Iliman Ndiaye interview: 'You don't know where football will take you next... I want to play in the Champions League'
It feels as though the next chapter in Iliman Ndiaye's remarkable story is about to play out.
On the eve of a deeply personal encounter with France, a country that continues to play an integral role in his life, Senegal's number 13 is ready to make a statement. "Everyone's going to be watching the World Cup," he tells SPORTbible. "It's definitely a big opportunity for me."
You can hear the excitement in Ndiaye's voice when he speaks openly about the future. And can you blame him?
This summer, he will have the chance to perform on the grandest stage of all, with several Premier League clubs, including Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United, said to be monitoring his situation.
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“You don't know where football will take you next," the 26-year-old says after the subject of his Everton future crops up in conversation.
"As I've always said, I want to be the best player and to do that, you have to play at the top. I want to be playing at the top level. I want to be playing Champions League football."
Confidence is no issue here. It never has been. Even when a coach from Reading's academy told his dad, Mamadou, that he would never make it as a professional footballer, a teenage Ndiaye knew the stars would align one day.
Before turning 18, he failed to make the grade at Southampton, Tottenham, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, but after pushing through those setbacks, Steve Holmes, a scout from Sheffield United, spotted him playing non-league.
At every stage of Ndiaye's journey, one constant has remained: an unshakeable belief in his own ability.
Against all odds, he will take to the pitch against France, the country of his birth, at New York's MetLife Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
“Did I ever feel like quitting back then? It never crossed my mind," says Ndiaye without hesitation. “Since a young age, I've had so much confidence and belief in my own ability. I've always had these dreams and I always knew that I'd make it to this stage."
Fast forward a decade and, with his trademark confidence, he believes Senegal can do the seemingly impossible this summer.
“In my opinion, we are going to win the World Cup," he says matter-of-factly.
"If I didn’t think that, then what's the point of going? What's the point of packing your suitcase? I don't want to be a tourist. I’m going there to win it. If I thought differently, then I’d give my place in the team to someone else."
Ndiaye was only two years old when a goal from the late Papa Bouba Diop helped Senegal beat reigning world champions France at the 2002 World Cup, but, in his own words, he has re-watched the highlights "so many times" on YouTube.
It is a fixture that means the world to Ndiaye and his family.
"France is a big part of my life. I was born there. My family live there. My friends live there," he says. "My mum is French, too, so as much as I'm playing for Senegal and I love Senegal, I'm also French.
"A lot of us (the squad) were born in France. We are mostly a squad of French heritage, so it's going to mean everything. We have a strong team. I hope they'll come up against us and be scared."
Like many players, Ndiaye does not dwell on past achievements. Instead, he is very much absorbed in the here and now and insists that time to reflect will come later on in life. After all, there are plenty of years still left in the tank.
But from an outsider’s perspective, his journey to this point deserves to be celebrated as an example to others who may be dealing with rejection.
It is a story of resilience, hard work and self-belief. A decade ago, he was playing for YouTube side Rising Ballers. Two years before that, he moved to London with his father, who believed in him like nobody else.
“As soon as I landed in England, my dad picked me up and said, ‘You're going to a football camp at Manchester United.’ I was only 14 at the time,” he remembers. “My dad has always gone above and beyond for me."
Where it all began... from France to his first PE lesson in England
Born in Rouen, a city that sits on the banks of the River Seine in northern France, Ndiaye spent a year in Marseille's youth ranks before moving to Senegal at the age of 12. Here, he worked tirelessly with his father, Mamadou.
Mamadou, a dance choreographer by trade, helped shape the playing style we see today. Instead of your typical cone-based drills, he wanted Iliman to dance with the ball, which encouraged flair through rhythm and movement.
They worked tirelessly on the sandy beaches of Dakar, Senegal's capital, for three years before Iliman decided to join his father in London, where he moved for work.
It was a huge culture shock made all the more daunting by his limited grasp of the English language, but the man who supported his every move was there from the moment he touched down on the tarmac.
“It wasn't easy," he remembers. "When I first arrived, I only knew one word and it was rainbow. I learned it back in France a long time ago and that's what stuck in my mind.
"My dad knew that I loved football, so as soon as I arrived in England, he made sure I was given opportunities, like the Manchester United football camp. He also filmed all my matches when I was young and posted them on YouTube. I am in this position today because of him."
Those early days in London were tough, but it didn't take Ndiaye long to discover why football is often described as a universal language.
"I remember my first day at school," he smiles, "I had a PE lesson and we played football. After the session ended, everyone came up to me and started saying, ‘Oh wow, you're good.’ That made it easier to settle."
Ndiaye let his feet do the talking and, impressed by how he could manipulate the ball in tight areas, clubs wanted to take a closer look.
There were rejections along the way. After being told he wasn't good enough by Chelsea, Tottenham and Crystal Palace, amongst other clubs at academy level, he remembers having tears in his eyes when parting ways with Southampton.
And then there was that incident at Reading.
“I used to train with them after school. If you're good, they'll send you to the academy for a six-week trial," explained Ndiaye, who can't help but laugh at the series of events.
“A coach who was part of the academy would come to watch us train at times. I remember the first couple of training sessions went well but one day, he came over and gave me some in-game instructions, which included dribbling past my man.
