The designation of Karim Benzema, footballer of Algerian origin, as the 66th Ballon d’Or winner in history makes France happy. The Real Madrid striker adds his name to the long list of expatriate athletes who have once honored France. He joins several Cameroonians of which here is the Top 10.
Kylian Mbappé
Born to a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother, Kylian Mbappé Lottin is one of the major players of the French soccer team. At only 19 years and 6 months at the time, the Bondy native was one of the great architects of the 2018 World Cup crown in Russia. A five-time French champion, the Paris Saint-Germain striker holds several precociousness records. Cameroon has been scrambling to bring him home, but all attempts have been in vain. Today, Mbappé embodies the future of French soccer, both at club and national level.
Hassan Ndam Njikam
Born in Yaoundé on February 18, 1984, Hassan Ndam Njikam started boxing at a young age. African junior champion of amateur boxing in 2002 and 2003 (in Yaoundé), he turned professional in 2004. He fought several times in France and won by knockout. His performance forced the French nation to offer him its nationality. In 2010, he becomes a challenger for the international WBA. The rest of his story is a succession of victories: he won six world championship titles. Hassan Ndam has 35 wins including 21 KOs in 37 professional fights.
Earvin Ngapeth
He is one of the most consistent players in the French volleyball team. Earvin Ngapeth, 31 years old, is even considered as one of the best of the 1991 Generation in France. Great artisan of the organization of the heart of the game of the French selection, the Cameroonian of origin strongly contributed to garnish the cupboard of trophies of France.
With the youth teams, he finished European champion in 2007 and 2009, and European junior champion in 2008. With the national team, the one nicknamed the "Nicolas Anelka of French volleyball" is European champion in 2015, triple winner of the World League (2015, 2017 and 2022) and Olympic Champion in 2021. The member of the club of Modena, evolves in the position of receiver-attacker.
Gwladys Epangue
Born in Clichy on August 15, 1983 to Cameroonian parents, Gwladys Patience Epangue spent most of her childhood in La Courneuve where she discovered taekwondo. Quickly enrolled by France, she managed to make the law on several tatamis. Olympic bronze medalist in 2008 and double world champion in two different categories: in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009 (-67 kg) and in Gyeongju, South Korea in 2011 (-73 kg). Fifteen times French champion, three times European champion and holder of two dozen other medals, she was promoted Officer of the French National Order of Merit on November 22, 2015. She ended her career on November 29, 2016.
Adrien Dipanda
It was in 2015 that he joined the French men's handball team. Adrien Dipanda, 32 years old, 2.02m for 105 kg, plays at the right back position and is currently licensed to Saint-Raphael. The Cameroonian native is notably the Olympic vice-champion (2016), world champion (2017) and bronze medalist of the same competition in 2019. If his record is not very dense with the French team, it remains that on the national level, he is one of the most successful players.
This man of Sawa origin (people of the Littoral region of Cameroon) has indeed four trophies of French champion (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), three French Cups (2008, 2009, 2010), four League Cups (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011) and a Champions Trophy (2010-2011). He was elected best right back of the French championship in 2015.
Nicolas Batum
It is one of the French basketball players who are the most talked about in the NBA in the United States of America. Nicolas Batum, 33, is considered one of the most talented players in the history of French basketball since his debut in 2006. Agile and good in defense, the strong winger is above all one of the pillars of Les Bleus with whom he has won many trophies both in youth and senior. He is linked to Cameroon by his origins.
European champion of 16 and under in 2004 and 18 and under in 2006, he is also rewarded with the national team by obtaining the silver medal at the 2011 European Championship in Lithuania. He then won the gold medal at the 2013 European Championship in Slovenia, the bronze medal at the 2014 and 2019 World Cup and the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Pauletta Foppa
She is part of the golden generation of French women's handball. Born on December 22, 2000 in Amilly (Loiret), Pauletta Foppa has indeed won with the Bleues, the first Olympic title of a French women's team sport at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The Pivot of Brest scored 7 goals on 7 shots in the final and finished as the best French scorer with 34 goals in 8 matches. Thanks to the 2018 European champion's performance, the Marseillaise rang out for the second time in an international women's handball competition.
Audrey Tcheuméo
Aged 32, Audrey Tcheuméo is one of the judokas on whom France has always been able to count on. Winner at the national, continental and global levels in various intermediate age categories, she became world champion in elite in 2011. Bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, she won silver at the following edition in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
The native of Bondy with roots in Cameroon is the pride of France at the continental level. She holds eight European championship titles, two gold medals at the World Team Championships in 2014 and 2018 and two others obtained at the European level in 2014 and 2017. Audrey Tcheuméo has also won ten gold medals during her Grand Prix and Grand Slam competitions. This high level sportswoman is in the army. She was promoted to sergeant in April 2022.
Gévrise Emane
Born in Yaoundé to Cameroonian parents on July 27, 1982, Gévrise Emane arrived in France at the age of two and a half. Very young, she fell in love with judo and decided to defend the colors of her adopted country. Full of talent and endowed with a formidable physical strength, she has won many competitions and podiums.
The Levallois Sporting Club Judo member holds three world championship titles (2007, 2011 and 2015) in the under 70 kg, middle and high weights. Bronze medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games, she ensures the French diktat at the continental level where she accumulates five European championship titles (2006, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2016).
Antoinette Nana Djimou
She is one of the few experienced athletes in France, specializing in combined events. Born on August 2, 1985 in Douala, Cameroon, Antoinette Nana Djimou is a two-time European champion in the heptathlon (2012 and 2014) and two-time European indoor champion in the pentathlon (2011 and 2013). A two-time gold medalist at the European Cup in the team combined events (2010 and 2013), she also represents France in events such as the 100-meter hurdles, shot put, javelin throw and high jump.
