Pauline Gueye: Idrissa Gueye's Wife, Nationality and Origin

Pauline Gueye is the French wife of Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye and the mother of their three sons. As of November 2026, Gueye is 37, plays for Diriyah in the Saudi Pro League after leaving Everton in the summer of 2026, and is still a Senegal international.

Pauline met Idrissa through Facebook in 2011, when he was a young player at Lille, and followed him to England once she had finished her studies. Today she is a content creator with about 328,000 followers on Instagram, where she talks about family life, cooking and her Muslim faith. In this article, OhMyFootball goes through what is actually known about her, with sources, and leaves out the unsourced height, birthplace and net worth figures that other websites repeat. Everything here is up to date as of November 2026.

Who is Idrissa Gueye's wife?

Idrissa Gueye is married to Pauline Gueye. Both of them say so on their own Instagram accounts: his bio carries a ring emoji next to her handle, and hers carries a ring emoji next to his.

We found no interview or post in which the couple give the date or the place of their wedding. On 1 August 2019, two days after Gueye joined Paris Saint-Germain, the Senegalese news site Seneweb reported that they had met in Lille and married in 2017. We could not find the couple confirming that year themselves, and some English-language profiles give 2016 instead, without a source. What is certain is that she has been publicly known as his wife since at least 2019, and that we found no report of a separation.

How did Pauline and Idrissa Gueye meet?

Pauline told the story herself in an interview with Le Parisien, reported by Purepeople in April 2021. In 2011, Idrissa came across her Facebook profile by chance and sent her a friend request. She accepted it, and he replied with a short message in French, "Merci de m'avoir accepté comme ami" (thank you for accepting me as a friend). At first they were simply friends.

Pauline then went to Nantes to continue her studies and came back to Lille in 2014 to do a master's degree. When Idrissa signed for Aston Villa in 2015, they decided to make the relationship serious, on one condition: that she finished her degree first. They spent about a year in a long-distance relationship. After getting her master's in 2016, she joined him in England, where he signed for Everton that summer.

Pauline shared this photo for Eid on 27 May 2026: Idrissa holds one of their sons, and the three of them wear coordinated Eid outfits. The post is tagged in Paris.

What is Pauline Gueye's nationality and origin?

Pauline Gueye is French. When she writes about her years in England she describes her "vie expatriée" (life as an expat) and uses the hashtag #francaisaletranger (French people abroad), and the French flag sits in her Instagram bio next to the flags of Senegal and Saudi Arabia. Her husband is Senegalese, born in Dakar, which is why many people assume she is too, but nothing she has said in the interviews and posts we found points that way.

As for where in France she comes from, the only details she gives in the interview and posts we found are about her studies: she went to Nantes to continue them and came back to Lille in 2014. Her birthplace has not been confirmed by any reliable source.

Who are Pauline Gueye's parents?

Her parents are not public figures. We found no interview or post in which Pauline names them, and no reliable outlet that identifies them. If you are looking for Pauline Gueye's family origins, we found no interview, post or reliable article in which she talks about them.

How old is Pauline Gueye?

Her date of birth has not been confirmed by any reliable source, and she has not shared her birthday publicly in any interview we could find. What we know is that she was still studying in the early 2010s and finished her master's in 2016. Her husband was born on 26 September 1989.

Pauline Gueye's religion

Pauline is Muslim, and her faith is one of the main themes of her Instagram account, where Islam is the first topic listed in her bio. In a reel posted on 15 May 2026, she asked God to make "notre conversion" (our conversion) a light in this life and the next, with the hashtag #islamconvert, so she describes herself as a convert; in the posts we found, she does not say when she converted. Her Instagram display name also includes the Arabic name سمية (Soumaya). Idrissa is a practising Muslim who has made the Hajj pilgrimage, according to English Wikipedia.

Pauline Gueye's education

Pauline holds a master's degree in management and business strategy ("management et stratégie des entreprises"), which she completed in 2016 after returning to Lille in 2014, according to her interview with Le Parisien. Before that she studied in Nantes. She did not name her school or university in that interview.

Pauline Gueye's career

In England, Pauline worked as an account manager for an American IT outsourcing company, calling clients around the world. After their first son was born she was meant to go back to that job, but the family moved to Paris when Idrissa joined PSG in 2019, and she rethought her work. She became an influencer: she receives products, tests them and shares the ones she likes with her community, as she explained to Le Parisien. In the same interview she said she had other projects, including possibly appearing on screen and a charity with Idrissa and friends to help people in Senegal and France.

In 2026 her posts are mostly about family, recipes, motherhood and faith, plus a few about her life as an expat and about supporting Senegal.

In this carousel from May 2026, Pauline writes about arriving in England without knowing the practical realities of life there, and asks her followers about their own experiences as expats.

Pauline and Idrissa Gueye's children

Pauline and Idrissa have three sons. Her Instagram bio describes her as a "mum of 3 boys".

Isaac, their first son, born in 2018. Seneweb already mentioned him in 2019, and Pauline said in April 2021 that he was nearly three.
Ismaël, born in 2020. He was seven months old at the time of her April 2021 interview.
A third son, born after April 2021. We could not find his name or birth date in any reliable outlet, and the couple have not published them in a post we could find, so we do not give them.

Older articles, including an earlier version of this one, said the couple had two sons. That is no longer correct.

ForHope, the couple's charity

Idrissa is the ambassador and co-founder of ForHope (For Hope), a charity that works in Senegal and France, and Pauline describes herself in her Instagram bio as its co-founder and treasurer. According to English Wikipedia, Gueye held a charity dinner in May 2022 to raise money for African children affected by cancer and HIV/AIDS, and in June 2024 he was received by Senegal's health minister as the ambassador of For Hope to present its health projects, as reported by AllAfrica. It appears to be the charity project Pauline had mentioned to Le Parisien in 2021.

Pauline Gueye's Instagram

Pauline Gueye is on Instagram as @paulinegueye_. In November 2026 the verified account had about 328,000 followers and 58 posts; older posts that earlier articles, including this one, used to embed are no longer available. Her bio lists Islam, sport, cooking, education and lifestyle as her topics, mentions ForHope, and links to her husband's account. In 2021, Purepeople gave her handle as @undeuxetnous, with nearly 83,000 followers.

Idrissa Gueye is on Instagram as @iganagueye, with about 2 million followers. His bio mentions Diriyah, Senegal, ForHope and his wife's account.

Pauline posted this black-and-white photo of herself in a riding helmet with a horse on 2 January 2026, tagged at Tanger Boukhalef, in Morocco.

Who is Idrissa Gana Gueye?

Idrissa Gana Gueye was born on 26 September 1989 in Dakar, Senegal, which makes him 37 in November 2026. He is a defensive midfielder known for his tackling and pressing, and has played more than 140 times for Senegal.

His career so far:

2007 to 2008: Diambars academy in Senegal.
2008 to 2015: Lille, first with the reserves, then the first team. He won Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France with Lille in 2010/11.
2015 to 2016: Aston Villa, for a reported £9 million.
2016 to 2019: Everton, through a release clause reported at £7.1 million. He shared Everton's Players' Player of the Season award for 2018/19 with Lucas Digne.
2019 to 2022: Paris Saint-Germain, for a fee reported at around £30 million. He won Ligue 1 in 2019/20 and 2021/22, two Coupes de France and reached the 2020 Champions League final.
September 2022 to June 2026: back at Everton, for a reported £2 million. He was named Everton's Player of the Season for 2024/25, signed a one-year extension in July 2025, and left when his contract expired at the end of June 2026. Everton confirmed his departure on 24 July 2026.
August 2026: Diriyah (Al-Diriyah), newly promoted to the Saudi Pro League, as a free agent. The club announced the signing on 9 August 2026, on a one-year deal that some local media say includes an option for a second season.

With Senegal, Gueye won the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, scoring in the semi-final against Burkina Faso, and lost the 2019 final. At the 2025 tournament in Morocco he wore the captain's armband in the final on 18 January 2026, because Kalidou Koulibaly was suspended, and Senegal beat the hosts 1-0 after extra time. In March 2026, the CAF Appeal Board ruled that Senegal had forfeited the final because their players had walked off for around 15 minutes in protest at a late penalty, and awarded the title to Morocco. Senegal appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which heard the case on 8 October 2026 and said it expects to deliver its decision at the end of November 2026. You can read more about that chaotic final.

He was then part of Senegal's squad at the 2026 World Cup. Senegal lost to France and then 3-2 to Norway, beat Iraq 5-0 and finished third in Group I behind France and Norway, which was enough to go through as one of the best third-placed teams, then went out in the round of 32, beaten 3-2 after extra time by Belgium in Seattle on 1 July 2026. By October 2026 he had more than 140 caps for Senegal: 141 by the count of the statistics site RSSSF, 143 according to English Wikipedia.

In May 2022, while at PSG, Gueye missed a game at Montpellier played in rainbow-themed shirts against homophobia; RMC Sport reported that he had refused to wear the shirt, and the French Football Federation asked him to explain his absence.

In this documentary from PSG's official channel, "Voyage avec... Idrissa Gueye", filmed in Senegal in November 2019, Gueye goes back to the neighbourhood where he grew up and to his first academy, with stories from the people close to him. If you follow the partners of his teammates, you can also read about Kalidou Koulibaly's wife Charline Oudenot and, from his Everton years, Jordan Pickford's wife Megan Davison.

Idrissa Gueye's net worth

Idrissa Gueye's net worth is not publicly known, and Pauline's even less so. The figures you will find online are guesses. His salary at Diriyah has not been disclosed. Capology, a salary-estimate website, put his last Everton deal at around £120,000 a week, but neither the club nor the player has confirmed it.

Facts about Pauline Gueye

She is French and the wife of Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye.
She met him on Facebook in 2011, when he was playing for Lille.
She studied in Nantes and finished a master's in management and business strategy in Lille in 2016.
She worked as an account manager for an American IT company in England before becoming an influencer.
She is Muslim, and her posts present her as a convert.
She is the mother of three boys, including Isaac (2018) and Ismaël (2020).
She describes herself as co-founder and treasurer of the ForHope charity.
Her Instagram handle is @paulinegueye_.

Frequently asked questions about Pauline Gueye

What is the nationality of Idrissa Gueye's wife?

Pauline Gueye is French. Her husband Idrissa is Senegalese.

Where is Idrissa Gueye's wife from?

She is from France. She has said she studied in Nantes and in Lille, the city where Idrissa was playing when they met on Facebook in 2011. Her exact birthplace has not been confirmed by any reliable source.