Christopher Opéri
.jpg) Opéri with the Ivory Coast in 2026 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Téa Opéri[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 29 April 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | İstanbul Başakşehir | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2012–2017 | Caen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2017 | Caen II | 38 | (4) |
| 2017–2021 | Châteauroux II | 10 | (0) |
| 2017–2021 | Châteauroux | 73 | (3) |
| 2021–2022 | Gent | 10 | (0) |
| 2022–2025 | Le Havre | 76 | (5) |
| 2025– | İstanbul Başakşehir | 34 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2024– | Ivory Coast | 13 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16 August 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 June 2026 | |||
Christopher Téa Opéri (born 29 April 1997) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir and the Ivory Coast national team.
Club career
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After years in the youth academy of Caen, Opéri was transferred to Châteauroux on 24 July 2017.[2] He made his first professional appearance with Châteauroux in a 2–1 Ligue 2 loss to Gazélec Ajaccio on 22 September 2017.[3]
On 2 June 2021, he signed a two-year contract with Gent in Belgium.[4] On 21 June 2022, Opéri's contract with Gent was terminated by mutual consent.[5]
On 29 June 2022, Opéri returned to France and signed a two-year contract with Le Havre.[6]
On 7 January 2025, Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir signed Opéri for 3.5 years.[7]
International career
Opéri made his debut for the Ivory Coast national team on 7 June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier against Gabon at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium. He substituted Ghislain Konan in the 86th minute of a 1–0 Ivory Coast victory.[8]
Opéri was included in the list of Ivorian players selected by coach Emerse Faé to participate in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.[9][10]
On 15 May 2026, Opéri was integrated by Ivory Coast coach Emerse Faé in his list of 26 players in order to participate in the 2026 World Cup.[11]
Personal life
Opéri was born in the Ivory Coast to an Ivorian father and French mother, and moved to France at a young age. His uncle Cyril Domoraud is a former professional footballer.[12]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 21 December 2024[13]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Caen | 2016–17 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Châteauroux | 2017–18 | Ligue 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 2 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 73 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 3 | ||
| Châteauroux B | 2019–20 | Championnat National 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Gent | 2021–22 | Belgian Pro League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6[c] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| Le Havre | 2022–23 | Ligue 2 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 35 | 2 | |||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 29 | 3 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 76 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 159 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 176 | 8 | ||
- ↑ Includes Coupe de France, Belgian Cup
- ↑ Includes Coupe de la Ligue
- ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- ↑ Appearance Begian Pro League European play-off
International
- As of match played 25 June 2026[14]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ivory Coast | 2024 | 7 | 0 |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 0 | |
References
- ↑ "Christopher Téa Opéri". Jupiler Pro League. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
- ↑ "Officiel : Christopher Operi s'engage à Châteauroux – MaLigue2". 24 July 2017. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
- ↑ "LFP.fr – Ligue de Football Professionnel – Domino's Ligue 2 – Saison 2017/2018 – 9ème journée – Gazélec FC Ajaccio / Châteauroux". lfp.fr.
- ↑ "Bienvenue Christopher!" (in Dutch). Gent. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ↑ "OSMAN BUKARI EN CHRISTOPHER OPERI VERLATEN DE CLUB" (in Dutch). Gent. 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ↑ "Christopher Opéri s'engage avec le Havre Athletic Club" (in French). Le Havre. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ↑ "HOŞ GELDİN CHRISTOPHER OPERI" (in Turkish). İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. 7 January 2025.
- ↑ "Ivory Coast v Gabon game report". ESPN. 7 June 2024.
- ↑ "Nicolas Pépé et Simon Adingra absents, Wilfried Zaha de retour : la liste de la Côte d'Ivoire pour la CAN". www.lequipe.fr (in French). 9 December 2025.
- ↑ "CAN 2025: la liste de la Côte d'Ivoire, tenante du titre, avec le retour de Wilfried Zaha". www.rfi.fr (in French). 9 December 2025.
- ↑ "La liste de la Côte d'Ivoire pour la Coupe du Monde 2026". FIFA (in French). 15 May 2026. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
- ↑ PAYNE, Alex K. (16 August 2023). "Christopher Operi (défenseur du Havre AC) : " Etre à la hauteur en sélection ivoirienne ? Je n'ai pas de doutes "". www.linfodrome.com.
- ↑ Christopher Opéri at Soccerway
- ↑ Christopher Opéri at National-Football-Teams.com
External links
- Christopher Opéri at Soccerway
- Christopher Opéri – French league stats at LFP – also available in French (archived)
- Christopher Opéri at L'Équipe Football (in French)
Ivory Coast squads | |||||||||||||
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- Living people
- 1997 births
- Naturalized citizens of France
- Ivorian people of French descent
- 21st-century French sportsmen
- French sportspeople of Ivorian descent
- Ivorian men's footballers
- Footballers from Abidjan
- French men's footballers
- Men's association football full-backs
- Ligue 1 players
- Ligue 2 players
- Championnat National 2 players
- Belgian Pro League players
- Süper Lig players
- Stade Malherbe Caen players
- LB Châteauroux players
- KAA Gent players
- Le Havre AC players
- İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players
- Ivory Coast men's international footballers
- 2025 Africa Cup of Nations players
- 2026 FIFA World Cup players
- Ivorian expatriate men's footballers
- French expatriate men's footballers
- French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
- Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
- French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
- Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey