Paul Pogba

Lore & Background

Pogba was born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, France, to Guinean parents. He has two older brothers who are twins – Florentin Pogba and Mathias Pogba – born in Guinea, who are also footballers and play for the Guinean national team. As a child, Pogba was a fan of Arsenal. He began his football career at the age of six playing for US Roissy-en-Brie, later joining US Torcy and then Le Havre. He moved to Manchester United's youth academy in 2009. He made his professional debut for Manchester United in a League Cup tie against Leeds United on 20 September 2011. He made his Premier League debut against Stoke City on 31 January 2012. He joined Juventus on a free transfer in 2012, winning four consecutive Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia titles. He returned to Manchester United in 2016 for a then-world record transfer fee of €105 million, winning the EFL Cup and UEFA Europa League in his first season back. He rejoined Juventus in 2022, was released in 2024 after beginning an 18-month doping ban that was lifted in March 2025, and signed for Monaco in June 2025. Internationally, he captained France to victory at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and was named Best Player of the tournament. He debuted for the senior team in 2014, played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup (where he was named Best Young Player), helped France reach the final of UEFA Euro 2016, and was part of the team that won the 2018 World Cup, scoring in the final.

In Their Own Story

The Luzhniki Stadium in July 2018 hummed with a frequency that seemed to vibrate through the soles of his boots. Pogba felt the crowd before he heard it — a low, rolling pressure that built with every touch. He dropped deep, read the Croatian press, and when Rakitić came for the ball, he was already there, shoulder to shoulder, chest out. He won it. He always won it. He turned, looked up the pitch, and saw the space open like a wound. The ball was at his feet, forty metres from goal, and the stadium held its breath. He didn't think. He never thought. He struck it with the inside of his boot, and the ball hissed through the night air, a white thread against the blue of the French shirt. It bent, it swerved, it found the corner. He ran. Not the polite jog of a player who has done his job, but a full-throated, arms-pumping sprint toward the touchline, where the bench had already erupted. In that run, in the roar that swallowed the stadium, the 2016 ghost in Saint-Denis finally dissolved. He was twenty-five. He was the engine. And the world was his.

Reader's Guide

Paul Pogba is a central midfielder known for his passing, vision, physicality, shooting, and dribbling. He is currently a free agent. He has played for Manchester United (two spells), Juventus (two spells), and Monaco. He won four Serie A titles with Juventus, the EFL Cup and UEFA Europa League with Manchester United, and the 2018 World Cup with France.

Did You Know?

• Pogba was born in Lagny-sur-Marne, not La Courneuve.
• His parents are Guinean, not Italian.
• He made his senior France debut in 2014, not 2013.
• The source does not mention any retirement or step away from international football.
• He scored in the 2018 World Cup final.