Ismaïla Sarr (born 25 February 1998) 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 winger or

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

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 ...

club

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 ...

and the Senegal national team. A youth academy graduate of Senegalese club

Génération Foot Académie Génération Foot, also called Association Sportive Génération Foot is an association football club founded in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal. The Stade Lat-Dior, which has a capacity of 8,712, is their home stadium. History Académie Génér ...

, Sarr made his senior debut for

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 ...

club

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

in 2016. He subsequently spent two seasons at

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, winning the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

in 2019 and scoring the winning penalty in the final, before moving to Premier League club

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 ...

, where he was named Player of the Season in 2021. He departed in 2023 and spent a season back in France with

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, before returning to England with Crystal Palace, where he won 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 ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

in his first season. Sarr made his senior debut for Senegal in 2016, and went on to represent his side at the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

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 ...

s, as well as at the

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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, winning the 2021 tournament.

Club career

Early career

Born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Sarr started his football career with Senegalese football club

Metz

On 13 July 2016, Sarr signed his first professional contract with

for five years. He made his league debut as a substitute in a 3–2 win against

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 ...

on 13 August, in Metz's first match of the

2016–17 Ligue 1 The 2016–17 Ligue 1 season was the 79th season since its establishment. Paris Saint-Germain were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 1 June 2016. The season began on 12 August 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017. On 17 May 2017, ...

season. He made his first professional start in a 3–0 win at

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

on 11 September. On 8 February 2017, Sarr scored his first

goal in a 2–1 win against

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

. He went on to score four more goals in his final eight appearances of the season, ending 2016–17 with five goals and five assists from 31 league appearances.

Rennes

On 26 July 2017, Sarr signed a four-year contract with Ligue 1 side

. The transfer fee paid to Metz was reported as €17 or 20 million, depending on the source. Sarr claimed that he had chosen to sign for Rennes ahead of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, saying: "I could have gone to Spain and join the great Barcelona, but leaving Metz to join them was too early. I saw Rennes as a club that will help me progress and reach great heights". Sarr made his debut for Rennes in the team's 2017–18 season opener against

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 5 August 2017 and scored his first goal against

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

on 26 August. His first season at the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

club was curtailed by a

malleolus A malleolus is the bony prominence on each side of the human ankle. Each leg is supported by two bones, the tibia on the inner side (medial) of the leg and the fibula on the outer side (lateral) of the leg. The medial malleolus is the promin ...

fracture sustained in a match against

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

on 24 September. On 28 September, it was announced by coach Christian Gourcuff that Sarr's injury would require surgery that would prevent him from playing until 2018. Sarr ended the season with five goals and five assists from 24

appearances as Rennes finished in fifth place and qualified for the

2018–19 UEFA Europa League The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Olympic Sta ...

. During the 2018–19 season, Sarr made his

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

debut, scoring the opening goal of a 2–1 against

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

club

FK Jablonec FK Jablonec () is a Czech Republic, Czech professional association football, football club based in Jablonec nad Nisou. The club has played in the top league of Czech football, Czech First League, since 1994. History Jablonec played its first se ...

on 20 September 2018. This goal was later included on a shortlist of ten for UEFA Goal of the Season. On 13 December 2018, he scored twice, as Rennes clinched qualified for the knockout phase with a 2–0 home win over

FC Astana Astana Football Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,000-seat As ...

. His fourth Europa League goal of the season came from a header 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 a 3–1 round of 16 first leg win on 7 March 2019. However, on 14 March, Rennes lost the second leg in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

3–0 and were eliminated. In

, Sarr scored eight goals and registered six assists. His form saw him nominated for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season award. He also made a significant contribution to Rennes winning their first

in 48 years. On 6 January 2019, he scored the equalising goal in a 2–2 draw with Brest and scored in the subsequent

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

that took the team through to the fourth round of the tournament. On 2 April, he assisted Senegalese teammate

M'Baye Niang M'Baye Hamady Niang (born 19 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie B club Sampdoria. Born in France, he represented Senegal at international level. He made his professional debut at the age of 16, in a lea ...

's opening goal in an eventual 3–2 semi-final win against

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. Rennes went on to face

Paris Saint Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. With 52 major trophies ...

at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in the

2019 Coupe de France Final The 2019 Coupe de France final was a association football, football match between Stade Rennais F.C., Rennes and Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain to decide the winner of the 2018–19 Coupe de France, the 102nd season of the Coupe de F ...

on 27 April, with Sarr scoring the winning kick of the penalty shootout after the underdogs had recovered from a 2–0 deficit to draw 2–2 during regulation time. Overall, Sarr scored 18 goals and registered 16 assists from 77 appearances for Rennes.

Watford

On 8 August 2019, Sarr joined

club

on a five-year contract. The transfer fee paid to Rennes was a club record for Watford and reported as "in the region of €30 million". Sarr made his debut for Watford as a substitute in a 3–1

defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of EFL Championship, Championship club Watford F.C., Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, w ...

on 24 August 2019. Three days later, on his first start for Watford, he scored his first goal in English football in an

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 ...

tie against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. On 30 November 2019, Sarr scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–1 loss at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. On 22 December, he was voted

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in Watford's 2–0 home win over

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

– a match in which he scored the opening goal and was fouled for the

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

that was converted by captain

Troy Deeney Troy Matthew Deeney (born 29 June 1988) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He was most recently player-manager of Forest Green Rovers F.C., Forest Green Rov ...

. On 29 February 2020, Sarr scored twice and assisted Deeney's third goal in Watford's 3–0 home victory over defending European Champions

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 ...

, handing them their first defeat of the 2019–20 season and ending the club's 44-match unbeaten league run. On 26 July, Watford were relegated to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

after losing 3–2 to Arsenal at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

in their final match of the season. Sarr ended 2019–20 with five goals and four assists in the Premier League. During

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, Sarr scored thirteen goals and provided ten assists, winning Watford's Player of the Season. On 24 April 2021, he scored the only goal of a 1–0 win over

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

which ensured Watford's promotion back to the

. Sarr started 2021–22 by scoring five goals in the opening twelve

matches. This included scoring once in a 3–2 win against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in the opening game of the season, twice in a 3–1 win at

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, once in a 1–1 draw at home to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, and once in a 4–1 home win over Manchester United. However, Sarr struggled with injury for the rest of the season and did not score in his final ten appearances as Watford were relegated for the second time in three seasons. On 8 August 2022, Sarr scored a goal from his own half in a 1–1 draw with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

. The goal was later awarded

Goal of the Season. On 5 October, he played his 100th match for Watford, scoring in a 2–1 loss to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

. Sarr ended the season with 10 goals from 39 matches in all competitions. During his four seasons at Watford, he scored a 34 goals from 131 appearances.

Marseille

On 24 July 2023, Sarr joined French club

for an undisclosed fee. Sarr made his debut for Marseille in a 1–0 loss to Panathinaikos in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifier on 9 August. He scored his first goal in a 2–0

win over Brest at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

on 26 August. After an impressive start on his return to France, recording five goal involvements in his first nine matches, Sarr struggled with form and fitness for most of the 2023–24 season. Overall, he registered three goals and three assists from 15 league starts, in addition to two goals and three assists in the club's run to the

semi-finals, where they were beaten 4–1 on aggregate by eventual winners

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

Crystal Palace

On 1 August 2024, Sarr returned to the Premier League, signing for

. He was assigned the number 7 shirt, previously worn by

Michael Olise Michael Akpovie Olise (; ; ; ; born 12 December 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and winger for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. Born in England, he plays for the France national team. The product of variou ...

, who had departed for

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. Sarr made his debut for Crystal Palace as an 84th minute substitute for Chris Richards in their opening match of the

2024–25 Premier League The 2024–25 Premier League was the 33rd season of the Premier League and the 126th season of English football overall. Manchester City entered the season as four-time defending champions, but were dethroned by Liverpool, who emerged as P ...

season, a 2–1 loss at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

on 18 August. On 27 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0

win over

; the goal, initially attributed to Eberechi Eze, was awarded to Sarr a week later. His first league goal for the ''Eagles'' came in a 2–2 draw at Aston Villa on 23 November. After scoring in the fourth minute, he went on to record an assist for

Justin Devenny Justin Devenny (born 11 October 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Crystal Palace. Born in Scotland, he plays for the Northern Ireland national team. Club career Devenny came through the youth system at Kilmar ...

in first-half stoppage time. On 15 December, he scored twice and assisted a goal for

Trevoh Chalobah Trevoh Tom Chalobah (born 5 July 1999) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and the England national football team, England national team. Chalobah is a centre back who jo ...

in Palace's 3–1 win at

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, winning the Man of the Match award. During Palace's run to the

2025 FA Cup final The 2025 FA Cup final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on 17 May 2025 between Crystal Palace and Manchester City that determined the winners of the 2024–25 FA Cup. It was the 144th final of English football's ...

, Sarr scored the team's second goal in the 3–0 quarter-final win at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and then scored two goals and assisted the other in the 3–0 semi-final defeat of Aston Villa at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. On 17 May 2025, Sarr played in the FA Cup final and won the

as Crystal Palace beat

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 ...

1–0 for Crystal Palace's first major trophy.

International career

Sarr has represented his country with the Senegal U23 national team. In 2015, he played in 2015 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. At that time, his age was only 17. He contributed that Senegal finished the competition in a fourth place, playing three games. He played for the first time with Senegal national team for a match against

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

in September 2016 in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

(2–0) for

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 ...

, for which Senegal had already qualified. As a symbol, he came into play in the 67th minute in place of the former resident of

and

Sadio Mané Sadio Mané (born 10 April 1992) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Senegal national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest African players o ...

. On 8 January 2017, Sarr scored his first international goal in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Stade Municipal de Kintélé Stade Municipal de Kintélé, also called Brazzavile Munincipal Stadium or Stade municipal de Kintélé in Brazzaville is the national stadium of the Republic of the Congo. It is used for football matches and also has an athletics track. It hosts ...

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

. In May 2018, he was named in Senegal's 23-man squad 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 ...

in Russia. He started all three group matches at the tournament as Senegal beat

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

2–1, drew 2–2 with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and lost 1–0 to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. In

, Sarr was part of the Senegal squad that reached the final of the

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 ...

, for only the second time in the nation's history. He played the full 90 minutes of the final on 19 July 2019, as they lost 1–0 to

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 ...

. Sarr was part of Senegal's squad for 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 ...

; the Lions of Teranga went on to win the tournament for the first time in their history. He scored once in a 3–1 win over

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

at the quarter-final stage. He was appointed a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion by

President of Senegal The president of Senegal () is the head of state of Senegal. In accordance with the 2001 Senegalese constitutional referendum, constitutional reform of 2001 and since a 2016 Senegalese constitutional referendum, referendum that took place on 20 ...

Macky Sall Macky Sall (, , ; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who served as the fourth president of Senegal from 2012 to 2024. He previously served as the eighth Prime Minister of Senegal, prime minister from 2004 to 2007, under President ...

following the nation's victory at the tournament. Sarr started all four of Senegal's matches at the

, scoring in a 2–1 win over

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

that qualified the nation for the round of 16 for the first time since its debut in

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 ...

. In December 2023, he was named in Senegal's squad for the postponed

held in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. He started all four matches for the team, registering an assist in a 3–0 win over

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 ...

and both scoring and assisting once in a 3–1 win over

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Rennes *

: 2018–19 Crystal Palace *

: 2024–25 Senegal *

African 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:

Individual * EFL Goal of the Season:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Goal of the Season: 2018–19 *

Watford Player of the Season Watford Football Club are an English football club, from Watford, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1881 as Watford Rovers, the club has competed in the Football League since 1920 and since the 2015–16 season have competed in the Premier League. F ...

* Watford Players' Player of the Season:

Orders * Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion: 2022

References

External links

Profile
at the Crystal Palace F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarr, Ismaila 1998 births Living people Footballers from Saint-Louis, Senegal Senegalese men's footballers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Génération Foot players FC Metz players Stade Rennais FC players Watford F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Crystal Palace F.C. players Ligue 1 players Premier League players English Football League players Senegal men's international footballers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in France Senegalese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in England Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Senegal