Pape N'Diaye Souaré (; born 6 June 1990) is a Senegalese 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 lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Born in Mbao, Pikine Department, Souaré spent his early career with Diambars, Lille II,

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

and

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

. He moved to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

on a three-and-a-half-year deal in January 2015 for an undisclosed fee, reported as £3.45 million. He made his Palace debut on 14 February in the fifth round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, a 2–1 home loss to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and was described by Dominic Fifield of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' as looking "rusty and susceptible". On 22 January 2016, it was announced that Souaré had signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with Palace. He was sent off on 13 February at the end of a 2–1 loss to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

, for fouling

Valon Behrami Valon Behrami (born 19 April 1985) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Despite starting his professional football career in Switzerland with FC Lugano, Behrami played mostly in Italy, though also played for two ...

. After over a year out of football following a car crash, Souaré made his first appearance on 19 September 2017 in a 1–0 home win over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in the third round of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. He was praised for his performance by manager

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstad in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to t ...

. In August 2019, after his contract with Crystal Palace expired, Souaré joined French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

club

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

on a one-season contract with an option of a further 12 months. In July 2021, having made no appearances for Troyes in the previous season, Souaré trained with the Crystal Palace under-23 squad, with a view to maintain fitness, and appeared in pre-season matches for the side. On 6 September 2021, Souaré returned to England to join League One club

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

on a one-year deal. On 10 May 2022, it was confirmed that Souaré would leave Charlton Athletic when his contract expired at the end of the season. On 17 March 2023, Souaré joined League One club

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

on a contract until the end of the season. He was released by the club at the end of the season. On 17 July 2023,

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

announced the signing of Souaré on a six-month contract. He left the club on 1 January 2024 following the expiry of his contract. On 31 August 2024, Souare joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

South East Division club

AFC Croydon Athletic Association Football Club Croydon Athletic is a football club based in Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon, England. Founded by supporters of Croydon Athletic after it folded, the club are currently members of the and play at the ...

. In October 2024, he joined

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...

. He departed the club in January 2025 following the expiration of his short-term contract.

International career

Souaré made his international debut for

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

on 29 February 2012, in a goalless friendly draw against South Africa at the

Moses Mabhida Stadium The Moses Mabhida Stadium is a association football, soccer stadium in Durban in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, named after Moses Mabhida, a former general secretary of the South African Communist Party. A multi-use stadium, it bec ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. He later competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and was a squad member at the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

. He scored his first international goal from a 20-yard free kick on 29 March 2016 as the ''Lions de Teranga'' won 2–1 away to

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the 31st edition of the international men's football champions ...

. Following his car crash, he returned to the national team in March 2018. He was not included in Senegal's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life

On 11 September 2016, Souaré was airlifted to hospital after being involved in a road accident on the M4. He sustained injuries to his thigh and jawbone. It was thought that he would be out for six months, although he returned to training after 11 months.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first.''

Honours

Lille *

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Crystal Palace *

runner-up: 2015–16

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Souare, Pape 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Dakar region Men's association football fullbacks Senegalese men's footballers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen Diambars FC players Lille OSC players Stade de Reims players Crystal Palace F.C. players ES Troyes AC players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players AFC Croydon Athletic players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Ligue 2 players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Isthmian League players National League (English football) players Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Senegal men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Senegal Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland