Pape Matar Sarr (; born 14 September 2002) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

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 ...

and the Senegal national team.

Club career

Metz

Pape Matar Sarr made his professional debut with

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 ...

in his native country 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 ...

, before signing a five-year contract with

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 ...

side

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 ...

on 15 September 2020. Sarr was initially sent to play for Metz's second team in

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system be ...

, but made only one appearance before he was recalled to the first team squad following the season being halted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in France The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. T ...

. He made his debut for the Metz first team on 29 November 2020 in a Ligue 1 game against Brest. On 31 January 2021, Sarr scored his first goal in Ligue 1 in the reverse fixture, a 4–2 away victory over Brest.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 27 August 2021, Sarr signed 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

. He was loaned back to Metz until the end of the 2021–22 season. On 1 January 2023, Sarr finally made his long awaited Premier League debut coming on as an 80th minute substitute for Yves Bissouma in a 2–0 home loss to

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 ...

. Since his first appearance against Aston Villa, Sarr has featured regularly for Spurs, either coming off the bench or starting. He got his first goal contribution, an assist on 28 May 2023, in the last game of the season, a 4–1 away win at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. On 19 August 2023, Sarr scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur on their first home game of the

2023–24 Premier League The 2023–24 Premier League was the 32nd season of the Premier League and the 125th season of English football overall. The season began on 11 August 2023, and concluded on 19 May 2024. Manchester City, the defending champions, won their f ...

season, a 2–0 win against

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 ...

. On 2 January 2024, after a run of impressive performances, Sarr extended his contract with Tottenham until 2030.

International career

Sarr made his debut for Senegal national team on 26 March 2021 in an AFCON 2021 qualifier against Congo. On 6 February 2022, he won 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 ...

with Senegal. He made one appearance at the tournament, appearing as a substitute in the 3–1 semi-final win over

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. 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 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. On 21 July, he was named CAF's Male Young Player of the Year at the 2022

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 ...

. Sarr was included in Senegal's 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 ...

, where he appeared as a substitute in the team's 3–1 group stage win over

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

and 3–0 round of 16 loss to

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 ...

. On 18 November 2023, he scored his first senior international goal in a 4–0 win over

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

in a

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur *

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 ...

: 2024–25 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 ...

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 ...

Individual * CAF Youth Player of the Year: 2022

References

External links

Profile
at the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarr, Pape Matar 2002 births Living people Sportspeople from Dakar region Senegalese men's footballers 21st-century Senegalese sportsmen Senegal men's youth international footballers Senegal men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Génération Foot players FC Metz players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Premier League 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 UEFA Europa League–winning players