, he joined Toulouse in 2010. In 2015, he reached 50 Ligue 1 goals for them, having a year earlier surpassed André-Pierre Gignac as their greatest league scorer of the 21st century. He moved to Sevilla for €9 million in 2016. At international level, Ben Yedder has represented France at under-21 level, and at futsal.
Club career
Toulouse
Born in Sarcelles, Île-de-France, of Tunisian descent, Ben Yedder began his career at local UJA Alfortville in the fourth-tier Championnat de France Amateur, before moving to Toulouse FC of Ligue 1 in 2010.
On 16 October 2010, he made his professional debut in a 0–2 home loss to Paris Saint-Germain, replacing Yannis Tafer for the final 29 minutes. He made 13 substitute appearances across his first two seasons, and scored his first goal for Toulouse on 21 April 2012: ten minutes after coming on in place of Paulo Machado, he equalised in an eventual 2–1 loss at Evian.
In the following three Ligue 1 campaigns, Ben Yedder recorded 15, 16 and 14 goals respectively. On 10 August 2012, in the first game of the season, he came on at half time for Pantxi Sirieix and equalised for a 1–1 draw at reigning champions and local rivals Montpellier. In the reverse fixture, the last of the campaign, on 26 May 2013, he scored both goals in a win over Montpellier.
On 30 November 2013, Ben Yedder scored a first hat-trick in a 5–1 home win over Sochaux. He recorded another treble on the following 17 May as Toulouse finished the season with a 3–1 win over Valenciennes.
Ben Yedder scored a penalty in a 3–3 draw against Caen on 20 September 2014. In doing so, he reached 35 Ligue 1 goals for Toulouse, surpassing André-Pierre Gignac as their highest scorer in the league in the 21st century. He attained the milestone of 50 goals in the competition on 19 December 2015, when he put them ahead in a 1–1 home draw against Lille. The following 9 January, he scored another hat-trick in a 3–1 win at fellow strugglers Reims.
Sevilla
On 30 July 2016, Ben Yedder signed a five-year contract with Spanish club Sevilla FC, for a reported €9 million fee. After being an unused substitute in their UEFA Super Cup loss to Real Madrid on 9 August, he made his debut five days later, replacing fellow new signing Luciano Vietto for the final 29 minutes of a 0–2 loss to FC Barcelona in the first leg of the year’s domestic equivalent. On 20 August, he started in his first league game and scored in a 6–4 victory over RCD Espanyol at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. On 7 January 2017, he scored his first La Liga hat-trick in a 4–0 away win against Real Sociedad.
International career
Ben Yedder played two futsal matches for France, scoring once, and also represented the nation three times at under-21 level.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 7 January 2017
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| UJA Alfortville | 2009–10 | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 23 | 9 | |||
| Total | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 23 | 9 | ||||
| Toulouse | 2010–11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2012–13 | 34 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 15 | |||
| 2013–14 | 38 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 42 | 17 | |||
| 2014–15 | 36 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 15 | |||
| 2015–16 | 35 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | — | — | 41 | 23 | |||
| Total | 156 | 63 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 6 | — | — | 174 | 71 | |||
| Sevilla | 2016–17 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | — | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 15 | |
| Total | 15 | 8 | 3 | 5 | — | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 15 | ||
| Career total | 192 | 80 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 219 | 95 | |