Youssouf Koné (born 5 July 1995) is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for the Mali national team.
Club career Koné is a youth team graduate from Lille. He made his Ligue 1 debut on 2 March 2014 in a 3–2 away win over Ajaccio. His second appearance came on 12 April 2014, a league game against Valenciennes.
Koné spent the first half of the 2017–18 season at Ligue 2 side Reims on loan after being loaned out by Head Coach Marcelo Bielsa. The full-season loan contract was terminated early when he suffered a cruciate ligament injury.
Following the departures of both Fodé Ballo-Touré to Monaco and Hamza Mendyl to Schalke 04, Koné established himself as first-choice left-back under Galtier post-Christmas In Lille's excellent 2018–19 campaign, finishing second to Paris Saint-Germain.
On 3 July 2019, he signed a contract with Lyon. The fee was estimated at €9 million. On 29 September of the following year, after just 11 league appearances, he was loaned to La Liga side Elche for one year. On 1 February 2021, Elche and Lyon, agreed to terminate the loan of Koné, due to a lack of playing time. On the same day, Koné was loaned to Turkish club Hatayspor.
On 30 August 2022, Lyon announced Koné's loan to Ajaccio for the 2022–23 season.
On 28 August 2023, Koné terminated his contract with Lyon following a mutual consent, and joined Molenbeek on a 1-year contract.
On 9 September 2024, Koné signed a 1-year contract, with JS Kabylie. On 11 March 2025, he was released by JSK.
International career Koné debuted for the Mali national team in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Benin on 6 September 2015.
He then competes with his country twice in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2019.
International career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsMali201520201640201750201800201961Total171
Scores and results list Mali's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Koné goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Youssouf KonéNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 14 June 2019 Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium, Al Wakrah, Qatar 1–0 1–1 Friendly
Honours Stade de Reims
Ligue 2: 2017–18
Mali U20 FIFA U-20 World Cup bronze medal: 2015
References
External links
Eurosport profile