Guélor Kanga

Guélor Kanga
Kanga with Gabon at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Personal information
Full name Guélor Kanga Kaku
Date of birth (1990-09-01) 1 September 1990
Place of birth Oyem, Gabon
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Esenler Erokspor
Number 12
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Mangasport 41 (9)
2010–2012 Missile 39 (7)
2012–2013 Mounana 23 (5)
2013–2016 Rostov 70 (7)
2016–2018 Red Star Belgrade 39 (9)
2018–2020 Sparta Prague 69 (28)
2020–2025 Red Star Belgrade 149 (28)
2025– Esenler Erokspor 30 (6)
International career‡
2012– Gabon 88 (7)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 5 May 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 30 March 2026

Guélor Kanga Kaku (born 1 September 1990) is a Gabonese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Esenler Erokspor and the Gabon national team.

Club career

Early years in Gabon

Kanga started playing with AS Mangasport in 2007.[2] Immediately in his first season as a senior at the club, he won the Gabon Championnat National D1.[2] In the following seasons Mangasport finished third in 2008–09 and second in 2009–10.[2] After three seasons at Mangasport, in 2010 he moved to Missile FC and took a part in the 2010–11 championship winning campaign.[2] However, the following season they failed to achieve the same goal and finished 5th.[2] In the 2012–13 season Mounana won the Coupe du Gabon Interclubs, a title Manga was still missing among the domestic ones.[2]

Rostov

Kanga with FC Rostov in 2015

On 9 February 2013, Kanga signed a 3.5-year deal with Russian Premier League side FC Rostov.[3] Kanga made his debut in the Russian Premier League on 9 March 2013 for Rostov against lania Vladikavkaz.[4]

Kanga received a three match ban in December 2014 after being sent-off for Rostov against Spartak Moscow for responding to racist abuse from the Spartak fans with an obscene gesture.[5]

During the four seasons Kanga spent at Rostov, he made 70 appearances in the Russian Premier League and scored on seven occasions.[6] The first three seasons Rostov performed mostly mid-table however in his last season there the club finished second.[2] By then Kanga became the main target of Miodrag Božović who had coached him at Rostov between 2012 and 2014 and was now at Serbian side Red Star Belgrade who had won the championship and were reinforcing the team for their 2016–17 UEFA Champions League campaign.

Red Star Belgrade

On 1 July 2016, Kanga signed a two-year deal with Red Star Belgrade.[7] Kanga was Miodrag Božović's transfer wish for Red Star's upcoming Champions League campaign, as Kanga and Božović had known each other over two years at Rostov. Kanga was the first Gabonese footballer in 33 years to play on Serbian soil, as the previous one was actually the first ever footballer from Africa to play in Yugoslav First League, Gabonese international Anselme Delicat, who in 1983 debuted for Serbian club FK Vojvodina. He opened way for numerous players from other African countries that came after him to the region.

Kanga made his debut in an official match for Red Star on 12 July 2016, as a starter in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League against Maltese side Valletta away. Red Star won 2–1, and he assisted team mate Aleksandar Katai for the equaliser.[6] Kanga scored his first goal for Red Star in the first leg of the third qualifying round against Ludogorets in Razgrad after a "parabola" shot from distance. Three days later, he made his SuperLiga debut in a win against Metalac.

Sparta Prague

Kanga was transferred to Czech team Sparta Prague on 2 February 2018 for an undisclosed fee.[8][9] He scored 15 league goals from well executed penalties, another 13 from game.[10]

Red Star Belgrade

On 31 July 2020, Kanga signed a three-year deal with Red Star Belgrade.[11]

International career

Since his debut in 2012, Kanga has been a regular at Gabon national team.[2] He was selected for the Gabon team at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and played all three games in the group.[2]

He was called up to the Gabon squad to play in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations of which Gabon were the hosts.[12] Kanga featured for Gabon in the Africa Cup of Nations 2021 tournament in Cameroon.[13]

Personal life

In December 2021, Guélor Kanga acquired Serbian citizenship.[14]

