Mariam Toloba

Mariam Toloba
Personal information
Full name Mariam Abdulai Toloba
Date of birth (1999-09-20) 20 September 1999 (age 25)[1]
Place of birth Ghent, Belgium
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Standard Fémina de Liège
Youth career
-2012 Sparta Petegem
2012-2015 Gent
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2019 Gent
2019–2023 Anderlecht 34 (8)
2023– Standard Fémina de Liège
International career‡
2014 Belgium U16 3 (2)
2014–2016 Belgium U17 15 (5)
2016–2018 Belgium U19 16 (8)
2024- Belgium 3 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 December 2024[2]

Mariam Abdulai Toloba (born 20 September 1999) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a striker for Standard Fémina de Liège in the Belgian Women's Super League and the Belgium national team.[3][1] She previously played for Gent and Anderlecht, and was a UEFA Goal of the Year nominee as a 15-year-old.

Career

After starting in football in the schools teams of Sparta Gent, Evergem and Sparta Petegem, Toloba moved to Gent as a 13-year-old, making her debut in the Belgian Women's Super League at the age of 15 with Gent in 2015, making headlines for being nominated that year for UEFA's Goal of the Year while playing for the Belgium under-17s.[4]

Toloba ended her second season in top-class Belgian football by scoring in the Buffalos' first ever Cup success, a 3–1 victory over Anderlecht to win the 2017 Belgian Women's Cup Final. Toloba scored the clinching goal near the end.[5][6]

After being beaten 3–2 by Genk in the following year's Cup semi-final, Gent returned to the Cup Final in 2019, defeating Standard Fémina de Liège 2–0 with Toloba and Marie Minnaert scoring the goals.[7]

Toloba moved to Anderlecht in the summer of 2019, winning four league titles in a row. Her final success in 2022-23 was somewhat bittersweet as she was on the bench much more this season than being a starter.[8][9]

After only starting 11 league games with Anderlecht that season, she moved to Standard Liege in May 2023,[10] and started 24 games in their 2023-24 Belgian Women's Super League title assault, where Standard finished two points behind Anderlecht, drawing their two games against the Mauves in the title play-offs.

International career

Toloba played 33 underage internationals for Belgium, scoring twice on her international debut at under-16 level in a 4–0 win over Croatia in 2014.[11]

She was involved in two unsuccessful European Under-17 qualifying campaigns, missing out on the Championships in 2015 and 2016, but still scored five times at that level,[11] netting eight goals in 16 appearances from the under-19s.

Toloba made her debut for the Belgium senior national women's team, the Red Flames, on 12 July 2024, coming on as a substitute for Laura Deloose in a 3–0 home loss to Denmark in a UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifier at the Stayen in Sint-Truiden.[12][13] Toloba was handed a second appearance for Belgium in their 5-0 Euro 2025 play-off semi-final win over Greece when coming on late as substitute for Hannah Eurlings at Den Dreef.[14]

Toloba's first goal for Belgium came in the second-leg of their Euro 2025 play-off final against Ukraine in a 2–1 win at Den Dreef on 3 December 2024.

International goals

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 3 December 2024 Den Dreef, Leuven, Belgium  Ukraine 1–0 2–1 UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying play-offs

UEFA Goal of the Season nominee

In July 2015, Toloba was named in UEFA's Goal of the Season list for the 2014–15 campaign for her Dennis Bergkamp-style goal in the 5–0 win over Wales in qualifying for the 2015 UEFA Women's European Under-17 Championship.[4][15][16]

For this, she was nominated alongside Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin De Bruyne, the only woman among the ten to be up for the award. In doing so, Toloba and De Bruyne became the first Belgians to be nominated for the award in its history.[17]

Messi won the trophy for a Barcelona goal against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.

