Wakaso Mubarak
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 Wakaso with Ghana in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 25 July 1990 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tamale, Ghana | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2007 | Adelaide | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Ashanti Gold | 53 | (25) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | Elche | 158 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Villarreal B | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Villarreal | 17 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Espanyol | 26 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Rubin Kazan | 20 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | → Celtic (loan) | 5 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | → Las Palmas (loan) | 20 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Panathinaikos | 8 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | → Granada (loan) | 11 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Alavés | 66 | (19) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Jiangsu Suning | 18 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Shenzhen | 18 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | → Eupen (loan) | 9 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 436 | (130) | |||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Ghana U17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2022 | Ghana | 70 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 August 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:28, 4 September 2022 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Mubarak Wakaso (born 25 July 1990) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Ghana national team. Known for his finishing, playmaking skills, and abilities to dribble past opponents especially defenders. He is undoubtedly regarded as one of the best Ghanaian players of all time.[source?]
Club career
[change | change source]Revealed in the youth categories of SC Adelaide, Wakaso turned professional in 2007, at Ashanti Gold, scoring 25 games in 53 matches. In 2008, he went to Spain to defend Elche, but had to wait 2 months to make his debut. After 158 matches and 13 goals, he was released by the Franjiverdes in January 2011 and signed for Villarreal in February of the same year, participating in five games for the B team. In July 2012, he was signed by Espanyol for 4 seasons. However, he stayed only one year in the Catalan team, where he played 26 times and scored 13 goals. In 2013, Wakaso was sold to Rubin Kazan of Russia. With the shirt of the Tatarstan team, the midfielder entered the field 20 times and scored 12 goals. In 2014, he was loaned to Celtic, making 5 appearances. The following season, he returned to Spanish football, this time to defend Las Palmas (also on loan), playing in 20 official games and scoring 10 goals. In 2016, Wakaso signed a three-year contract with Panathinaikos, staying only one season and being loaned out for the third time in his career, this time to Granada, where he made 11 appearances and scored one goal. He also played for Alavés, Jiangsu Suning, Shenzhen FC (who signed him in April 2021 after Jiangsu was dissolved due to financial problems) and Eupen (on loan).
International career
[change | change source]Wakaso, who represented Ghana's U-17 team at the 2005 World Cup (2 caps), made his debut for the Black Stars first team in October 2012 against Malawi and scored his first goal in November of the same year in a friendly against Cape Verde.
Called up for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Wakaso drew attention for his regularity: he scored goals in the four matches he played and, although he did not return to the field, he was the top scorer in the competition (tied with Nigerian Emmanuel Emenike). He also participated in the 2015 (6 games and one goal), 2017 (5 games and one assist), 2019 (4 games) and 2021 (did not enter the field), in addition to the 2014 World Cup, having played in 2 matches.
Career statistics
[change | change source]International
[change | change source]- As of match played 14 June 2022[1]
| Ghana | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2 | 1 |
| 2013 | 13 | 6 |
| 2014 | 10 | 1 |
| 2015 | 14 | 3 |
| 2016 | 6 | 1 |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 |
| 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 8 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 6 | 1 |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 70 | 13 |
- As of match played 3 September 2021. Ghana score listed first, score column indicates score after each Wakaso goal.[1][2][3][4][5]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 November 2012 | Estádio Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal |  Cape Verde | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 13 January 2013 | Sheikh Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |  Tunisia | 2–2 | 4–2 | |
| 3 | 24 January 2013 | Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth, South Africa |  Mali | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2013 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 4 | 2 February 2013 | Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth, South Africa | Cape Verde | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2013 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 5 | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||||
| 6 | 6 February 2013 | Mbombela, Nelspruit, South Africa |  Burkina Faso | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| 7 | 24 March 2013 | Baba Yara, Kumasi, Ghana |  Sudan | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 19 November 2014 | Tamale Stadium, Tamale, Ghana |  Togo | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 9 | 5 February 2015 | Estadio de Malabo, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea |  Equatorial Guinea | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2015 Africa Cup of Nations |
| 10 | 5 September 2015 | Amahoro, Kigali, Rwanda |  Rwanda | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 11 | 17 November 2015 | Baba Yara, Kumasi, Ghana |  Comoros | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 12 | 11 October 2016 | Moses Mabhida, Durban, South Africa |  South Africa | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 13 | 3 September 2021 | Cape Coast Sports Stadium, Cape Coast, Ghana |  Ethiopia | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
[change | change source]Celtic
Jiangsu Suning
Ghana
- Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2015[8]
Individual
- Africa Cup of Nations top scorer: 2013 (4 goals)[9]
- Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2017[10]
References
[change | change source]- 1 2 Wakaso Mubarak at National-Football-Teams.com
- ↑ Paul, Simon (14 November 2012). "Cape Verde 0–1 Ghana: Mubarak Wakaso scores debut goal for Black Stars". Goal. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ↑ Gyimah, Edmund Okai (13 January 2013). "Ghana 4–2 Tunisia: Black Stars came from behind to beat Carthage Eagles". Goal. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- 1 2 Wakaso Mubarak at Soccerway
- ↑ Swaby, Sean (19 November 2014). "Wakaso Mubarak scores incredible goal from distance for Ghana against Togo". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
- ↑ "Bit-part Mubarak Wakaso wins first career silverware as Celtic are declared Scottish champions". Ghana Soccernet. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ↑ "Inspired Teixeira drags Jiangsu to first Chinese Super League title". France 24. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ↑ Hughes, Ian (8 February 2015). "Ivory Coast 0–0 Ghana". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- ↑ Okai Gyimah, Edmund (8 February 2013). "Valencia to make summer swoop for Espanyol's Mubarak Wakaso". Goal. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- ↑ "Bassogog named Total Man of the Competition". CAF Online. 6 February 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
Other websites
[change | change source]
- Wakaso Mubarak at BDFutbol
- Wakaso Mubarak at Futbolme (in Spanish)
- Official website (archived)
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