Nzuzi Toko
Toko in 2014
Personal information
Full name Nzuzi Bundebele Toko[1]
Date of birth (1990-11-20) 20 November 1990
Place of birth Kinshasa, Zaire
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Grasshoppers II 10 (1)
2008–2014 Grasshoppers 143 (7)
2014–2015 Brighton & Hove Albion 0 (0)
2015–2016 Eskişehirspor 31 (1)
2016–2018 FC St. Gallen 47 (2)
2018–2019 Al-Fateh 11 (1)
2019–2020 IFK Göteborg 21 (0)
2020–2022 Würzburger Kickers 15 (0)
2022–2023 FC Dietikon 10 (5)
International career‡
2011–2012 Switzerland U21 13 (2)
2010–2015 DR Congo 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 February 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 February 2023

Nzuzi Bundebele Toko (born 20 November 1990) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He represented the DR Congo national team. Toko holds both Swiss and DR Congo nationality; he played youth international football for the former and senior international football for the latter.

He is best known for his time playing for Grasshopper Club Zürich, with whom he won the 2012–13 Swiss Cup.

Early and personal life

Born in Kinshasa, Zaire, Toko moved to Switzerland at the age of four.[3]

Club career

Toko spent his early career in Switzerland for Grasshoppers II and Grasshoppers.[4][2]

On 20 May 2014, Toko signed a three-year contract with English club Brighton & Hove Albion following the conclusion of his contract at Grasshoppers.[3] [5] His agent revealed that Toko had turned down a move to Russia.[6]

On 20 January 2015, Toko agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Brighton after only eight months at the club.[7] He signed for Turkish club Eskişehirspor the next day.[8] He later played for FC St. Gallen and Al-Fateh,[2] before signing with IFK Göteborg in March 2019.[9]

Since August 2022, he played for FC Dietikon,[10] in the 2. Liga Interregional, the fifth tier of Swiss football. On 22 February 2023, he announced his retirement from football.[11] However, he also made three appearances for the club in March 2023.

International career

Toko scored on his senior international début for the DR Congo national team in a 2–0 win over Saudi Arabia in May 2010.[12] He played in two further games for DR Congo before switching allegiance to Switzerland, a 6–3 loss against Egypt in August 2010 and a 2–0 loss in Paris against Gabon in February 2011.[13]

In March 2011, he chose to play for Switzerland and represented the Swiss under-21 team in games against Saudi Arabia and Qatar.[14] He later represented the under-21 team during 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification.[15]

In December 2012, he was named in DR Congo's 28-man provisional squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.[16] Although Toko did not make the final squad, he was later called up for DR Congo's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. He played his first competitive game for DR Congo against Libya in March 2013.[17]

Career statistics

As of 22 February 2023[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Grasshoppers 2008–09 Swiss Super League 60001[lower-alpha 1]070
2009–10 Swiss Super League 1810000181
2010–11 Swiss Super League 292101[lower-alpha 1]0312
2011–12 Swiss Super League 3112000331
2012–13 Swiss Super League 2622100283
2013–14 Swiss Super League 331324[lower-alpha 2]0403
Total 1437836015710
Brighton & Hove Albion 2014–15 Football League Championship 00100010
Eskişehirspor 2014–15 Süper Lig 1313000161
2015–16 Süper Lig 1805000230
Total 3118000391
St. Gallen 2016–17 Swiss Super League 2912000311
2017–18 Swiss Super League 1811000191
Total 4723000502
Al-Fateh 2018–19 Saudi Professional League 1110000111
IFK Göteborg 2019 Allsvenskan 1700000170
2020 Allsvenskan 40400080
Total 2104000250
Würzburger Kickers 2020–21 2. Bundesliga 1500000150
2021–22 3. Liga 00000000
Total 1500000150
FC Dietikon 2022–23 2. Liga Interregional 74––74
Career total 275152436030518

References

  1. ↑ "NZUZI BUNDEBELE TOKO" (in French). lequipe.fr. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nzuzi Toko at Soccerway. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Nzuzi Toko: Brighton sign Grasshopper Zurich midfielder". BBC Sport. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Nzuzi Toko at National-Football-Teams.com
  5. ↑ "Toko signs for Albion". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 20 May 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ↑ "Albion new boy turned down Russian deal". The Argus. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Toko Nzuzi Leaves Brighton & Hove Albion". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Eskişehirspor, Nzuzi Toko'yu transfer etti". Radikal.
  9. ↑ "Bekräftat: IFK Göteborg värvar". Aftonbladet. 14 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "Der FC Dietikon ist dran an den Ex-Profis Nzuzi Toko und Frank Feltscher" (in Swiss High German). 3 August 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Ex-GC-Profi Nzuzi Toko beendet seine Karriere offiziell" (in Swiss High German). 22 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "En stage en Autriche - Les Léopards ont livré deux matches contre l'Arabie Saoudite". Le Potentiel (in French). 19 May 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "Football - Les Léopards bis griffés par les Panthères du Gabon en amical" (in French). Les Dépêches de Brazzaville. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  14. ↑ "Switzerland learn lessons on Middle East tour". UEFA. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  15. ↑ Nzuzi Toko – UEFA competition record (archive)
  16. ↑ "CAN 2013 : Les 28 de la RD Congo" (in French). Afrik.com. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  17. ↑ Nzuzi Toko – FIFA competition record (archived)
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