Futsal

Toloba has also played futsal at club and international level, helping Besiktas Gent to victory in the Nantes Mondial tournament in 2024.[18]

Toloba took on the role of assistant coach at Besiktas Gent in April 2020, alongside coach Andy Van de Geuchte.[19]

She scored in all three group games for Belgium in the 2019 UEFA Women's Futsal Euro qualifiers held in Newry, netting against Northern Ireland in a 4–3 win,[20] also scoring against Sweden and the Netherlands as Belgium missed out on qualification.

Toloba scored four goals in a 7–2 win over Northern Ireland in Roosdahl on 2 December 2023, and netted again in 5–1 victory over the same opposition the following day.[21][22]

Personal

Toloba's parents are both from Ghana. She has three brothers who have also played football at a local level.[17]

Honours

Gent

Anderlecht

References

  1. ^ a b Mariam Toloba at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  2. ^ "Al onze Red Flames" [All our Red Flames]. RBFA (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  3. ^ "Mariam Toloba". Playmaker Stats. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Mariam Abdulai genomineerd voor UEFA Best Goal 2014-2015" [Mariam Abdulai nominated for UEFA Best Goal 2014-2015]. kaagent.be (in Dutch). 27 July 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Vrouwen AA Gent kloppen Anderlecht in Belgische Beker" [AA Gent women beat Anderlecht in Belgian Cup]. Sporza (in Dutch). 13 May 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  6. ^ "KAA Gent Ladies winnen Beker van België tegen Anderlecht" [KAA Gent Ladies win Belgian Cup against Anderlecht]. kaagent.be (in Dutch). 13 May 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Gent Ladies verslaan Standard in bekerfinale bij vrouwen" [Gent Ladies beat Standard in women's cup final]. Sporza (in Dutch). 22 April 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Mariam Toloba, dit seizoen vaker op de bank dan haar lief is, stelt zege veilig voor Anderlecht Ladies: "De coach heeft zijn visie op de zaken en uiteindelijk bepaalt die ook, hè"" [Mariam Toloba, on the bench more often than she would like this season, secures victory for Anderlecht Ladies: "The coach has his vision on things and in the end he decides, doesn't he?"]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 12 February 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Mariam Toloba helpt RSC Anderlecht Ladies aan de zege, Marie Minnaert valt uit" [Mariam Toloba helps RSC Anderlecht Ladies to victory, Marie Minnaert drops out]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 16 April 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  10. ^ "Standard haalt speelster Anderlecht in huis" [Standard brings in Anderlecht player]. vrouwenvoetbalkrant.be (in Dutch). 11 May 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  11. ^ a b Mariam Toloba at the Royal Belgian Football Association
  12. ^ "Belgium vs Denmark - 12 July 2024". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  13. ^ "Mariam Toloba". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Belgium vs Greece - 29 October 2024". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  15. ^ "15-jarige Toloba: "Geweldig, genomineerd samen met Ronaldo"" [15-year-old Toloba: "Great, nominated together with Ronaldo"]. Sporza (in Dutch). 28 July 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Mariam Abdulai Tolobi v Wales: Goal of the Season?". YouTube. UEFA. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  17. ^ a b "KAA Gent Ladies heeft er met Mariam Abdulai Toloba een sterretje bij!" [KAA Gent Ladies has a new star with Mariam Abdulai Tolaba!]. vrouwenvoetbal.be (in Dutch). 28 July 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Mondial de Nantes : un week-end au service du futsal féminin" [Nantes World Cup: a weekend dedicated to women’s futsal]. footeuses.com. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  19. ^ "Dames worden volgend seizoen gecoacht door Andy en Mariam" [Ladies will be coached by Andy and Mariam next season]. futsalbesiktas.be (in Dutch). 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Irish lose seven-goal Futsal Euro thriller with Belgium". SheKicks.net. 22 August 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  21. ^ "Top weekend for our Red Flames futsal with two wins against Northern Ireland". RBFA. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  22. ^ "Women's futsal team on a learning curve". irishfa.com. Irish FA. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.