Hawa Cissoko (born 10 April 1997) is a French 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 as a defender for

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and the France national team. She also holds Malian citizenship.

Early life

Cissoko was born in Paris on 10 April 1997. She is one of 15 children. She began her football career as a 12 year old in when she joined FC Solitaire. She was then invited to joined

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

youth team in 2012.

Club career

Cissoko made her senior career debut for

Paris Saint Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

during the 2014–15 season. She went on to join

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

in 2017. After a lone season with Marseille, she transferred to

ASJ Soyaux ASJ Soyaux Charente (''Association Sportive Jeunesse de Soyaux Charente''), commonly known as Soyaux, is a women's football club founded in 1968 and based in Soyaux, France. The club had played in France's top division except for spans of relegat ...

in 2018. She joined West Ham United in July 2020. On 15 October 2022, she was involved in an on-field scuffle in which she struck an opposing player in a league match against Aston Villa. She was subsequently banned for five matches as a result. On 11 December 2022, Cissoko scored her first senior career goal in a 2–0 league win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. Cissoko scored the winning goal in the 2–1 home win against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the 2023–24 season, coming from behind for West Ham's first ever victory over Arsenal in the Super League.

International career

Cissoko represented France at the 2016 FIFA U-20 World Cup. She has appeared twice for ''Les Bleues'' at senior level in 2017, both matches being friendly: on 18 September in a 1–1 draw against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and on 20 October 2017 in a 1–0 win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. By July 2020, after moving to England, Cissoko has expressed her desire to switch her international allegiance and play for

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 ...

Personal life

Cissoko is a Muslim. She made the decision in January 2021 to wear the hijab, only removing it during matches.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * 1997 births Living people Footballers from Paris Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Malian descent French women's footballers Women's association football defenders France women's youth international footballers UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Division 1 Féminine players Paris Saint-Germain Féminine players Olympique de Marseille (women) players ASJ Soyaux-Charente players West Ham United F.C. Women players France women's international footballers French expatriate women's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England Women's Super League players {{France-women-footy-bio-stub