Born 3 April 1979 in Colombes, Paris to Malian parents, Zoumana 'Papus' Camara was passionate about football.

'I grew up next to another big stadium, full of history, the one in Colombes, where the French team played for a long time,' he says. 'At home, it wasn't easy every day. My parents were born in Mali, in Bamako. My father came first, in the 1960s, to find work and have a better life. He had just gotten married, but my mother arrived later.' At school, when his teachers asked him what job he wanted to do, young Zoumana replied that he planned to become a professional footballer. 'For them, it wasn't a real job. They saw football as a hobby.'

Camara made his professional debut at 17, with Saint-Étienne and two years later, in the summer of 1998, he moved to Inter Milan. He only managed two appearances for Inter in the Italian Cup during his two years at the San Siro but had productive loan spells at Empoli and Bastia.

He moved on to Marseille for a couple of years. ' before joining Lens in 2002.

Camara earned his only cap for France at the 2001 Confederations Cup against Austria.

Camara become Peter Reid's second signing of the summer of 2003, joining on a season-long loan deal. He was confident the move to Leeds would work out for him in the long term, saying, 'I was going to stay with Lens but Leeds told me they wanted me and made an offer to Lens. The French directors told me I could chose and I am very happy to come to England. I know I will be a winner. I also spoke a lot to coach Peter Reid. I think I will be in the first team otherwise I would not have come here.'

He quickly became a Leeds regular, scoring in the 3-2 defeat of Middlesbrough at the end of August, but that was one of only two victories in Leeds' opening 15 fixtures. By the time of the third win, Reid had lost his job and Camara's contribution was as good as over, for all his quality, particularly in the area.

Trevor Birch tried to persuade Camara to end his contract in January as a cost-saving measure, but Camara refused, remaining at Leeds until the end of the season.

Camara quit Lens for a return to Saint-Étienne in the summer of 2004, only missing six games over the next three seasons. In 2007, he signed a four-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain, staying with the club until 2015.

After retiring, Camara worked for Paris Saint-Germain as assistant manager, serving under Laurent Blanc, Unai Emery and Thomas Tuchel. When Mauricio Pochettino joined PSG in January 2021, Camara stepped down to work with the academy.