Idrissa Gueye facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the midfielder born in 1989. For the striker born in 2006, see Idrissa Gueye (footballer, born 2006).

Quick facts for kids
Idrissa Gueye

Gueye warming up for Senegal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Personal information

Full name

Idrissa Gana Gueye

Date of birth

26 September 1989 (age 35)

Place of birth

Dakar, Senegal

Height

1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)

Position(s)

Defensive midfielder

Team information

Current team

Everton

Number

Youth career

Diambars

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps

(Gls)

2007–2008

Diambars

2008–2010

Lille B

(2)

2010–2015

Lille

134

(5)

2015–2016

Aston Villa

(0)

2016–2019

Everton

(3)

2019–2022

Paris Saint-Germain

(6)

2022–

Everton

(4)

International career^‡

2012

Senegal Olympic

(0)

2011–

Senegal

116

(7)

Medal record


Men's football
Representing Senegal
Africa Cup of Nations
Winner	2021 Cameroon
Runner-up	2019 Egypt

*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:59, 25 May 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:44, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

Idrissa Gana Gueye (born 26 September 1989) is a professional footballer from Senegal. He plays as a defensive midfielder for the English club Everton and for the Senegal national team.

Gueye began his career at Diambars in Senegal. In 2008, he moved to France to join Lille's reserve team. He played for Lille's main team from 2010 to 2015. During this time, he helped them win the Ligue 1 league title and the Coupe de France cup in 2011.

After Lille, he moved to England to play for Aston Villa in 2015. A year later, he joined another Premier League club, Everton. In 2019, Gueye went back to France to play for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). He reached the 2020 UEFA Champions League final with PSG, but he did not play in the match. In 2022, he returned to Everton.

Gueye first played for Senegal in 2011. He was part of the Senegalese team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He has also played for Senegal in two FIFA World Cup tournaments and five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. After losing the 2019 final, he helped his country win the next tournament in 2022. He has played more games for Senegal than any other player, being the first to reach over 100 matches.

Club Career Highlights
International Career
How He Plays
Personal Life
Career statistics
- Club
- International
Honours and Awards
See also

Club Career Highlights

Starting Out in Football

Gueye playing for Lille in 2014.

Idrissa Gueye was born in Dakar, Senegal. He started his football journey at Diambars, a special football academy. In August 2008, he moved to France to join Lille.

He started playing for Lille's main team in the 2010–11 season. He played 11 games as the team won the Ligue 1 title. He also started in the 2011 Coupe de France Final, which Lille won against Paris Saint-Germain. Over the next four seasons, he became a regular player in the league and the UEFA Champions League.

Gueye scored his first goal for Lille on 17 February 2011. It was in a UEFA Europa League game against PSV Eindhoven. His first league goal came on 5 October 2013 against Ajaccio.

Time at Aston Villa

On 10 July 2015, Gueye joined the English club Aston Villa. He made his first appearance for them on 8 August in a 1–0 win against AFC Bournemouth.

On 19 January 2016, Gueye scored his only goal for Aston Villa. It was in an FA Cup match against Wycombe Wanderers. He played 35 league games for Villa. At the end of the season, Aston Villa was moved down from the Premier League.

Playing for Everton

On 2 August 2016, Everton signed Gueye. They paid about £7.1 million for him. He signed a four-year contract. In 2016, he was known for making the most successful tackles and interceptions in Europe's top five leagues.

Gueye scored his first league goal for Everton on 25 February 2017. It was in a 2–0 win against Sunderland. He was the first player in Europe's top five leagues to win 100 tackles in the 2016–17 season.

He scored his first goal for Everton in a European competition on 17 August 2017. This was in a UEFA Europa League game against Hajduk Split. In February 2018, he signed a new contract with Everton until 2022.

In January 2019, Everton turned down an offer from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for Gueye. Despite this, he continued to play very well. He was named the club's joint Player's Player of the Year for the 2018–19 season.

Moving to Paris Saint-Germain

Gueye playing for Paris Saint-Germain in 2020.

On 30 July 2019, Gueye joined PSG for £30 million. He played his first game for PSG on 25 August in a 4–0 win against Toulouse. On 18 September, he played a "brilliant" game in a 3–0 win over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.

His first goal for PSG came on 5 October in a 4–0 win against Angers. In his first season in Paris, Gueye helped the team win three domestic trophies. They also finished second in the Champions League, losing to Bayern Munich in the final. In his second season, PSG won the Coupe de France and reached the Champions League semi-finals.

Gueye scored his first Champions League goal on 28 September 2021. It was the first goal in a 2–0 win against Manchester City. He was named Player of the Match for that game.

