Aboubacar Sissoko (born 9 October 1995) is a Malian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Atlético Ottawa Atlético Ottawa is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at TD Place Stadium, TD Place. The team was founded in 2020 by Spa ...

in the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

Early life

Sissoko was born in

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

and moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 2006 when his father, a diplomat, was posted there. He began playing youth soccer with

CS Mont-Royal Outremont Club Soccer Mont-Royal Outremont is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in the Montreal boroughs of Mount Royal and Outremont. Since 2013, the club has competed in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec. Their women's team has compet ...

, later joining

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

. In 2015, he won the Silver Ball with the U21 team of CS Mont-Royal Outremont in the LSEQ U21 division. In 2016, he played at the senior amateur level in the LSEQ with CS Panellinios.

University career

In 2015, he began attending the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

, where he played for the Carabins men's soccer team, joining his brother who also played for the team. He was named the Carabins' Rookie of the Year in 2015. In 2017, he was named captain of the team. He helped the Carabins win reach the national championship three years in a row from 2017 to 2019, helping them win their first national title in 2018, as well as silver medals in 2017 and 2019. He was an RSEQ First Team All-Star three times from 2017 to 2019, as well as a

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

First Team All-Star in 2019. He was also named an RSEQ Indoor First-Team All-Star in 2017-18. After the 2019 season, he won the

Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy The Joe Johnson Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding U Sports men's soccer player. The trophy was donated by the family of the longtime university soccer coach in memory of his contribution to university soccer. The selection ...

as the most outstanding U Sports men's soccer player, after having been named the RSEQ Player of the Year earlier. He was also named the

Montreal Carabins The Montréal Carabins are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Teams play at the CEPSUM Stadium and at l'aréna du CEPSUM, located at the Université de Montréal campus. ...

Athlete of the Year, across all of their sports teams. In June 2020, he was named the U Sports Athlete of the Year for 2019-20. He became the first Carabin to ever win the honour. As part of the award, he earned a $10,000 schaolarship.

Club career

In 2014, he appeared with

CS Longueuil Club Soccer Longueuil is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Longueuil, Quebec. Since 2014, the club has competed in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. History The club was originally founded in 1970. In 2014, the club joine ...

in the

Première ligue de soccer du Québec The Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012. The Quebec Soccer Federation operates both men's and women's divisions at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The league is pa ...

. From 2017 to 2019, he played for

CS St-Hubert CS St-Hubert is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Saint-Hubert, Quebec that plays in Ligue1 Québec. History The club was originally formed in 1980. Prior to joining the PLSQ, the club played in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Queb ...

in the

. In November 2018, at the 2018 CPL-U Sports Draft, Sissoko was selected 12th overall by

club

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

. He attended pre-season with the club, but did not earn a contract. After leaving Forge, he returned to St-Hubert for another season in 2019, after which he departed the PLSQ club to begin his professional career. In November 2019, he signed with

HFX Wanderers FC HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of t ...

of the

, ahead of the 2020 season. In February 2020, after signing his contract, but before beginning the 2020 season, he went on trial with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

. Originally, the trial was to last for three days, but it was continually extended, finally ending after six weeks, after which he returned to join the Wanderers. In his third match on August 23, he earned Man of the Match honours against

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches at ...

. He helped the Wanderers reach the 2020 CPL Final, where they were defeated by

. He led the league with a 91% dribbling success rate that season. He was also named to the CanPL.ca 2020 Best XI. In February 2021, he joined

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

club

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014, before moving to the United Soccer League in 2018. The franchise plays it ...

. In February 2022, he returned to the Canadian Premier League, signing with

. He made his debut for the club in a

2022 CONCACAF Champions League The 2022 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2022 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League) was the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 57th edition of the premier football club competition org ...

match against

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

on February 16. He won the league title with Forge in 2022. In 2023, he again helped Forge win the league title, for the second year in a row. In February 2024, he signed with

on a two-year contract. On 13 April 2024, he made his debut in the season opener against

York United FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. History ...

International career

Sissoko represented the Mali U20 team at the

2015 African U-20 Championship qualification The qualification phase of the 2015 African U-20 Championship decided the participating teams of the final tournament. A total of eight teams will play in the final tournament, to be hosted by Senegal. Qualification ties were played on a home-and ...

tournament in 2014. After returning to Canada following it, he was diagnosed with malaria and fell into a three-day coma.

Personal

While representing the Mali U20 team, Sissoko, along with his mother and sister, paid for the construction of two water wells in an arid rural area of Mali and later formed the Macine Foundation (named in honour of his parents) with his sister and two brothers, as a water-supplying charity, and have built additional wells.

Career statistics

References

External links

Montreal Carabins profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sissoko, Aboubabcar 1995 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Malian men's footballers Canadian men's soccer players Footballers from Bamako Soccer players from Montreal Black Canadian men's soccer players Naturalized citizens of Canada Université de Montréal alumni HFX Wanderers FC players Indy Eleven players Ligue1 Québec players Canadian Premier League players Mali men's youth international footballers Forge FC draft picks 21st-century Malian people Forge FC players CS St-Hubert players CS Longueuil players Atlético Ottawa players