Moussa Wagué

Moussa Wagué (born 4 October 1998) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Cyta Championship club, Anorthosis Famagusta and the Senegal national team.

Moussa Wagué
Wagué playing for Senegal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Moussa Wagué[1]
Date of birth (1998-10-04) 4 October 1998
Place of birth Bignona, Senegal[2]
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Anorthosis Famagusta
Number 2
Youth career
2014–2016 Aspire Academy
2016–2017 Eupen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Eupen 23 (1)
2018–2019 Barcelona B 20 (2)
2019–2022 Barcelona 4 (0)
2020 → Nice (loan) 5 (0)
2020 → PAOK (loan) 7 (0)
2022 Gorica 13 (0)
2023– Anorthosis Famagusta 7 (0)
International career‡
2015–2017 Senegal U20 11 (1)
2017–2019 Senegal 21 (1)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Senegal
Africa Cup of Nations
Runner-up2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:41, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Eupen

Wagué joined K.A.S. Eupen from the Aspire Academy in November 2016.[4] He made his professional debut in a 0–1 loss to Genk on 21 January 2017.[5] Wagué spent two seasons with Eupen under coach Claude Makélélé, helping the team remain in the Belgian top division.[6]

Barcelona

In August 2018, Wagué completed a transfer from Eupen to FC Barcelona, for a fee of €5 million. He initially joined the reserves ahead of the 2018–19 season.[7] On 13 January 2019, Wagué scored his first goal for Barcelona B in a 2–0 win at the Miniestadi against CD Alcoyano.[8]

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde named Wagué as one of the five promising young players to whom he hoped to give first team opportunities.[9] Wagué made his senior side debut on 6 March 2019, starting and playing the full 90 minutes of the Catalan Super Cup against Girona.[10] On 13 April 2019, he made his official debut in a La Liga match against Huesca where he played a full 90 minutes; he described it as a "dream come true".[11] Wagué again featured for the first team on 4 May 2019, impressing despite Barcelona's 0–2 defeat to Celta Vigo.[12] He would appear once more in Barcelona's La Liga finale, coming on as a second half substitute in a 2–2 draw with Eibar.

Wagué was officially promoted to the first team ahead of the 2019–20 season, and given the number 16 shirt.[13] He made his first Champions League start for Barcelona on 10 December 2019, as his side defeated Inter Milan 2–1.[14]

Loan to Nice

In 31 January 2020, French club OGC Nice confirmed a loan transfer for Wagué, keeping him until the end of the 2019–20 season, with an option to buy for €15,000,000.[15] He made his debut for Nice in their 2–1 victory over Lyon on 2 February 2020, coming on as a second half substitute.[16] On 7 March 2020, Wagué provided the winning assist in Nice's 2–1 derby victory against rivals AS Monaco.[17] Upon the cancellation of the Ligue 1 season due to the COVID-19 outbreak in France, he returned to Barcelona after Nice decided not to activate his purchase option.[18]

Loan to PAOK

On 21 September 2020, Barcelona confirmed the loan transfer of Wagué to Greek side PAOK on loan for the rest of the season.[19] On 13 December 2020, he suffered a severe knee injury during PAOK's local derby against Aris Thessaloniki. As a result he was slated to miss nine months of action.[20]

Gorica

On 18 July 2022, he joined Prva HNL club Gorica[21] On 9 December 2022, he was released from the club after having his contract mutually terminated.[22]

Anorthosis Famagusta

On 28 June 2023, Wagué joined Anorthosis Famagusta of the Cypriot First Division.[23]

International career

Wagué was part of the Senegal U20s that came in 4rd place at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[24] He made his senior international debut in a friendly 1–1 tie with Nigeria on 23 March 2017.[25][26]

In June 2018, Wagué was named in Senegal's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[27] He became the youngest African goalscorer in World Cup history when he scored in Senegal's match against Japan at the age of just 19 years and 263 days.[28]