Controversy

In April 2021, the Congolese Association Football Federation submitted a lawsuit against the country of Gabon for falsification of Kanga's identity.[15] They claim that Kanga was born in Congo and is in fact four years older than the Gabonese birth certificate shows and that his birth name is Kiaku-Kiaku Kianga; allegedly, the Gabonese authorities gave him Gabonese citizenship with a new falsified birth certificate.[15] Additionally, in May 2021, it was reported that the CAF began investigating after there were allegations that his mother died in 1986, despite his registered date of birth which is September 1990.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 May 2026[6]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rostov 2012–13 Russian Premier League 10120—1[b]1132
2013–14 24330——273
2014–15 191102[c]03[b]0251
2015–16 17200——172
Total 707602041828
Red Star Belgrade 2016–17 Serbian SuperLiga 256414[d]1—338
2017–18 1430012[c]2—265
Total 39941163—5913
Sparta Prague 2017–18 Czech First League 144———144
2018–19 2412402[c]0—3012
2019–20 3112422[c]1—3715
Total 69288241—8131
Red Star Belgrade 2020–21 Serbian SuperLiga 266209[e]2—378
2021–22 3124013[f]1—483
2022–23 30103110[g]5—4316
2023–24 319203[d]0—369
2024–25 311405[d]1—402
Total 14928151409—20438
Esenler Erokspor 2025–26 TFF 1. Lig 30600—1[h]0316
Career total 3577833462135145796
  1. ↑ Includes Russian Cup, Serbian Cup, Czech Cup
  2. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Russian Premier League relegation play-offs
  3. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  6. ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  7. ↑ Four appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League
  8. ↑ Appearance in promotion play-offs

International

As of match played 30 March 2026[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Gabon 201250
201350
201430
2015111
201671
201740
201830
201930
202030
202170
202290
202361
202481
2025102
202621
Total887
As of match played 30 March 2026[17]
Scores and results list Gabon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kanga goal.
List of international goals scored by Guélor Kanga
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
19 October 2015Limbe Stadium, Limbé, Cameroon Cameroon1–12–1Friendly
26 September 2016Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, Tunis, Tunisia Tunisia3–33–3Friendly
316 November 2023Stade de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon Kenya2–12–12026 FIFA World Cup qualification
418 November 2024Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa Central African Republic1–01–02025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
56 June 2025Stade Général Seyni Kountché, Niamey, Niger Niger3–43–4Friendly
631 December 2025Marrakesh Stadium, Marrakesh, Morocco Ivory Coast1–02–32025 Africa Cup of Nations
730 March 2026Pakhtakor Central Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan Trinidad and Tobago1–02–2 (3–2 p)2026 FIFA Series

Honours

Mangasport

Missile

Mounana

Rostov

Red Star Belgrade

Sparta Prague

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Guélor Kanga". crvenazvezdafk.com. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Guélor Kanga at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. ↑ Канга стал игроком "Ростова" (ВИДЕО) (in Russian). FC Rostov. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Game Report". Russian Premier League. 9 March 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "Russia bans Rostov player for three games for reacting to racism". www.foxsports.com/. Fox Sports. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "G. Kanga Stats". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Promocija Kange u petak!" (in Serbian). 30 June 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  8. ↑ "Guélor Kanga posilou Sparty" [Kanga reinforce Sparta] (in Czech). Sparta Prague. 2 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "Kanga u Sparti" (in Serbian). mondo.rs. 31 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "Král penalt a památných gólů. Podívejte se na všechny Kangovy trefy ve Spartě!" (in Czech). blesk.cz. 1 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Канга поново у Звезди" (in Serbian). 31 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  12. ↑ Aubameyang leads cast as hosts Gabon name final Nations Cup squad at BBC, 27 December 2016, Retrieved 8 January 2017
  13. ↑ "Africa Cup of Nations (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  14. ↑ Red Star Belgrade [@crvenazvezdafk] (27 December 2021). "U redovima srpskog šampiona još jedan stranac manje - naš prvotimac Gelor Kanga postao je državljanin Srbije! 🇷🇸 Čestitamo! 🔴⚪" [In the ranks of the Serbian champion, another foreigner less - our first team player Gelor Kanga became a citizen of Serbia! 🇷🇸 Congratulations! 🔴⚪] (Tweet) (in Serbian) – via Twitter.
  15. 1 2 ""Kanga ima 36 godina i zove se Kiaku-Kiaku Kianga"". b92.net (in Serbian). 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "Player Born in 1990, Mother's Death Recorded in 1986 Sparks Investigation". beIN SPORTS. 10 January 2024.
  17. 1 2 "Kanga, Guélor". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  18. ↑ "Idealni tim Mozzart Bet Superlige: Petorica iz Zvezde, trojica iz TSC-a". mozzartsport.com. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
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