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Ismaïla Sarr

Ismaïla Sarr is a Senegalese-French professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Premier League club Crystal Palace and the Senegal national team.

Club career
Early career Born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Sarr started his football career with Senegalese football club Génération Foot. Metz On 13 July 2016, Sarr signed his first professional contract with Metz for five years. He made his league debut as a substitute in a 3–2 win against Lille on 13 August, in Metz's first match of the 2016–17 Ligue 1 season. He made his first professional start in a 3–0 win at Nantes on 11 September. On 8 February 2017, Sarr scored his first Ligue 1 goal in a 2–1 win against Dijon. Sarr claimed that he had chosen to sign for Rennes ahead of Barcelona, 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 on 5 August 2017 and scored his first goal against Toulouse on 26 August. His first season at the Breton club was curtailed by a malleolus fracture sustained in a match against Saint-Étienne 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 Ligue 1 appearances During the 2018–19 season, Sarr made his UEFA Europa League debut, scoring the opening goal of a 2–1 against Czech club FK Jablonec 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. His fourth Europa League goal of the season came from a header against Arsenal 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 3–0 and were eliminated. In Ligue 1, Sarr scored eight goals and registered six assists. On 6 January 2019, he scored the equalising goal in a 2–2 draw with Brest and scored in the subsequent penalty shootout that took the team through to the fourth round of the tournament. On 2 April, he assisted Senegalese teammate M'Baye Niang's opening goal in an eventual 3–2 semi-final win against Lyon. Rennes went on to face Paris Saint Germain at the Stade de France in the 2019 Coupe de France Final 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 Premier League club Watford 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 Premier League defeat to West Ham United at Vicarage Road 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 tie against Coventry City. On 30 November 2019, Sarr scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–1 loss at Southampton. On 22 December, he was voted man of the match in Watford's 2–0 home win over Manchester United – a match in which he scored the opening goal and was fouled for the penalty kick that was converted by captain Troy Deeney. 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, 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 after losing 3–2 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in their final match of the season. Sarr ended 2019–20 with five goals and four assists in the Premier League. During 2020–21, 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 which ensured Watford's promotion back to the Premier League. Sarr started 2021–22 by scoring five goals in the opening twelve Premier League matches. This included scoring once in a 3–2 win against Aston Villa in the opening game of the season, twice in a 3–1 win at Norwich City, once in a 1–1 draw at home to Newcastle United, 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 On 8 August 2022, Sarr scored a goal from his own half in a 1–1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. The goal was later awarded EFL Championship Goal of the Season. During his four seasons at Watford, he scored a 34 goals from 131 appearances. Sarr made his debut for Marseille in a 1–0 loss to Panathinaikos in a UEFA Champions League qualifier on 9 August. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 Ligue 1 win over Brest at the Stade Vélodrome 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 UEFA Europa League semi-finals, where they were beaten 4–1 on aggregate by eventual winners Atalanta. Crystal Palace On 1 August 2024, Sarr returned to the Premier League, signing for Crystal Palace. He was assigned the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Michael Olise, who had departed for Bayern Munich. 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 season, a 2–1 loss at Brentford on 18 August. On 27 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 EFL Cup win over Norwich City; 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 in first-half stoppage time. On 15 December, he scored twice and assisted a goal for Trevoh Chalobah in Palace's 3–1 win at rivals Brighton & Hove Albion, winning the Man of the Match award. During Palace's run to the 2025 FA Cup final, Sarr scored the team's second goal in the 3–0 quarter-final win at Fulham and then scored two goals and assisted the other in the 3–0 semi-final defeat of Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium. On 17 May 2025, Sarr played in the FA Cup final and won the FA Cup as Crystal Palace beat Manchester City 1–0 to win their first major trophy. Sarr followed this up by scoring in the 2025 FA Community Shield which Palace won against Liverpool. On 30 April 2026, Sarr scored the fastest goal in the UEFA Conference League after 21 seconds in a 3–1 away win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the semi-final first leg, surpassing previous record of Ferdy Druijf. ==International career==
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 in September 2016 in Dakar (2–0) for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, for which Senegal had already qualified. As a symbol, he came into play in the 67th minute in place of the former resident of Génération Foot and Metz, Sadio Mané. On 8 January 2017, Sarr scored his first international goal in a friendly match against Libya in Stade Municipal de Kintélé, Brazzaville. In May 2018, he was named in Senegal's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He started all three group matches at the tournament as Senegal beat Poland 2–1, drew 2–2 with Japan and lost 1–0 to Colombia. In 2019, Sarr was part of the Senegal squad that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, 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. Sarr was part of Senegal's squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations; 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 at the quarter-final stage. He was appointed a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion by President of Senegal Macky Sall following the nation's victory at the tournament. Sarr started all four of Senegal's matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring in a 2–1 win over Ecuador that qualified the nation for the round of 16 for the first time since its debut in 2002. In December 2023, he was named in Senegal's squad for the postponed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in the Ivory Coast. He started all four matches for the team, registering an assist in a 3–0 win over The Gambia and both scoring and assisting once in a 3–1 win over Cameroon. ==Personal life==
Personal life
Sarr holds French citizenship from his mother. ==Career statistics==
Career statistics
Club International :''Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first.'' ==Honours==
Honours
RennesCoupe de France: 2018–19FA Community Shield: 2025 SenegalAfrica Cup of Nations: 2021; runner-up: 2019, 2025 Individual • EFL Goal of the Season: 2022–23UEFA Europa League Goal of the Season: 2018–19Watford Player of the Season: 2020–21 • Watford Players' Player of the Season: 2020–21 OrdersGrand Officer of the National Order of the Lion: 2022 ==References==
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