Paul Pogba: a career in numbers
Paul Pogba officially returns to football, choosing Ligue 1 McDonald's as the destination to kick-start his career, and with his arrival at AS Monaco comes a decorated CV. Here's a deep dive into the French star's career through 10 key facts:
đ Five World champions at Monaco
Paul Pogba becomes the fifth World Cup winner to play for AS Monaco. He follows in the footsteps of JĂŒrgen Klinsmann (West Germany, 1990), Fabien Barthez (France, 1998), Cesc FĂ bregas (Spain, 2010), and Djibril SidibĂ© (France, 2018).
Although Thomas Lemar was part of the 2018 World Cup-winning squad, he had already left Monaco for Atlético Madrid by that summer.
đ 13 - A Ligue 1 Homecoming
At 32, Pogba is the 13th French international in the past 45 years to join Ligue 1 Uber Eats after starting his professional career abroad. The midfielder follows the example of Lucas Hernandez, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zoumana Camara, Steven Nzonzi, Patrice Evra, Lassana Diarra, Aly Cissokho, and Eliaquim Mangala, among others.
đ«đ· 15 â Among Franceâs most capped
With 91 caps for France, Pogba ranks as the 15th most capped player in Les Bleus history. He earned his debut in March 2013 against Georgia and made his most recent appearance in March 2022, in a 5-0 win over South Africaâbefore the professional debuts of current French talents Warren ZaĂŻre-Emery and DĂ©sirĂ© DouĂ©.
đ« 4 â Major individual honours
Pogba has claimed four major individual awards across his career:
Best Player at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup (which he also won with France),
Golden Boy award (2013),
FIFA World Cup 2014 Best Young Player,
UEFA Europa League Player of the Season (2016/17) after winning the title with Manchester United.
He was the first Frenchman to win both the Golden Boy and World Cup Best Young Player awards.
âœïž 9 â Best XIs
Pogba has been named in nine âTeam of the Tournamentâ or âTeam of the Yearâ selections, including:
UEFA U17 Euro (2010) and U19 Euro (2012),
Serie A Team of the Season (2014, 2015, 2016),
UEFA Team of the Year (2015),
FIFPro World XI (2015).
đ 16 â Internationals in Ligue 1 McDonald's
Pogba is now one of 16 current French internationals playing in Ligue 1 McDonald's for the 2024/25 season. The list includes:
7 at PSG: Ousmane Dembélé, Presnel Kimpembe, Bradley Barcola, Lucas Hernandez, Désiré Doué, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Nordi Mukiele
2 at Nice: Jonathan Clauss, Tanguy Ndombele
2 at Lyon: Corentin Tolisso, Jordan Veretout
2 at Rennes: Brice Samba, Steve Mandanda
1 at Toulouse: Djibril Sidibé
1 at Lens: Ruben Aguilar
đȘđș 57 â UEFA Champions League experience
Pogba has played 57 UEFA Champions League matches, including the 2015 final with Juventus. That experience will be invaluable for Monaco, who return to the UCL group stage this season. In their squad, only Thilo Kehrer (30 matches, finalist with PSG in 2020) and Breel Embolo (30 matches) come close.
đ 11 â World Cup and EURO experience
Pogba has played 11 matches at FIFA World Cups (2014, 2018) and 11 matches at UEFA EUROs (2016, 2020), scoring two goals in each tournament.
Only Ousmane Dembélé (11 World Cup games) matches his total in Ligue 1 McDonald's today, while Breel Embolo (14) leads EURO appearances among players currently in the league.
đ 100 â Million followers
With 100 million social media followers, Pogba becomes Ligue 1 McDonald's most followed player, ahead of PSG stars like Achraf Hakimi (30.6M) and Ousmane Dembélé (18M). In terms of total fanbase, only Paris Saint-Germain surpass him at club level in France.
đ€ 4 â Former teammates now in Ligue 1 McDonald's
Pogba is set to reunite with four players heâs previously shared a dressing room with:
Nemanja Matic (84 games together at Manchester United),
Mason Greenwood (50 games),
Angel Gomes (3 games),
Adrien Rabiot (7 games at Juventus).
While Denis Zakaria also played for Juventus in 2022/23, he never featured in the same Serie A match as Pogba.
READ MORE:
>>Paul Pogba joins AS Monaco!
