Yoane Wissa (born 3 September 1996) 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

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 ...

left winger 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 club

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 ...

. Born in France, he represents the DR Congo national team at international level. A product of the

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, Wissa began his senior career with the club in 2015. Following a spell with

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 ...

, he transferred to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

in 2018. Wissa was a part of the Lorient team which finished the 2019–20 season as

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 ...

champions. Following a season in

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 ...

, he joined Brentford in 2021.

Club career

Early years

Wissa began his youth career as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

at the age of seven. He played for his local youth club Épinay-sous-Sénart, before moving to

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and then the

line. As his youth career progressed, he also became adept as a winger and number 10. Wissa began his senior career as a forward with

and progressed through the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

to break into the first team during the

2015–16 Championnat National The 2015–16 Championnat National season was the 18th season since its establishment. The previous season's champions were Red Star. Teams Stadia and locations * 1 Bastia failed to reach an agreement with the local government on the use of ...

season, which he finished with 24 appearances and seven goals. A transfer to

club

followed in 2016, but Wissa managed just two substitute appearances during the first half of the 2016–17 season and he played much of 2017 away on

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 ...

clubs Laval and

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

. Wissa departed the

Stade Raymond Kopa Stade Raymond Kopa is a football stadium in Angers, France. It is the home ground of side Angers SCO and seats 19,800 people. Name The stadium is named after Raymond Kopa, who, after playing for Angers from 1949 to 1951, became one of the most ...

in January 2018.

Lorient

In January 2018, Wissa transferred to Ligue 2 club

and immediately established himself at the promotion-chasing club. Promotion to Ligue 1 was attained at the end of the 2019–20 season, when Wissa's 15 goals in 28 appearances helped the club to the Ligue 2 championship. He made 38 appearances and scored 10 goals 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, in which Lorient narrowly avoided finishing in the relegation playoff places. Wissa departed the club in August 2021 and finished his -year stay at the

Stade du Moustoir The Stade du Moustoir - Yves Allainmat, known as the Stade du Moustoir (), is a multi-use stadium in Lorient, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Lorient. The stadium can hold up to 18,110 with t ...

with 128 appearances and 37 goals.

Brentford

2021–22

On 10 August 2021, Wissa moved to England to join newly-promoted

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

on a four-year contract, with the option of a further year, for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £8.5 million. The transfer had been in the works for two years and he had turned down the opportunity to move to the Community Stadium during the previous

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. Despite being unable to link up with the club during

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

after undergoing eye surgery, Wissa scored five goals in his first six appearances for the club. His

brace Brace (formerly known as ''Brace For War'') was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Brace was founded in 2005 by Kya Pate. In an interview with MMA Kanvas Kya Pate detailed what it is like to be the promoter of Australian MMA. Si ...

in a 7–0

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 ...

third round win over

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

on 21 September 2021 was recognised with a place in the EFL Cup Team of the Round and his second goal, a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

, was voted Goal of the Round and Goal of the Tournament. Wissa's goalscoring run was ended by an ankle knock suffered in mid-October 2021. He returned to match play two months later and was deployed in a mixture of

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

and substitute roles through to the end of the season. Wissa ended the 2021–22 season with 34 appearances and 10 goals.

2022–2024

Wissa was deployed in a mix of starting and substitute roles and scored seven goals in 40 appearances during the

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 ...

season, in which Brentford were in contention for a

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

place on the final day. In May 2023, he signed a new three-year contract, with the option of a further year. Following

Ivan Toney Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney (born 16 March 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the England national team. Toney became the youngest player to represent Northampton Town when ...

's eight-month ban from all football-related activity, Wissa began the 2023–24 season as Brentford's starting centre forward. Following the transfer deadline day loan signing of forward Neal Maupay, Wissa alternated between the forward and left wing positions. Wissa top-scored for the club during the 2023–24 season, with 12 goals from 36 appearances, predominantly as a starter. He ended the season with a run of eight goals in 13 league matches.

2024–present

A long-term injury suffered by new centre forward signing Igor Thiago during the 2024–25 pre-season allowed Wissa to begin the regular season in the position. He began the season with three goals from four Premier League starting appearances and three goals across four appearances in November 2024 saw him nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award. Wissa's 37th Premier League goal, scored in a 2–2 draw with

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 ...

on 14 January 2025, made him the club's record Premier League goalscorer. He ended the 2024–25 season with 39 appearances and a season-high 20 goals.

International career

Wissa won his maiden call into the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

squad for a pair of

friendly matches 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 sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

in October 2020. He scored his first two international goals on his second and third caps, in friendly and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches versus

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

respectively. Wissa was a part of the DR Congo squad which qualified for 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 ...

and he was named in the squad for the tournament finals. He appeared in each match and scored two goals during the team's run to the third place play-off, which was lost on penalties to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Wissa's performances were recognised with a place in the Team of the Tournament.

Style of play

Wissa has been described as a player who "fits many different positions", including winger, number 10 and forward. He has "pace and power", is "a threat in behind", "has good ability to take on players and create overloads" and "good pressing abilities".

Personal life

Born in France of

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

descent, Wissa can speak the

Lingala Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser de ...

language. He acquired

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', (Latin for "right of blood") according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nat ...

in December 2000 through the collective effect of his parents'

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

. Prior to making the decision to concentrate on football at age 15, he also played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. He was the subject of an

acid attack An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, tortu ...

in July 2021 and made a full recovery from emergency eye surgery.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wissa goal.''

Honours

Lorient *

: 2019–20 Individual * Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* *
Yoane Wissa
at

Brentford F.C. Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, England. The team competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Nicknamed "The Bees", the club was founded in 1889 and played home matc ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wissa, Yoane 1996 births Living people Footballers from Essonne Democratic Republic of the Congo men's footballers French men's footballers Naturalized citizens of France Men's association football forwards ESA Linas-Montlhéry players LB Châteauroux players Angers SCO players Stade Lavallois players AC Ajaccio players FC Lorient players Brentford F.C. players Championnat National 3 players Championnat National players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players Democratic Republic of the Congo men's international footballers Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in England Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Acid attack victims 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players 21st-century French sportsmen