 Wakaso with Ghana in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1990-07-25)25 July 1990 (age 35) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tamale, Ghana | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Adelaide | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Ashanti Gold | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | Elche | 58 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Villarreal B | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Villarreal | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Espanyol | 26 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Rubin Kazan | 16 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | →Celtic (loan) | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | →Las Palmas (loan) | 20 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Panathinaikos | 8 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | →Granada (loan) | 11 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2020 | Alavés | 66 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Jiangsu Suning | 18 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Shenzhen | 18 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | →Eupen (loan) | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Ghana U17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2022 | Ghana | 70 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 25 August 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
Mubarak Wakaso (pronunciationⓘArabic:مبارك واكاسو; born 25 July 1990) is a Ghanaian professionalfootballer who plays as amidfielder.
He spent the better part of his career in Spain, starting out atElche in 2008 and going on to representVillarreal,Espanyol,Las Palmas,Granada andAlavés. He also competed professionally in Russia, Scotland, Greece, China and Belgium.
Wakaso appeared with theGhana national team at the2014 World Cup, as well as fiveAfrica Cup of Nations tournaments.
Born inTamale,Northern Region, Wakaso began his senior career inAshanti Gold SC. In 2008, he moved abroad and signed withElche CF in Spain on a five-year contract, but only joined the club nearly two months later, however, due to international duty.[1]
In late January 2011, after several bouts of indiscipline and internal codes violations,[2] Wakaso was released by theValencians.[3] Shortly after, he joined another side in the region andSegunda División,Villarreal CF'sB team.
On 27 February 2011, Wakaso made hisLa Liga debut, coming on as asubstitute forJosé Catalá in the last minutes of a 2–2 away draw againstRacing de Santander.[4] He only played six matches in hisfirst full season, and theYellow Submarine was also relegated after 12 years in the top flight.
Wakaso signed forRCD Espanyol on 11 July 2012, penning a four-year contract.[5] He started in 23 of his league appearances for theCatalans in hisonly season.
In the last days of the 2013 summertransfer window, Wakaso moved to theRussian Premier League withFC Rubin Kazan.[6] On 28 August 2014, he joinedCeltic on aseason-long loan.[7]
Wakaso scored on his competitive debut for Celtic, netting the first in a2–2 away draw againstFC Red Bull Salzburg in theUEFA Europa League group stage.[8] On 30 August 2015, after appearing rarely, he was loaned toUD Las Palmas for one year.[9]
On 10 July 2016, Wakaso signed a three-year contract withSuper League Greece clubPanathinaikos F.C. for an undisclosed fee.[10] On 15 September, in the last minute of aEuropa League group phase home fixture againstAFC Ajax, he wassent off – as teammateIvan Ivanov midway through the second half of the eventual 1–2 home loss[11]– andUEFA subsequently suspended him a further two games after his initial ban was over.[12]
On 1 February 2017, Wakaso was loaned to another Spanish top-flight side,Granada CF.[13][14] He scored his first goal for them on 1 March, helping to a 2–1 home win overDeportivo Alavés.[15]
On 17 July 2017, the day after mutually terminating his contract,[16] Wakaso signed a three-year deal with Alavés.[17] He scored his only competitive goal for theBasques on 18 May 2019, in a 2–1 home defeat ofGirona FC who wererelegated as a result.[18]
Wakaso transferred toChinese Super League sideJiangsu Suning F.C. on 18 January 2020.[19] On 12 April of the following year, he joinedShenzhen F.C. in the same country after the former were dissolved.[20]
Wakaso representedGhana at the2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru, playing two matches in an eventual group stage exit (three draws).[21] He made hisfull international debut on 13 October 2012, in a2013 Africa Cup of Nationsqualifier againstMalawi.[22]
On 14 November 2012, Wakaso scored his first goal in afriendly withCape Verde.[23] He was picked for the squad that appeared at the 2013 CAN in South Africa, notably netting the game's only goal in a group stage fixture againstMali, through apenalty kick,[24] then scoring both in the 2–0 quarter-final win over Cape Verde.[25]
Wakaso was selected by managerJames Kwesi Appiah for his2014 FIFA World Cup squad.[26] He made his debut in the tournament on 21 June, playing 22 minutes in a 2–2 draw withGermany.[27]
On 5 February 2015, Wakaso netted the second goal in Ghana's 3–0 victory againstEquatorial Guinea in the semi-finals of the2015 Africa Cup of Nations to take them to the final.[28][29] In the decisive match, against theIvory Coast, he scored hispenalty shootout attempt in an eventual 9–8 loss.[30]
Wakaso's younger brother,Alhassan, is also a footballer and a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Portugal.[31][32]
Wakaso is a practisingMuslim.[33] In October 2018, while heading toBilbao'sLoiu airport to travel to Ghana, he was unhurt following a car accident.[34]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Elche | 2008–09 | Segunda División | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 0 | ||||
| 2010–11 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 18 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 58 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 60 | 2 | ||||
| Villarreal B | 2010–11 | Segunda División | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | 5 | 1 | |||
| Villarreal | 2010–11 | La Liga | 11 | 0 | – | – | 4[c] | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[d] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |||
| Total | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |||
| Espanyol | 2012–13 | La Liga | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 3 | ||
| Rubin Kazan | 2013–14 | Russian Premier League | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[c] | 0 | 18 | 2 | |
| 2014–15 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | 20 | 2 | |||
| Celtic (loan) | 2014–15 | Scottish Premiership | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[c] | 1 | 11 | 1 |
| Las Palmas (loan) | 2015–16 | La Liga | 20 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 24 | 2 | ||
| Panathinaikos | 2016–17 | Super League Greece | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 7[c] | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| Granada (loan) | 2016–17 | La Liga | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 1 | ||
| Alavés | 2017–18 | La Liga | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 1 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 66 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 70 | 1 | ||||
| Jiangsu Suning | 2020 | Chinese Super League | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 0 | ||
| Shenzhen | 2021 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 0 | |||
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 0 | ||||
| Eupen (loan) | 2022–23 | Belgian Pro League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 277 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 316 | 14 | ||
| Ghana[37] | ||
| 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 |
| 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 |
Celtic
Jiangsu Suning
Ghana
Individual
Ghana squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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