Aliou Cissé (born 24 March 1976) is a Senegalese professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is the head coach of the Libya national team. Cissé is best known for captaining the Senegal team which reached the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations Final and for being the first Senegal manager to win the tournament in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

after reaching the final in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Having begun his career in France, he later played for English clubs

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Cissé was a defensive midfielder who also, on occasion, played at

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Cissé has been the head coach of

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 ...

since 2015, having briefly taken charge of them following Amara Traoré's sacking, in a caretaker role in 2012. He was also the assistant coach of the under-23 side from 2012 to 2013, becoming head coach from 2013 to 2015.

Club career

Born in

Ziguinchor Ziguinchor (; ; ) is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of 214,874 (2023 census). It is the eighth largest city of Senegal ...

, Senegal, Cissé moved to Paris at the age of nine, where he grew up with dreams of playing for

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. He began his career with

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 ...

before moving onto Sedan and then Paris Saint-Germain. He also spent the majority of the 2001–02 season on loan at

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. After captaining the Senegal national team to the quarter-finals of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, Cissé transferred to English club

for their 2002–03 season, their debut season in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. Cissé made his first appearance for the club at

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 ...

on the opening day of the season, but was sent off. Though the sending-off was rescinded, he went on to receive five yellow cards in six games, ultimately accumulating ten yellow cards before the New Year. His season, however, was cut short after picking up an injury in February that ruled him out for the rest of the season. Cissé returned late to pre-season training in July 2003, which led manager

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

to place him on the transfer list. Cissé eventually got himself back into the first team picture, but his relationship with Bruce continued to sour. After Christmas, Cissé only played three more games that season. At the end of the season, he signed for

for £300,000 on a two-year contract, despite a strong transfer link to Premiership rivals

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. The transfer was ultimately one of several included in the

Stevens report The Stevens Inquiries were three official British government inquiries led by Sir John Stevens concerning collusion in Northern Ireland between loyalist paramilitaries and the state security forces. While Stevens declared in 1990 that collusio ...

released in June 2007, which expressed concerns of corruption within English football. Regarding Cissé, the report stated: "Agent

Willie McKay Willie McKay is a Scottish football agent, based in Monaco, known for representing a number of high-profile footballers, particularly in the Premier League and Ligue 1. His clients have included James McFadden, Joey Barton Joseph Anthony ...

acted for Portsmouth in the transfer of Cissé and ..the inquiry is not prepared to clear these transfers at this stage". After two years at Portsmouth, Cissé returned to Sedan in November 2006, after undergoing a two-week trial. He then signed for 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 ...

side

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

from Sedan in September 2008. Cissé played seven games during the 2008–09 season, before retiring from club football at the age of 33.

International career

Cissé captained the Senegal national team at the

. After a 1–0 victory over reigning world champions

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on matchday one, the team made it all the way to the quarter-finals where they lost 1–0 to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Cissé was also part of the Senegal team who were the runners-up in the

2002 African Cup of Nations The 2002 African Cup of Nations was the 23rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by Mali. Just like in 2000, the field of sixteen teams was split into four groups of four. Ca ...

, but was one of the players who missed a penalty during the shootout in the final as they lost to

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Managerial career

In early March 2015, Cissé was officially appointed as the head coach for the Senegal national team. The team qualified for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

on 10 November 2017, with a 2–0 away win against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Ultimately, Senegal were knocked out in the group stage of the tournament after becoming the first team in

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

history to be eliminated due to fair play

tiebreaker In games and sport, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is any method used to determine a winner or to rank participants when there is a tie - meaning two or more parties have achieved a same score or result. A tiebreaker provides the additional criterion ...

rules. "This is one of the rules. We have to respect it", said Cissé. "Of course, we would prefer to be eliminated another way. It's a sad day for us but we knew these were the regulations." Cissé coached Senegal at the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

tournament, helping Senegal to its first final since

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, a tournament in which Cissé himself had participated as the team's captain. However, his Senegal was defeated 1–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, after losing by the same score in the group stage, and missed out on its first ever African trophy. In February 2019, Senegal's Football Federation (FSF) extended Cissé and his staff's contracts until August 2021. On 6 February 2022, Cissé led Senegal to victory at the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's ass ...

. In the final they beat

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

4–2 on penalties to clinch their first title, thus redeemed himself after two previous final defeats. In the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, he led the Senegalese national team to the

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

for the first time since he was a player in 2002. On 2 October 2024, Cissé was dismissed from the job as Senegal coach after the team's round of 16 exit at the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

and their underwhelming performance during the

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

, ending his nine-year tenure as the Senegal head coach. In March 2025, Cissé was appointed the head coach for the Libya national team.

Personal life

Cissé lost several members of his family in the ferry disaster that occurred off the coast of

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

on 26 September 2002. To honour the lives lost, Cissé participated in a charity match between Senegal and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

that raised money for the families of the more than 1,000 reported victims. Birmingham City, one of his former clubs, collected money for the victims' families and honored Cissé by displaying a giant Senegal flag during a game against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Career statistics

Club

Managerial

Honours

Player

Paris Saint-Germain *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

runner-up: 1999–2000 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Senegal *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

runner-up:

Manager

Senegal *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

; runner-up:

Individual * Africa Cup of Nations Coach of the Tournament:

CAF Awards The CAF Awards is an awards evening held to honour the best African association football players. It is conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). History The CAF Awards was first awarded in the year 2000. It is an award conteste ...

Coach of the Year: 2022

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cisse, Aliou 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Ziguinchor Senegalese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football central defenders Lille OSC players CS Sedan Ardennes players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Montpellier HSC players Birmingham City F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Nîmes Olympique players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Ligue 2 players Senegal men's international footballers 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 African Cup of Nations players Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in England Senegalese football managers Senegal national football team managers Libya national football team managers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations managers 2018 FIFA World Cup managers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations managers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations managers 2022 FIFA World Cup managers 2023 Africa Cup of Nations managers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen