Football - Senegal: Can Issa Soumaré impress ahead of the 2026 World Cup?

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African champion a month ago, Senegal is preparing for the 2026 World Cup with two friendly matches in March against Peru in Paris and Gambia in Dakar. The opportunity for the coach Pape Thiaw to see new faces. On the attack, Issa Soumaré stands out with solid performances in French Ligue 1. The Le Havre striker stays on three goals in his last two games. Enough to spark debate on a call-up from the FIFA window in March to shake up the competition in the Senegalese attack ahead of the World Cup in America.

The headliner
At 25 years old, Issa Soumaré is at the top of his game. The Le Havre AC striker is having his best professional season. Born on October 10, 2000 in Podor, in the north of Senegal, Issa went through the training of Generation Foot, reference of the academies in Senegal and in Africa. Soumaré then arrives in the Hexagon in 2019, on the side of Orléans then in Belgium at Beerschot VA. The Belgian club will lend him twice to Quevilly. He is then transferred for 400,000 euros to Le Havre in July 2023. The Norman club lends him 6 months later to AJ Auxerre. Seventeen inconclusive matches in Burgundy with no goal and return from loan in the summer of 2024.

This 2024-2025 season is the one of takeoff for Issa Soumaré. The striker plays 29 of the 34 matches of the Ligue 1 season. He scores 5 goals and delivers 4 assists in 21 starts. Its performances allow the Norman club to ensure its maintenance on the final day. This 2025-2026 exercise is that of confirmation. Soumaré does not weaken and continues since the beginning of this season. Best goalscorer for Le Havre AC with 6 goals, 3 more than the second-placed Rassoul Ndiaye, Issa Soumaré is the centerpiece of coach Didier Digard’s squad. In this 2nd part of the season, it goes up in range. He remains on three goals from the last two victories in Ligue 1 of the Normands against Strasbourg and Toulouse.

In addition to his 6 goals, the 25-year-old player has two assists. Le Havre, 17th in the league’s best attack standings can therefore thank Soumaré. The Senegalese striker is involved in 40% of his club’s goals this season. A considerable impact on the total points of Le Havre (26 points), 13th in the standings and who has a 9 point lead over the leader, 12 more units on the first relegation.

Open competition

"On the front of the attack, there is clearly a need for renewal with the performance of our attackers at the last Africa Cup of Nations,"

acknowledged Babacar Guèye.

Issa Soumaré’s current stats make him a serious contender", added the former Eintracht Frankfurt goalscorer. However, Babacar does not believe in such a scenario as early as this month of March.

“Knowing Pape (ed, Thiaw), there is very little chance of him shaking his group at this next gathering. In his management, he takes many precautions. Maybe for the end of the season, just before the start of the World Cup. But not for this first post-AFCON grouping,"

admits the former Lions striker.

Issa Soumaré has every chance to sneak around for the 2026 World Cup thanks to his rise in power this season but also due to a competition that is slow to convince. Number 1 in the hierarchy at the forefront of the attack, Nicolas Jackson blows hot and cold. Undisputed holder at the beginning of the AFCON, he was questioned by the coach in favor of Habib Diallo. Chérif Ndiaye also seems to position himself to be a SuperSub. In sharp decline for a year, Boulaye Dia is one of the most threatened players on the Lions' list for the World Cup.

In the meantime, the next three months will be decisive for Issa Soumaré whose performances are increasingly scrutinized by the Senegalese staff.