Benjamin George Cabango (born 30 May 2000) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a defender for and captains EFL Championship club Swansea City, and represents the Wales national team.
Cabango was born in Cardiff to an Angolan father and a Welsh mother. He has a younger brother named Theo who plays rugby union for Cardiff.[2] He attended Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Plasmawr, a Welsh language comprehensive school.[3][4]
Cabango began his career as a youth player with local amateur side Maindy Corries, where his father Paolo was a coach, before joining the youth academy at Newport County,[5] where he played from under-13 to under-15 levels. He moved to the academy at Swansea City when he is 14,[6] where he captained the under-19 side to win the FAW Welsh Youth Cup in 2018 and helped the under-23 side reach the final of the Premier League Cup.[3][7]
In June 2018, Cabango signed his first professional deal with Swansea City, then signed for reigning Welsh Premier League champions The New Saints on a six-month loan deal.[3][8] He made his senior debut for the side in a 5–0 defeat to Macedonian side KF Shkëndija in the first leg of the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.[9] In the return leg, Cabango scored his first senior goal as The New Saints won 4–0 but were eliminated on aggregate.[10]
On 13 August 2019, he made his professional debut for Swansea in a 3–1 victory over Northampton Town in the first round of the League Cup.[11] He made his league debut as a substitute against Huddersfield Town on 26 November 2019.[12] In March 2020, he signed a new deal with Swansea until 2023.[13]
On 8 July 2020, Cabango scored his first goal for Swansea City in a 3-1 win over Birmingham City.[14] Following Joe Rodon's departure, Cabango became a regular starter, starting 34 games across the season including all 3 matches in the EFL Championship play-offs, as Swansea lost to Brentford in the final. In March 2021, he signed a new contract with Swansea until 2025.[15]
In the 2021-22 season, Cabango was given the number 5 shirt.[16] Cabango scored Swansea's second in a 4-0 victory over South Wales rivals and Cabango's hometown team, Cardiff City as Swansea became the first side to win both South Wales Derbies in a league season.[17] Cabango repeated this feat in the following season, scoring a 99th minute winner in a 3-2 victory at the Cardiff City Stadium, marking a fourth consecutive Swansea City win in the derby.[18]
In December 2024, Cabango signed a new contract with Swansea, until 2028.[19] In January 2025, following an accepted bid for Matt Grimes, Cabango was named club captain.[20]
Cabango made his senior Wales international debut as a second-half substitute during the team's UEFA Nations League League B match against Finland on 3 September 2020, which Wales won 1–0.[21] In May 2021 he was selected for the Wales squad for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.[22] In November 2022 he was named in the Wales squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[23]
Ben Cabango is the elder brother of professional rugby union player Theo Cabango.[24]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Swansea City | 2018–19[25] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019–20[26] | Championship | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| 2020–21[27] | Championship | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 35 | 4 | |
| 2021–22[28] | Championship | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 39 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23[29] | Championship | 43 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 46 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24[29] | Championship | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25[30] | Championship | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| Total | 173 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 191 | 10 | ||
| The New Saints (loan) | 2018–19[31] | Welsh Premier League | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6[b] | 1 | 25 | 1 |
| Career total | 189 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 216 | 11 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | 2020 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 0 | |
Wales squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
general
This is the start of the #general chat. #general is a chat channel to discuss anything related to the hub.
