Romain Ghanem Paul Saïss (; born 26 March 1990) is a 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

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 ...

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

club

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

. Born in France, he represents the Morocco national team. Saïss began his career with Valence, then played for

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

and Clermont of

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 ...

, and

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

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 ...

before joining

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

in 2016. He made 206 appearances and scored 15 goals, before moving to Beşiktaş in 2021. Romain Saïss holds

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and Moroccan nationalities. He represents Morocco at international level. A full international since 2012, he has earned over 80 caps for Morocco, becoming the team's captain in 2019. He has represented the nation at four

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 ...

tournaments and two

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 ...

s, helping the team come fourth at the 2022 edition of the latter.

Club career

Early career

Saïss began his senior career with Valence in the

Championnat de France Amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

(fifth-tier), and supplemented his €500 monthly salary with washing up at his parents' restaurant. At 21, he signed his first professional contract with Clermont in

. In June 2013, Saïss moved across Ligue 2 to

on a two-year deal. When it ended, he joined

side

on a two-year contract.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 30 August 2016, Saïss moved to England, joining

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 ...

club

for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal. He made his debut on 17 September in a 2–0 win at

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 ...

. In the game, he was subjected to racial abuse by opponent

Jonjo Shelvey Jonjo Shelvey (born 27 February 1992) is an English professional footballer who most recently played as a central midfielder for EFL Championship club Burnley. Shelvey began his career at Charlton Athletic, becoming their youngest-ever player ...

, who was given a five-match ban and £100,000 fine by

The FA The Football Association (the FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsibl ...

in December. He scored his first goal for the club on 30 September 2017 in a 4–0 win against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

. Following Wolves' promotion to 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 ...

in 2018, Saïss made his debut Premier League appearance as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

on 22 September 2018. His first start in the Premier League came in a 2–1 defeat away to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

at the

Cardiff City Stadium The Cardiff City Stadium () is a stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City and the Wales national football team, Wales national team. Following expansion of the Ninian S ...

on 30 November. He scored his first Premier League goal in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

on 26 December 2018. On 21 February 2019 he agreed a new contract until the summer of 2021. On 25 July 2019 Saïss made his debut appearance in UEFA European club football competition as a late substitute in Wolves's 2–0 home win against

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

in the

2019–20 UEFA Europa League The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla FC, Sevill ...

Second Qualifying Round and on 24 October he scored his first goal in such a competition when he scored the opening goal of a 2–1 away win at Slovan Bratislava in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage. Saïss triggered an automatic one-year extension to his contract on 18 March 2021, by making 20 starts in the Premier League during the

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 ...

season, tying him to the club until June 2022. He was described as the Moroccan Maldini by head coach Bruno Lage on 15 December that year, after his display in the away Premier League tie at

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 ...

, where he scored the only goal in a much longed-for win (Wolves's first-ever win at Brighton in the top-flight in seven attempts dating back to 1979). He made his 100th appearance in the Premier League in 2–0 win away to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 13 February 2022. His 200th competitive appearance in all competitions for Wolves was on 5 March 2022 in a home fixture against

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 31 May 2022, Saïss announced that he would leave Wolves at the end of his contract on 1 July, having played 206 games for the club over six seasons, and scoring 15 goals, nine of them in the Premier League.

Beşiktaş

On 14 June 2022, Saïss moved to Turkey, signing a two-year contract with

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. He made his debut on 6 August as the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

began with a 1–0 home win over

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

Al Sadd

On 24 July 2023, Saïss signed a two-year contract with

club

, for a reported fee of €2.5 million, which could rise to €2.8 million with add-ons.

Al-Shabab (loan)

On 5 September 2023, after making just 3 appearances for Al Sadd, the Qatari side sent Saïss on a season-long

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al-Shabab.

International career

Saïss, who was born and raised in France to a Moroccan father and a French mother, chose to represent the Morocco national team. He made his debut in a 1–0 friendly loss to

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

in November 2012. Saïss was in the Moroccan squad that reached the quarter-finals of the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

in Gabon. He scored his first international goal in their 3–1 group win over Togo. In June 2018, he was named in Morocco'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, and featured in group games against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. After 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 ...

, in which Morocco made the last 16, Saïss became the captain of the ''Atlas Lions''. On 10 November 2022, Saïss was named in Morocco's 26-man squad for 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 ...

in Qatar. He scored the opening goal of a 2–0 group stage victory over

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

on 27 November, Morocco's first goal of the tournament. The goal had previously been awarded to Abdelhamid Sabiri, but Saïss was later credited for the goal by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. In the semi-final against France – the first ever played by an African nation – he was substituted after 21 minutes due to injury as Morocco lost 2–0. On 28 December 2023, Saïss was amongst the 27 players selected by coach

Walid Regragui Walid Regragui (; born 23 September 1975), sometimes known as Hoalid or Oualid Regragui, is a professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He is the head coach of the Morocco national team. He made history when h ...

to represent Morocco in 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 ...

Personal life

Saïss's father is Moroccan and his mother is French, both restaurant owners. He is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and observes fasting in the month of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Saïss goal.''

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

: 2017–18 Al Sadd *

: 2024–25 Individual *

Player of the Season: 2015–16 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Africa Team of The Year: 2022 Orders *

Order of the Throne The Order of the Throne () is a state decoration of the Kingdom of Morocco awarded for distinguished services of a civil or military nature. The Order was instituted on 16 May 1963 by King Hassan II of Morocco, who reigned between 1961 and 199 ...

: 2022

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saiss, Romain 1990 births Living people People from Bourg-de-Péage Footballers from Drôme French Muslims Moroccan Muslims Moroccan men's footballers 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen Morocco men's international footballers French men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Olympique de Valence players Clermont Foot players Le Havre AC players Angers SCO players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Al Sadd SC players Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Championnat National 3 players Ligue 2 players Ligue 1 players English Football League players Premier League players Süper Lig players Saudi Pro League players Qatar Stars League players Moroccan expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in Qatar French expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in England Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 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 21st-century French sportsmen