Pape Gueye recounts how he became key player for Senegal

Papa Gueye has opened how he was fired up to play for Senegal national team and become a key player for the West Africans side.

Gueye was born in France and is Senegalese by descent. He represented both the France national U-18 football team and the France U19s. However, he decided to represent Senegal on senior level.

He debuted with the Senegal national team in a 2-0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification win over Congo on 14 November 2021.

“Honestly, yes, my status has changed,” Gueye, who plays for Villareal told L’Équipe. “It was already a goal. When I decided to join the national team at 20 or 21, I wanted to become someone in my country.

‘I’m happy with every victory’

“Someone important. I am now also an example for Senegalese people, for young people, and I am proud of that.”

Gueye, who has 41 caps for Senegal, added: “First of all, I’m incredibly demanding. I’m happy with every victory. But if I haven’t made an assist or scored a goal, I’ll get angry.

“Even the coach sometimes tells me, ‘Pape, that’s not what I’m asking of you.’ But I know that’s where I need to improve. Because honestly, in Marseille, in four years, I scored four goals. In one year here, I’ve already done better.”

Gueye went further to explain how he gained confidence after earning Senegal call up. He said: I lacked confidence. But I also changed quite a few things around me. For example, I hired a video analyst. Before each match, we work on the opponent.

“He’ll send me a video, maybe thirty seconds long, of each opponent in my zone to get a general idea of their weaknesses and strengths. Just before the Africa Cup of Nations, I also asked to add the goalkeeper.

“The day before the match against Sudan, he told me that with that goalkeeper, I had to shoot to his left. And the first goal I scored was by striking the ball hard along the ground to the left.

“People think it was a good shot, but these are things I’ve worked on, I’ve invested in myself. In Marseille, maybe I wasn’t thinking about all of this yet.”

Gueye scored for Senegal in AFCON final

He was part of Senegal’s squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations; the Lions of Teranga went on to win the tournament for the first time in their history.

Gueye scored the winning goal for Senegal in a 1-0 victory against Morocco in extra time, leading Senegal to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final.

However, the final was subsequently deemed forfeited by them and won by Morocco, on March 18, 2026, when the entirety of the Senegalese team walked off the pitch in protest prior to their goal in the match.