Wagué represented Senegal in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, which took place in Egypt. He participated in the first two group stage games and the semifinal match for a Senegal squad that reached the tournament final. [29]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 September 2023[30]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[31][32]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Eupen 2016–17 Belgian First Division A 6110—80151
2017–18 17020—90280
Total 2313000170431
Barcelona B 2018–19 Segunda División B 20200——202
Barcelona 2018–19 La Liga 3000000030
2019–20 1000200030
Total 4000000060
Nice (loan) 2019–20 Ligue 1 5000——50
PAOK (loan) 2020–21 Super League Greece 700050—120
Gorica 2022–23 Croatian Football League 13010——140
Anorthosis 2023–24 Cyta Championship 3000——30
Career total 75340701701033

    International
    As of 13 November 2019[33]
    Senegal
    YearAppsGoals
    201770
    201861
    201960
    Total191

    International goal
    As of match played 24 June 2018. Senegal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Wagué goal.[33]
    #DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
    1.24 June 2018Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg, Russia Japan
    2–1
    2–2
    		2018 FIFA World Cup

    Honours

    Barcelona

    PAOK

    National

    Senegal U23

    Senegal

    References
    1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 04 de mayo de 2019, en Vigo" [Minutes of the Match held on 4 May 2019, in Vigo] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
    2. GALSENFOOT. "MOUSSA WAGUÉ NE VEUT PAS SE PROJETER PLUS LOIN QUE LA CAN U 23Galsenfoot". galsenfoot.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
    3. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
    4. "Moussa Wague quitte l'Aspire Academy vers la KAS Eupen". AS Eupen (in French). 20 October 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
    5. "Belgique, Ligue Jupiler AS Eupen-Racing Genk: 0 – 1 – Football". Maxifoot. Advimedia. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
    6. "IN MY OWN WORDS: Moussa Wagué". FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
    7. "Teenager Moussa Wague Joins Barcelona After Impressive World Cup". Sports Illustrated. Sports Illustrated. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
    8. "Barça B 2-0 CD Alcoyano: First win of the year". FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona. 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
    9. "Barcelona's Chosen 5: How Much Potential Do La Masia's New Generation Have?". Bleacher Report. Bleacher Report. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
    10. "Todibo makes Barça debut". FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
    11. "Moussa Wague: Barcelona defender's La Liga debut 'a dream come true'". BBC Sport. 14 April 2019.
    12. "The boys from La Masia impressed more than Barcelona's usual substitutes". Marca. Marca. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
    13. "Moussa Wagué, with the first team". FC Barcelona. FC Barcelona. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
    14. "Ansu Fati Makes History: What We Learned From FC Barcelona Versus Inter Milan". Forbes. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
    15. "Moussa Wague leaves FC Barcelona for Nice loan". 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
    16. "Dolberg strikes as Nice end Lyon unbeaten run". 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
    17. "AS Monaco lose to Nice in Riviera Derby". 9 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
    18. "OFFICIAL: OGC Nice will not use their buy option on Moussa Wagué". Barca Blaugranes. SB Nation. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
    19. "Agreement with PAOK FC for the loan of Wague". FC Barcelona. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
    20. "Barcelona confirm Moussa Wague out for nine months after knee surgery". Barca Blaugranes. SB Nation. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
    21. "HNK Gorica - Iz Barcelone u Goricu: Moussa Wagué, dobro nam došao!".
    22. "Deni Jurić i Moussa Wague više nisu igrači Gorice" (in Croatian). HNK Gorica. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
    23. "ΕΠΙΣΗΜΟ/ Στην Ανόρθωση ο Moussa Wagué!" (in Greek). Kerkida.net. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
    24. "Tournois FIFA Joueurs & Entraîneurs – Moussa WAGUE". FIFA.com (in French). Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
    25. "Nigeria v Senegal". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 March 2017.
    26. La Rédaction (23 March 2007). "Amical : Nigeria et Sénégal se quittent bons amis". Afrik Foot. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
    27. Crawford, Stephen (4 June 2018). "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
    28. "Wague And Honda Make History With World Cup Goals". BeIN Sports. 24 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
    29. "Wague and Senegal advance to knockout stage". FC Barcelona. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
    30. "M. Wagué". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
    31. "Moussa Wagué » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
    32. Moussa Wagué at Soccerway
    33. "Moussa Wagué". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
    34. "Competitions: All Africa Games (Men) – Congo 2015". CAF Online.
    35. Rose, Gary (19 July 2019). "Senegal 0–1 Algeria". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
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