Born in Paris to Malian parents, Kanté began his career at the age of eight at JS Suresnes in the western suburbs of the capital, remaining there for a decade. According to assistant manager Pierre Ville, Kanté remained outside the radar of big teams because of his small stature and selfless style of play. Through the contacts of Suresnes’ president in 2010, he joined the reserve team of Boulogne. He made his professional debut in the last game of the Ligue 2 season on 18 May 2012, a 1–2 home defeat for his already relegated team to Monaco, replacing Virgile Reset for the final 11 minutes.

In 2013, he joined Ligue 2 side Caen and played all 38 games in his first season as they came third in Ligue 2, earning them promotion to Ligue 1. In his second match on 9 August, he scored his first goal to equalise in a 2–1 win at Laval; he levelled again with his other goal of the campaign on 11 April 2014, in a 3–2 win at Istres.

Kanté was scouted for Premier League club Leicester City by Steve Walsh, who had previously facilitated the transfers of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez to the team. On 3 August 2015, he joined Leicester on a four-year contract, for an undisclosed fee reported to be worth €8 million (£5.6 million). He made his debut five days later by replacing Vardy for the final eight minutes of a 4–2 home win over Sunderland. On 7 November, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–1 home win against Watford. He was identified as the successor to Esteban Cambiasso.

On 16 July 2016, Kanté signed for Chelsea for a reported fee of £32 million. After signing a five-year contract with the club, Kanté said: “I am so happy to have signed for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s a dream come true for me.” According to Football Leaks, Kanté was offered a deal where a part of his salary would be transferred into an offshore account to avoid taxes. Kanté chose to refuse the deal, with his lawyer stating in an email: “N’golo is flexible, he simply wants a normal salary.” Kanté was given the number 7 shirt, left vacant since the exit of Ramires in January.

On 15 August 2016, Kanté made his competitive debut in their season opener against West Ham United. Despite picking up a yellow card in the first three minutes of the game, he shone as the game went on, to help Chelsea to a 2–1 victory. Three months after his move to London, he faced his former side, Leicester City for the first time, and was Man of the Match in a 3–0 victory. On 23 October, he scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 4–0 home win against Manchester United.

On 26 December 2016, Kanté was named by L’Équipe as the world’s sixth best footballer of 2016. On 13 March 2017, Kanté was named man of the match and scored the only goal in the 51st minute, in an FA Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. On 20 April, Kanté was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the second consecutive season. He was also later named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, the FWA Footballer of the Year, and the Premier League Player of the Season. Kanté become the first player since Eric Cantona in 1993 to win back‑to-back top-flight titles in England with two clubs.

Born to Malian parents, Kanté was approached by Mali ahead of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations having not played for France in any of their age group teams. Kanté declined on the basis that he was still trying to establish himself in Ligue 1. Mali issued a further invitation to Kanté in January 2016, although he stated that he was still undecided about which national team to represent should he get an invite from France.

On 17 March 2016, Kanté was selected for the France senior squad for the first time to face the Netherlands and Russia in friendlies. He made his debut against the former eight days later, replacing Lassana Diarra at half time in a 3–2 win at the Amsterdam Arena. On his 25th birthday, 29 March, he made his first start and scored to open a 4–2 win over Russia at the Stade de France; fellow birthday celebrant Dimitri Payet also scored.

On 10 June 2016, Kanté appeared in his first competitive match for France by starting the opening match of Euro 2016 against Romania; he played the entire match, made the most passes, the most tackles, the most interceptions, covered the most distance on the pitch and assisted Dimitri Payet’s winning goal in a 2–1 victory. In the round of 16 match against the Republic of Ireland at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Kanté picked up a yellow card in the 27th minute (his second of Euro 2016 which would cause him to be suspended from the quarter-final) and was replaced with Kingsley Coman in the 46th minute with the French trailing 0–1 at half time. Kanté was unused in the final, which France lost 1–0 to Portugal after extra time.

Although he is predominantly known for his tactical awareness, intelligence, and the defensive aspect of his game — namely his ability to tackle and regain possession, intercept passes, and block shots — he is also capable of playmaking from inside his own half and is an efficient passer on the counter-attack. He is also quick up and down the pitch and often makes late attacking runs. He made the most tackles in Europe’s top leagues, in back-to-back seasons (14–15 and 15–16,) and in April 2016, Sir Alex Ferguson described him as the best player in the Premier League.

In October 2017, Kanté was nominated for the Ballon d’Or. He would go on to gain an FA Cup winners medal, appearing for the whole 90 minutes in a 1–0 victory over Manchester United in the final on 19 May 2018. BBC Sport awarded him the man of the match award.

On 23 November 2018, Kanté signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea. On 24 January, he scored the first goal of Chelsea’s 2–1 EFL Cup semi-final second leg win at home to Tottenham Hotspur. The score was tied 2–2 on aggregate at the end of 90 minutes, with Chelsea winning the shootout 4–2. Kanté scored on his 300th club appearance, a 2–2 home draw against Burnley on 22 April.

On 17 May 2018, he was called up to the 23-man French squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He featured in all 7 matches for France in the tournament. He was awarded man-of-the-match against Denmark in the group stage and on 15 July, Kanté started in France’s 4–2 win over Croatia in the final of the tournament.

On 11 August 2019, Kanté started the Premier League campaign from the bench as Chelsea suffered a 4–0 away defeat to Manchester United. He has been out for almost a month including missing the Champions League opener against Valencia because of ankle injury. On 22 September, Kanté scored the only goal in a 1–2 loss against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. His first goal of the season was nominated for the Premier League Goal of the Month award along with his Chelsea teammate, Fikayo Tomori. Kanté marked his 150th Chelsea appearance with a goal against Manchester City, in a 1–2 away defeat on 23 November. Later that month Kanté revealed he decided against moving to PSG and said, “‘Sometimes we do not necessarily know where we want to go, but we know what we have.” He said he felt good in London and had faith in the project at Chelsea.

In May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kanté chose to train from home after Chelsea resumed training on site. The club supported his stance, even if he would miss the rest of the season.

Kanté showed an impressive display in the Premier League opener against Brighton & Hove Albion, in a 3–1 away win on 14 September 2020.