Gilles Yapi Yapo

Born in Abidjan, Yapi Yapo started his career at ASEC Mimosas and then moved to Europe with Beveren. He joined Nantes on a loan contract in January 2004, and on 17 May, he signed a three-year contract, because his contract with Beveren was due to expire in the summer. At this stage of his career, he played as an attacking midfielder. He was on the fringe at Nantes in the 2005–06 season, prompting a loan move to Young Boys. He then joined Young Boys on a permanent basis, where he played as a defensive midfielder and playmaker. On 15 February 2010 FC Basel announced that they had signed Yapi Yapo as from 1 July on a three-year contract. He joined Basel's first team during their 2010–11 season under head coach Thorsten Fink. After playing in eight test games Yapi Yapo played his domestic league debut for his new club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 20 July 2010 as Basel won 3–2 against Zürich. He scored his first goal for his new club in the home game on 1 August 2010 as Basel won 3–0 against FC St. Gallen. Basel started in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and advanced to the group stage, but ended the group in third position. Therefore they dropped to the 2010–11 Europa League knockout phase, but here they were eliminated by Spartak Moscow due to a last minute goal against them. Yapi Yapo played in 11 of the 12 European matches. With Basel, Yapi Yapo won the Swiss Championship at the end of the 2010–11 season topping the table just one point…

Yapi Yapo was part of the Ivory Coast team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He was also selected in the preliminary Ivory Coast squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but was eventually dropped along with Bakari Koné and Emerse Faé, who played with him in the 2006 World Cup. He retired from the Ivory Coast national team after this.

ASEC Mimosas

Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division: 1999–2000, 2000–01 Basel

Swiss Super League: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 Swiss Cup: 2011–12 Uhrencup: 2011 Zürich

Swiss Cup: 2015–16 Ivory Coast

Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2006