Hawa Cissoko (born 10 April 1997) is a French 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 defender for

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

and the

France national team 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 ...

. She also holds Malian citizenship.

Early life

Cissoko was born in Paris on 10 April 1997. She is one of 15 children. She began her football career as a 12 year old in when she joined FC Solitaire. She was then invited to joined

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 ...

youth team in 2012.

Club career

Cissoko made her senior career debut for

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 ...

during the 2014–15 season. She went on to join

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

in 2017. After a lone season with Marseille, she transferred to

ASJ Soyaux ASJ Soyaux Charente (''Association Sportive Jeunesse de Soyaux Charente''), commonly known as Soyaux, is a women's football club founded in 1968 and based in Soyaux, France. The club had played in France's top division except for spans of relega ...

in 2018. She joined West Ham United in July 2020. On 15 October 2022, she was involved in an on-field scuffle in which she struck an opposing player in a league match against Aston Villa. She was subsequently banned for five matches as a result. On 11 December 2022, Cissoko scored her first senior career goal in a 2–0 league win against

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 ...

. Cissoko scored the winning goal in the 2–1 home win 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 the 2023–24 season, coming from behind for West Ham's first ever victory over Arsenal in the Super League.

International career

Cissoko represented France at the 2016 FIFA U-20 World Cup. She has appeared twice for ''Les Bleues'' at senior level in 2017, both matches being friendly: on 18 September in a 1–1 draw against

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 ...

and on 20 October 2017 in a 1–0 win against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. By July 2020, after moving to England, Cissoko has expressed her desire to switch her international allegiance and play for

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Personal life

Cissoko is a Muslim. She made the decision in January 2021 to wear the hijab, only removing it during matches.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * 1997 births Living people Footballers from Paris Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Malian descent French women's footballers Women's association football defenders France women's youth international footballers UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players Première Ligue players Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players Olympique de Marseille (women) players ASJ Soyaux-Charente players West Ham United F.C. Women players France women's international footballers French expatriate women's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England Women's Super League players 21st-century French sportswomen {{France-women-footy-bio-stub