Back to Everton

Gueye started talking about returning to Everton in August 2022. He signed a two-year contract with the club on 1 September 2022. The transfer fee was reported to be £2 million.

On 19 December 2023, Gueye missed a penalty kick for Everton in a cup game against Fulham. Everton lost the game. His manager, Sean Dyche, supported him and another player who also missed a penalty. In the 2024–25 season, he made the most tackles in the Premier League, with 133. He was also given the club's Player's Player and Player of the Year awards.

International Career

Gueye first played for Senegal on 11 November 2011. It was a friendly game against Guinea. He was part of the team at the 2012 Olympics.

On 9 June 2017, Gueye scored his first goal for Senegal. It was in a 3–0 win against Equatorial Guinea. He was chosen for Senegal's team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

At the 2019 African finals in Egypt, he scored the only goal in a quarter-final win against Benin. Senegal reached the final that year. Senegal then won the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. Gueye scored in their 3–1 semi-final win against Burkina Faso.

On 11 November 2022, he was named in the squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Senegal made it to the knockout stage after beating Ecuador 2–1. However, Gueye could not play in the next round because he had received too many yellow cards.

On 24 March 2023, Gueye played his 100th game for Senegal. This was in a 5–1 win against Mozambique. He was the first Senegalese player to reach this amazing number of games. In December 2023, he was again chosen for Senegal's squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

How He Plays

Idrissa Gueye is a very energetic midfielder. He is known for being great at winning the ball from opponents. He is also good at pressing players and stopping passes. In the 2016–17 Premier League season, he completed the most tackles.

Personal Life

Gueye is married to Pauline, and they have two sons. He is a Muslim and has made the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. In May 2022, he held a special dinner to raise money. He raised €2 million to help African children who have cancer and HIV/AIDS.

After Senegal won the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, gave him a special award. He was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lille B	2008–09	CFA	24	1	—		—		—		—		24	1
	2009–10		24	1	—		—		—		—		24	1
	2010–11		7	0	—		—		—		—		7	0
	Total		55	2	—		—		—		—		55	2
Lille	2009–10	Ligue 1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2010–11		11	0	1	0	0	0	6	1	—		18	1
	2011–12		25	0	3	0	2	0	3	0	1	0	34	0
	2012–13		29	0	2	0	2	0	5	0	—		38	0
	2013–14		37	1	3	0	1	0	—		—		41	1
	2014–15		32	4	2	0	0	0	10	0	—		44	4
	Total		134	5	12	0	5	0	24	1	1	0	176	6
Aston Villa	2015–16	Premier League	35	0	3	1	0	0	—		—		38	1
Everton	2016–17		33	1	0	0	2	0	—		—		35	1
	2017–18		33	2	0	0	0	0	5	1	—		38	3
	2018–19		33	0	2	0	0	0	—		—		35	0
	Total		99	3	2	0	2	0	5	1	—		108	4
Paris Saint-Germain	2019–20	Ligue 1	20	1	5	0	2	0	7	0	0	0	34	1
	2020–21		28	2	6	0	—		10	0	0	0	44	2
	2021–22		26	3	0	0	—		7	1	0	0	33	4
	Total		74	6	11	0	2	0	24	1	0	0	111	7
Everton	2022–23	Premier League	33	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		34	0
	2023–24		25	4	0	0	4	0	—		—		29	4
	2024–25		37	0	2	0	1	0	—		—		40	0
	Total		95	4	3	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	103	4
Career total			491	20	31	1	14	0	53	3	1	0	590	24

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Senegal	2011	1	0
	2012	5	0
	2013	7	0
	2014	7	0
	2015	9	0
	2016	7	0
	2017	13	1
	2018	8	1
	2019	11	2
	2020	1	0
	2021	10	2
	2022	15	1
	2023	7	0
	2024	12	0
	2025	3	0
Total		116	7

Scores and results list Senegal's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Idrissa Gueye
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 June 2017	Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Equatorial Guinea	3–0	3–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2	13 October 2018	Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor, Dakar, Senegal	Sudan	2–0	3–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3	16 June 2019	Ismailia Stadium, Ismailia, Egypt	Nigeria	1–0	1–0	Friendly
4	10 July 2019	30 June Stadium, Cairo, Egypt	Benin	1–0	1–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations
5	8 June 2021	Stade Lat-Dior, Thiès, Senegal	Cape Verde	1–0	2–0	Friendly
6	9 October 2021	Stade Lat-Dior, Thiès, Senegal	Namibia	1–0	4–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	2 February 2022	Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, Yaoundé, Cameroon	Burkina Faso	2–0	3–1	2021 Africa Cup of Nations