Ryan Sessegnon

As of match played 5 September 2026

Fulham

2016–17 season

Having started training with the first team, still aged 15, in March 2016, Sessegnon was promoted to the senior squad by manager of the year Slavisa Jokanovic for the 2016–17 pre-season. He scored his first senior goal on 19 July in a 3–0 friendly win over Brighton and Hove Albion. On 9 August, Sessegnon made his first-team debut in an EFL Cup match against Leyton Orient aged 16 years and 81 days. On 16 August, he made his league debut in a Championship match against Leeds United in a 1–1 draw. On 20 August, he scored his first professional goal in a league match against Cardiff City, becoming the first professional footballer in the English leagues to have been born in the 2000s to score a goal in a first-team game and the youngest player to score in a Championship match. He scored the winner on his FA Cup debut, also against Cardiff, on 8 January, becoming one of the youngest goalscorers in the history of the competition. On 11 March, Sessegnon scored twice in an away match against eventual league champions Newcastle United, with former Newcastle player Alan Shearer praising his performance as "brilliant". In total, Sessegnon made 30 appearances in all competitions, including in the second leg of Fulham's play-off semi-final defeat against Reading, scoring seven goals, and was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year, the youngest player ever included. Media interest in Sessegnon grew as his debut season progressed. In…

In 2016, Sessegnon played up an age group to represent England in the U17 Euros. He scored his first goal for England Under-19s against Luxembourg in a European Under-19 Championship qualifier on 10 November 2016, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 win. On 26 June 2017, Sessegnon was named in the final 18-man squad for the Euro U19s finals. He went on to score three goals, including two in a 4–1 win over Germany, finishing the tournament as joint-top scorer as England were crowned champions for the first time. He was subsequently included in the team of the tournament. Aged 17, Sessegnon made his debut for England Under-21s on 27 March 2018, starting in a 2–1 European Under-21 Championship qualifier win over Ukraine. On 27 May 2019, Sessegnon was included in England's 23-man squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Sessegnon was born in Roehampton, Greater London into a family of Beninese and Ivorian descent. He has a twin brother, Steven, who plays for AFC Wimbledon, while their elder brother, Chris, is a semi-professional footballer. Sessegnon is also a cousin of the Beninese international footballer Stéphane Sessègnon. As a child, Sessegnon, alongside brother Steven, played for local club Wandgas FC. In 2008, at the age of nine, the pair signed for Fulham, initially joining their under-9s side. Originally a central striker at youth level, he was moved to left back as he progressed. He has cited fellow left-sided players Luke Shaw and Gareth Bale as players he looked up to when he was young, saying, 'when Shaw was at Southampton he was a left-back and I loved watching him bomb up and down the wing, create goals, score goals, so I think I try to emulate that.' Sessegnon attended Coombe Boys' School in New Malden, London, close to Fulham's Motspur Park training ground. With both brothers in the team, Coombe Boys won youth competition the ESFA PlayStation Schools' Cup in both 2014 and 2015, Ryan scoring twice in the 2015 final. By the 2015–16 season, Sessegnon had become a regular for Fulham's Under-18 side, despite only being 15.