Idrissa Gana Gueye
#5 · Midfielder · age 36 · (C)
Captain at his fourth World Cup; midfield enforcer.
87
WC26 rating
- Recent form
- 68
- Career peak
- 72
- League level
- 100
- Competition pedigree
- 98
- International pedigree
- 100
- Longevity
- 65
Independent rating — league strength (Opta-anchored) × competition tier × position-normalized output. Not affiliated with EA or FIFA.
Career by season
Source: transfermarkt · fetched 2026-05-29
Gueye is the defensive shield that has made Senegal hard to beat for a decade. At 36 he has lost a half-step but retains everything else — the positioning, the anticipation, the willingness to break up a counter-attack with a tactical foul in his own half. He partners a much younger ball-progressor (Sarr or Diarra) in front of the back four, doing the dirty work that allows the midfield ahead to operate.
The captaincy is new — he inherited the armband from Koulibaly ahead of qualifying — and the responsibility appears to suit him. Senegal’s tactical identity under Pape Thiaw is built around defensive solidity and counter-attack, and Gueye is the player who makes that identity work.
Strengths
- Ball-recovery — top tackle rates throughout his Premier League career
- Tournament reading — knows when to commit and when to delay
- Captain-level leadership in pressure moments
Recent form
Everton's defensive midfielder through 2025-26; Senegal captain.
At 36 he is the oldest outfield player at the tournament for any African nation, and the most-capped Senegal player ever with 122 appearances.