Martin Hongla

Martin Hongla
Hongla playing for Cameroon at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Personal information
Full name Martin Hongla Yma II[1]
Date of birth (1998-03-16) 16 March 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder, centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Granada
Number 6
Youth career
–2016 Nkufo Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Granada B 35 (1)
2017–2019 Granada 10 (0)
2018 → Barcelona B (loan) 6 (0)
2019 → Karpaty Lviv (loan) 13 (2)
2019–2022 Royal Antwerp 37 (3)
2021–2022 → Hellas Verona (loan) 18 (1)
2022–2024 Hellas Verona 24 (0)
2023 → Valladolid (loan) 16 (0)
2024– Granada 28 (1)
International career‡
2015 Cameroon U17 3 (1)
2017 Cameroon U20 3 (2)
2019 Cameroon U23 2 (0)
2020– Cameroon 30 (1)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Cameroon
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place 2021 Cameroon
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2024

Martin Hongla Yma II (born 16 March 1998) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for Segunda División club Granada and the Cameroon national team.

Club career

Born in Yaoundé, Hongla joined Granada CF in 2016, from Blaise Nkufo's Nkufo Sports Academy.[3] He was initially assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.

Hongla made his senior debut on 21 August 2016, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Atlético Mancha Real.[4] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 28 January 2017, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 defeat at Villarreal CF.[5]

Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Hongla was definitely promoted to the main squad, now in Segunda División.[6] On 16 January 2018, he was loaned to fellow league team FC Barcelona B, for six months.[7]

On 3 July 2019, after a six-month loan to FC Karpaty Lviv, Hongla joined Royal Antwerp FC in the Belgian First Division A.[8] On 9 July 2021, he joined Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona on loan with a conditional purchase obligation.[9]

On 31 January 2023, Hongla returned to Spain and its top tier, after agreeing to a six-month loan deal with Real Valladolid.[10]

On 12 January 2024, Hongla returned to Granada.[11][12] He reportedly signed a three-and-a-half-year contract for a transfer fee of €2.5 million.[13]

International career

Hongla played at the 2015 African U-17 Championship, 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualification and the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.[14]

He made his debut for Cameroon national team on 16 November 2020 in a Cup of Nations qualifier game against Mozambique, as a starter.[15]

On November 10, 2022, he was selected by Rigobert Song to compete in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[16]

Career statistics

As of match played 14 December 2024[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Granada B 2016–17 Segunda División B 23 0 — — — 23 0
2017–18 Segunda División B 12 1 — — — 12 1
Total 35 1 — — — 35 1
Granada 2016–17 La Liga 10 0 0 0 — — 10 0
Barcelona B (loan) 2017–18 Segunda División 6 0 — — — 6 0
Karpaty Lviv (loan) 2018–19 Ukrainian Premier League 13 2 2 0 — 2[a] 0 17 1
Royal Antwerp 2019–20 Belgian First Division A 9 0 4 0 2[b] 0 — 15 0
2020–21 Belgian First Division A 28 3 1 0 8[b] 0 6[c] 0 43 3
Total 37 3 5 0 10 0 6 0 58 3
Hellas Verona (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 18 1 2 0 — — 20 1
Hellas Verona 2022–23 Serie A 9 0 1 0 — — 10 0
2023–24 Serie A 15 0 2 0 — — 17 0
Total 42 1 5 0 — — 47 0
Real Valladolid (loan) 2022–23 La Liga 16 0 — — — 16 0
Granada 2023–24 Segunda División 13 0 0 0 — — 13 0
2024–25 Segunda División 15 1 0 0 — — 15 1
Total 28 1 0 0 — — 28 1
Career total 187 8 12 0 10 0 8 0 217 8
  1. ^ Appearances in Relegation play-offs
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in Belgian Pro League play-offs

International

As of match played 19 November 2024[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Cameroon
2020 1 0
2021 10 0
2022 10 0
2023 1 0
2024 8 1
Total 30 1

Honours

Antwerp

Cameroon

References

  1. ^ "Martin HONGLA". Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: List of players: Cameroon" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 5. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Martin Hongla, convicción y atrevimiento" [Martin Hongla, confidence and audacity] (in Spanish). Granada Digital. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  4. ^ "El Atlético Mancha Real debuta con un empate en Granada" [Atlético Mancha Real debut with a draw in Granada] (in Spanish). El Deporte de Jaén. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  5. ^ "El Villarreal vuela sin Pato" [Villarreal fly without Pato] (in Spanish). Marca. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Martin Hongla tendrá ficha con el primer equipo" [Martin Hongla will have a first team place] (in Spanish). Ideal. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Granada CF agree to loan of Martin Hongla". FC Barcelona. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Comunicado | El Granada CF acuerda el traspaso de Hongla al Royal Antwerp FC" [Announcement | Granada CF agree the transfer of Hongla to Royal Antwerp FC] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Benvenuto Martin! Dal Royal Antwerp arriva il centrocampista Hongla" (in Italian). Hellas Verona. 9 July 2021. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Hongla fortalece la plantilla" [Hongla bolsters the squad] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Comunicado Oficial | Martin Hongla, nuevo jugador del Granada CF" [Official Statement | Martin Hongla, new Granada CF player] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Martin Hongla moves to Granada". Hellas Verona. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Martin Hongla, quinto refuerzo" [Martin Hongla, fifth reinforcement]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 12 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Martin Hongla profile". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Mozambique v Cameroon game report". ESPN. 16 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Le Cameroun avec Onana, Anguissa et Choupo-Moting à la Coupe du monde". L'équipe (in French). 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  17. ^ Martin Hongla at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  18. ^ Martin Hongla at National-Football-Teams.com Edit this at Wikidata
  19. ^ "Club Brugge v Antwerp". goal.com. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  20. ^ AfricaNews (6 February 2022). "Cameroon beats Burkina Faso to end AFCON 2021 in third place". Africanews. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
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