Marc-Vivien Foé (1 May 1975 – 26 June 2003) was a Cameroonian professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder for both club and country.

On 26 June 2003, Foé died suddenly during an international match for Cameroon, an event which shocked the football community worldwide.

He was posthumously decorated with the Commander of the National Order of Valour and had his shirt numbers 23 and 17 retired by Manchester City and Lens, respectively.

[16] Foé began representing Cameroon at under-20s when he was called up to the squad of 18 players for the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia, under the management of Jean Manga-Onguéné.

[20] Team members had been in various financial and disciplinary disputes with the Cameroon Football Association,[21] and the squad was a shadow of the one which had famously reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1990.

[23] However, Foé's consistently strong performances as a defensive midfielder (including a goal assist)[24] prompted interest from European clubs.

Though the team performed better than in 1994, they were again eliminated at the group stage, having beaten Saudi Arabia, drawn with Ireland and lost to Germany.

On 26 June 2003, Cameroon faced Colombia in the semi-final, held at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon, France.

Foé's widow Marie-Louise stated that he had been ill with gastric problems and dysentery before his final match, but he was adamant to play in his adopted hometown of Lyon.

[31] It was suggested that the Confederations Cup and the Stade Gerland could have been renamed after him, and Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan announced that the club would no longer use the number 23 shirt Foé wore during his successful season there.

[1] Similar to Manchester City, Lens decided to withdraw the number 17 shirt that Foé wore for five years.

Prior to the kick-off of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final between the United States and Brazil, his son, then fourteen years old, gave a brief speech in memory of his father.