Marie-Antoinette Katoto


Marie-Antoinette Oda Katoto is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Division 1 Féminine club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team.

Club career

Katoto began playing football for her hometown club Colombes FFC in 2005. She joined the youth section of Paris Saint-Germain in 2011. She went on to score 27 goals from 26 matches for the youth teams of Paris Saint-Germain and helped her side to win the Championnat de France National Féminine U19 in 2016.
Katoto made her professional debut on 26 April 2015 against Wolfsburg in the second leg of a UEFA Women's Champions League tie. She was given a league debut by manager Farid Benstiti during the following week's 5–0 win over Rodez. She played the whole 90 minutes and netted a goal.
Katoto scored 21 goals during 2017–18 Division 1 Féminine season, finishing second in the top scorers' list behind eventual Women's Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg. On 31 May 2018, she helped her side to win the :fr:Coupe de France féminine de football 2017-2018|2017-18 Coupe de France Féminine final against six-time defending champions Lyon by scoring the only goal in the match.

International career

Katoto is of DR Congolese descent and has represented France at different youth levels, accumulating 32 caps and 21 goals. She was part of the France under-19 team which won the 2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship. She finished the tournament as top scorer with six goals, and was selected as the golden player.
Katoto made her senior team debut on 10 November 2018, in a 3–1 friendly win over Brazil. She came on as a substitute, replacing Delphine Cascarino in the 66th minute. She scored her first international goal on 19 January 2019, in a 3–1 friendly win over USA. In the run up to the match, France's coach Corinne Diacre had publicly criticised Katoto's attitude and application.
In May 2019 Diacre left Katoto out of the 23-player squad for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted by France. The decision caused widespread surprise as the previous season Katoto had scored 30 in 28 games for Paris Saint-Germain. Diacre remained defiant: "It was a difficult choice, but I made it and I stand by it. It's certain that if we don’t win the World Cup, I will be reproached for it."

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 February 2020

International

As of 10 March 2020

Honours

Club

;Paris Saint-Germain