Sékou Koïta

Sékou Koïta (born 28 November 1999) is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish Süper Lig club Gençlerbirliği on loan from Russian side CSKA Moscow, and the Mali national team.

Sékou Koïta

Koïta with Red Bull Salzburg in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Sékou Koïta[1]
Date of birth	(1999-11-28) 28 November 1999 (age 26)
Place of birth	Kita, Mali
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Position	Forward
Team information
Current team	Gençlerbirliği (on loan from CSKA Moscow)
Number	22
Youth career
	USC Kita
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2019	FC Liefering	15	(2)
2019	→ Wolfsberger AC (loan)	14	(5)
2019–2024	Red Bull Salzburg	76	(36)
2024–	CSKA Moscow	26	(3)
2025–	→ Gençlerbirliği (loan)	11	(1)
International career‡
2015	Mali U17	10	(3)
2017–2019	Mali U20	10	(3)
2016–	Mali	34	(4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 7 December 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20 March 2025 (UTC)

Club career

On 8 January 2018, Koïta moved to Wolfsberger AC on loan from Red Bull Salzburg.^[3] On 18 December 2019, Koïta extended his contract with Red Bull Salzburg until the summer of 2024.^[4]

On 18 February 2021, Koïta was suspended for three months of all club and international football activities by UEFA, following a doping investigation conducted by UEFA on which Koïta tested positive.^[5] Koita was prescribed medicine to combat altitude sickness that contained a substance on the banned list. In its verdict, UEFA ruled that in this case there was no intentional violation of doping rules, but the rules stipulate that every player is personally responsible for ensuring that no banned substances enter their body.^[6]

On 8 July 2024, Koïta signed a three-year contract with CSKA Moscow in the Russian Premier League.^[7]

On 20 August 2025, Koïta was loaned to Gençlerbirliği in Turkey, with an obligation to buy at the end of 2025–26 season.^[8]

International career

Sékou Koïta won the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 with the Mali Under-17 team. He scored two goals in this tournament. The Malian selection scores a total of ten goals, and finishes the competition by being undefeated. This is the very first time Mali has won an African championship title.^[9]

Sékou Koïta subsequently participates in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Chile. In the world, he plays seven games, scoring two goals. He scored a goal in the quarterfinals against Croatia, which proved to be the only goal of the match. He then scored a goal against Belgium in the semi-final (victory 3-1). Mali is bowing in the final against Nigeria with two goals to zero.

In 2016, Sékou Koïta competes with Mali for the African Nations Championship held in Rwanda. His presence in this competition was due to the N'Tji Samaké package, in which doctors diagnosed a heart condition the day before the competition.^[10] He plays six games in this tournament,^[11] scoring a goal against Uganda in the first round.^{[citation needed]} Mali reached the final of the competition, being defeated by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

With those under 20 years of age, he participated twice in the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, in 2017 and then in 2019. In the 2017 edition in Zambia, he plays three games, scoring a goal against Guinea. With an unfortunate record of one draw, two losses and nine goals cashed, Mali does not exceed the first round of the tournament. In the 2019 edition held in Niger, he plays five games. Mali won the competition this time, beating Senegal in the final, after a shoot-out at the goal.

He is then among the 23 players selected to compete in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt. In this tournament, he plays only one match against Angola. Mali is entering the eighth final against Ivory Coast.

On 13 October 2019, he scored his second goal for the national team in a friendly match against South Africa, which ended in a 2–1 defeat. He later registered his third goal on 17 November 2020 in a 2–1 victory over Namibia during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification.

On 2 January 2024, he was named in the list of twenty-seven Malian players selected by Éric Chelle for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations^[12], where the latter drew attention on social media after asking for "3 kuss".

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 August 2025^[13][14]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC Liefering	2017–18	2. Liga	6	1	—		—		—		6	1
	2018–19	2. Liga	9	1	—		—		—		9	1
	Total		15	2	—		—		0	0	15	2
Wolfsberger AC (loan)	2018–19	Austrian Bundesliga	14	5	0	0	—		—		14	5
Red Bull Salzburg	2019–20	Austrian Bundesliga	16	8	4	3	3[b]	0	—		23	11
	2020–21	Austrian Bundesliga	17	14	4	3	8[c]	0	—		29	17
	2021–22	Austrian Bundesliga	2	1	0	0	0	0	—		2	1
	2022–23	Austrian Bundesliga	22	6	1	0	2[c]	0	—		25	6
	2023–24	Austrian Bundesliga	19	7	3	0	2[c]	0	—		24	7
	Total		76	36	12	6	15	0	0	0	103	42
CSKA Moscow	2024–25	Russian Premier League	22	3	13	2	—		—		35	5
	2025–26	Russian Premier League	4	0	2	0	—		1[d]	0	7	0
	Total		26	3	15	2	0	0	1	0	42	5
Career total			131	46	27	8	15	0	1	0	174	54

1. Includes Austrian Cup, Russian Cup
2. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
4. Appearance in Russian Super Cup

International

As of match played 20 March 2025^[15]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Mali	2016	6	1
	2019	6	1
	2020	2	0
	2021	5	1
	2022	1	1
	2023	3	0
	2024	10	0
	2025	1	0
Total		34	4

As of match played 9 June 2022

Mali score listed first, score column indicates score after each Koïta goal.^[15]

List of international goals scored by Sékou Koïta

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	19 January 2016	Umuganda Stadium, Gisenyi, Rwanda	Uganda	1–1	2–2	2016 African Nations Championship
2.	10 October 2019	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa	South Africa	1–2	1–2	Friendly
3.	17 November 2020	Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek, Namibia	Namibia	1–0	2–1	2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
4.	9 June 2022	St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende, Entebbe, Uganda	South Sudan	2–0	3–1	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Red Bull Salzburg

• Austrian Bundesliga: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23^{[citation needed]}
• Austrian Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22^{[citation needed]}

CSKA Moscow

• Russian Cup: 2024–25^[16]
• Russian Super Cup: 2025^[17]

Mali U17

• FIFA U-17 World Cup runner-up: 2015^{[citation needed]}

Mali U20

• Africa U-20 Cup of Nations: 2019^{[citation needed]}

Mali

• African Nations Championship runner-up: 2016^{[citation needed]}