Diafra Sakho was born on 24 December, 1989 in Guédiawaye. He is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Rennes and the Senegal national team.
Diafra began his career in the lower divisions of French football, with Metz and on loan at Boulogne, before joining West Ham in August 2014. Since May 2014, he has been a full international for the Senegal national team. Diafra Sakho joined Stade Rennais F.C. on 29 January 2018 for an undisclosed fee.
Sakho started is career in Dakar with Génération Foot, a football academy and feeder club for FC Metz, at age 16.
On 14 August 2014, Sakho signed a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee with West Ham United, becoming their seventh signing before the start of the 2014–15 season.
Diafra made his West Ham debut on 23 August 2014, in a 3–1 away win against Crystal Palace, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for Carlton Cole. On 26 August, he scored his first competitive goal for the club against Sheffield United in the second round of the League Cup.
Sakho was injured during a game on 1 January 2015 against West Bromwich Albion. This resulted in him being withdrawn from the Senegal squad for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Diafra opened the 2015–16 season by scoring the first two goals in a UEFA Europa League first qualifying round first-leg game on 2 July, as West Ham won 3–0 at home against Andorran team Lusitanos.
Sakho made 14 league appearances for West Ham in the 2017–18 season, all of them after coming on as a substitute. He scored two goals, against Swansea City and Stoke City.
On 29 January 2018, He joined Stade Rennais F.C. for an undisclosed fee. He scored on his debut for Rennes in a 3-2 Coupe de la Ligue defeat against PSG on 30 January 2018
Diafra made his international debut for Senegal in a friendly match against Burkina Faso, on 21 May 2014. His debut goal came four days later, in a 3–1 win over Kosovo. In November 2014 he was recalled to the Senegal squad by coach, Alain Giresse, for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification games against Egypt and Botswana.
Sakho missed the final tournament due to a back injury. In November 2017 he scored the first goal in a 2–0 win against South Africa in Polokwane. The win resulted in Senegal qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, their first global finals since 2002.
In May 2018, he was named in Senegal’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
