Junior Kabananga

Junior Kabananga Kalonji (born 4 April 1989) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a striker. He is a member of DR Congo national team.

Junior Kabananga

Personal information
Full name	Junior Kabananga Kalonji
Date of birth	4 April 1989
Place of birth	Kinshasa, Zaire
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	FC MK Etanchéité
2010–2013	Anderlecht	5	(1)
2011	→ Beerschot (loan)	3	(0)
2012–2013	→ Roeselare (loan)	29	(5)
2013–2015	Cercle Brugge	64	(13)
2015–2018	Astana	57	(29)
2016	→ Karabükspor (loan)	7	(2)
2018–2019	Al-Nassr	6	(4)
2018–2019	→ Astana (loan)	20	(2)
2019–2020	Qatar	5	(1)
2020	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	5	(0)
National team^‡
2014–	DR Congo	22	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 December 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:11, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Kinshasa, Kabananga began his early career with FC MK Etanchéité.[1] He made his senior debut for Belgian club Anderlecht in the 2010–11 season,[2] although Anderlecht later admitted negligence when transferring the player from Democratic Republic of the Congo after a forged document was used.[3] He moved on loan to Germinal Beerschot in January 2011,[4] and also spent the 2012–13 season on loan at Roeselare.[5] He signed a permanent two-year contract with Cercle Brugge in July 2013.[6]

In June 2015 he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Astana.[7]

On 1 February 2016, Kabananga joined Kardemir Karabükspor on loan until the end of the 2015–16 Turkish season.[8]

In June 2016 he returned from the loan.[9]

On 27 July 2017, Kabananga signed a new two-year contract with Astana.[10]

On 31 January 2018, Kabananga signed a $2 million two-and-a-half-year contract with Al-Nassr.[11] He returned on loan to Astana in September 2018.[12]

International career

Kabananga made his international debut for DR Congo in 2014.[1] In January 2015 he was named in the final squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 28 September 2019[5]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cercle Brugge	2013–14	Belgian Pro League	34	5	3	2	-		-		37	7
	2014–15		30	8	2	0	-		-		32	8
	Total		64	13	5	2	-	-	-	-	69	15
Astana	2015	Kazakhstan Premier League	13	5	2	0	10	0	0	0	25	5
	2016		13	5	2	3	12	2	0	0	27	10
	2017		31	19	0	0	11	4	1	0	43	23
	Total		57	29	4	3	33	6	1	0	95	38
Kardemir Karabükspor (loan)	2015–16	TFF First League	7	2	0	0	–		–		7	2
Al-Nassr	2017–18	Saudi Professional League	6	4	1	0	–		–		7	4
	2018–19		0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	Total		6	4	1	0	-	-	-	-	7	4
Astana (loan)	2018	Kazakhstan Premier League	6	0	0	0	11	0	–		17	0
	2019		14	2	1	0	0	0	1	2	16	4
	Total		20	2	1	0	11	0	1	2	33	4
Qatar	2019–20	Qatar Stars League	5	1	0	0	–		–		5	1
Career total			159	51	11	5	44	6	2	2	217	64

International

As of match played 9 September 2018[1]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

DR Congo	Year	Apps	Goals
	2014	3	1
	2015	8	0
	2017	9	3
	2018	2	0
	Total	22	4

Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first.[1]

List of international goals scored by Junior Kabananga

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 October 2014	Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast	Ivory Coast	2–1	4–3	2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.	16 January 2017	Stade d'Oyem, Oyem, Gabon	Morocco	1–0	1–0	2017 Africa Cup of Nations
3.	20 January 2017	Stade d'Oyem, Oyem, Gabon	Ivory Coast	2–1	2–2	2017 Africa Cup of Nations
4.	24 January 2017	Stade de Port-Gentil, Port-Gentil, Gabon	Togo	1–0	3–1	2017 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Astana

• Kazakhstan Premier League: 2015, 2016,[14] 2017, 2018[15]
• Kazakhstan Cup: 2016[16]
• Kazakhstan Super Cup: 2019[15]

DR Congo

• Africa Cup of Nations bronze: 2015[17]

Individual

• Africa Cup of Nations top scorer: 2017[18]
• Africa Cup of Nations Team of the tournament: 2017[19]

References

1. "Junior Kabananga". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
2. "Profile" (in Dutch). Voebtal International. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
3. "Anderlecht avoue sa faute" (in French). So Foot. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
4. Kingsley Kobo (17 January 2011). "Anderlecht's Congolese Striker Junior Kabananga On Loan To Germinal Beerschot". Goal.com. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
5. Junior Kabananga at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
6. "Junior Kabananga naar Cercle Brugge" (in Dutch). Sport Wereld. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
7. ""АСТАНА" ПОПОЛНИЛАСЬ ЕЩЕ ОДНИ НОВИЧКОМ" (in Russian). FC Astana. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
8. "Junior Kabananga ile Resmi Sözleşme İmzalanmıştır". www.kardemirkarabukspor.org.tr (in Turkish). Kardemir Karabükspor. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
9. "Срок аренды Кабананга в "Карабюкспор" подошел к концу". fca.kz (in Russian). FC Astana. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
10. "Патрик Твумаси и Джуниор Кабананга продлили контракты с Астаной". fca.kz (in Russian). FC Astana. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
11. "Kabananga leaves FC Astana, joins Saudi Al-Nassr". www.inform.kz (in Russian).
12. http://vesti.kz/kazfutbol/252531/
13. "2015 Nations Cup: Yannick Bolasie in DR Congo squad". BBC Sport. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
14. ""Астана" стала чемпионом страны". tengrinews.kz. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
15. "FC Astana Steckbrief". Worldfootball. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
16. «Астана» — обладатель Кубка Казахстана 2016!
17. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/30627535
18. "Bassogog named Total Man of the Competition". CAF. 6 February 2017.
19. "Bassogog named Total Man of the Competition". CAF. 6 February 2017.