"I thought the training session went well and my dad went over to speak to him. At first, the coach ignored him, so he kept calling over, saying, ‘Let me speak to you, brother.’
"He asked about a trial at Reading and the coach replied, ‘Your son is never going to be a professional footballer. He’s too small.' My dad went crazy. He started telling him, ‘You're talking nonsense. You're going to see him become one of the best in the world.’ We left and never came back.”
Still, quitting was never an option. After being released by Southampton, he was asked to join non-league side Boreham Wood but to play with the academy, you had to complete a Sports Development Level 1 course alongside training.
Ndiaye remembers failing that course at college, which meant he was forced to try something new.
"I ended up enrolling in engineering," he says. "And on my first day of college, I arrived but the teacher didn’t turn up after 30 minutes. Someone in the class said, ‘Legally, if the teacher doesn't arrive in 15 minutes, then you're allowed to leave.’
"I left and never came back, but I was still playing for Boreham Wood, who didn't know a thing. Like I said, I just had football in my mind. School just wasn't my thing."
Cameron Mawer, the former head of Boreham Wood's academy, was there to make sure that players had a plan B if becoming a footballer didn't work out. And most, of course, needed that back-up plan.
However, that wasn't an option for Ndiaye. It was all or nothing.
"Iliman was the only one in my 10 years there who would just say, 'I'm going to be a professional footballer.' He would not relent on it," Mawer told Sky Sports in 2022. "There was no, 'Oh, I might go and be a PE teacher' or anything like that. It was just, 'I'm going to be a footballer, Cameron. Watch.'"
How a game of five-a-side turned into playing in front of thousands on YouTube
Ndiaye signed a first-team contract at Boreham Wood in his second year with the academy. He would go on to make two unused substitute appearances for their first-team before a six-week trial at Sheffield United in February 2019 changed everything.
In fact, Boreham Wood received around 40 calls from interested clubs after he played in two trial matches, but the forward appreciated Sheffield United's initial approach and agreed to join them that summer.
“They told me to leave Boreham Wood at that point, so I was always on the lookout for places to play football," recalls Ndiaye. "I was obsessed. Every day I was playing football. If a team needed a player, I was there."
To try and maintain his fitness, Ndiaye would turn up at Westway Sports Centre in West London to play five-a-side.
One day, a player from Rising Ballers, a grassroots club aimed at developing young players that bigger clubs have let slip through the cracks, was on the opposing team. Ndiaye remembers it well.
"He called the Rising Ballers manager the next day and said, ‘Oi, you need to look at this guy.’ At first, the Rising Ballers manager said no because they had too many people. But that player, Mergim Qarri, kept insisting."
Qarri, or Gim as his teammates call him, looks back at that first meeting with fond memories.
“I was personally at my peak at the time," he tells SPORTbible. "I was pushing to go to professional clubs. I played against Iliman for 90 minutes and he absolutely took the micky out of everyone. I couldn’t get near him. He was just too sharp. I was thinking, ‘Damn, I’m at my best here and he was well ahead’.
“I was so gassed, so I called Rising Ballers straight away and literally begged them to take him in. At first they were like we haven’t got space. I replied, ‘Take me off the team so you can look at this kid. He’s special’.
"They said they would trust my judgement, so I brought him along. What I loved about Iliman is that he is the most humble guy. And he is still the best player I’ve ever played against.”
Ndiaye says he felt "free" during his brief spell at the club. "I just went out there and enjoyed myself," he smiles.
"It was on camera as well, so in the back of your head, if you do something, it's going to be on YouTube and everyone's going to see it. It also helped me keep fit for when I joined Sheffield United. It was an amazing time."
What does the future hold for Ndiaye?
Fast forward seven years and after spells at Sheffield United and boyhood club Marseille, Ndiaye has established himself as Everton's "magic man" following his arrival on Merseyside in 2024.
Looking back at the 2025-26 season at club level, Ndiaye has mixed feelings.
“It has gone okay," he says. "Personally, I think I could have been better. The start of the season was very good but the second part, not so much."
When I suggest that fatigue might have played a factor after a 45-game season across all competitions, the Senegalese forward is quick to dismiss the idea.
“I don't think it's fatigue. For me, the team has not been at its best. You can speak individually, but when the whole team is not working, you can't really say this player is fatigued or not doing well," he says.
“At the same time, I don't think I've played enough games. I went to AFCON but actually, I don't think that's enough. I want to be playing in Europe, in the Champions League, I want to play in all of these games.”
It has been a fairytale journey for a player who was once told, in no uncertain terms, that a career in football was beyond his reach.
Back in May 2019, Ndiaye scored on his Rising Ballers debut in a Sunday League clash against reigning Camden League champions Gower FC. Now, he wants to go and achieve his ultimate dream.
“When I look back at everything I've done, everything I’ve been through, it is something to be proud of. But it doesn't stop here. You don't stop when you've made it. You want to go further and achieve things," he says.
“Since I was young, I've always had the same dream — to be the best player in the world. I also want to win trophies for my club and country. That's what I play football for. You want to win trophies and make people proud, your family proud, your country proud. I don’t want to have any regrets."
Topics: Everton, Senegal, France, FIFA World Cup, Premier League
Jack Kenmare