Amadou Haidara (born 31 January 1998) is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Lens and the Mali national team.
Club career Red Bull Salzburg Haidara started his career with the Malian side JMG Academy Bamako. In July 2016, he was signed by FC Red Bull Salzburg. He was sent out on loan to the second league side FC Liefering, which is the farm team of Red Bull Salzburg. Haidara also played for the FC Red Bull Salzburg U-19 team in the UEFA Youth League. There he scored two goals versus FK Vardar.
He made his first appearance in the third round of the 2016–17 league versus LASK Linz. He substituted Gideon Mensah after the halftime break and scored his first goal in the 48th minute for Liefering.
During the 2017–18 season, Salzburg had their best ever European campaign. They finished top of their Europa League group, for a record fourth time, before beating Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund thus making their first ever appearance in the UEFA Europa League semi-final. On 3 May 2018, he played in the Europa League semi-finals as Olympique de Marseille played out a 1–2 away loss but a 3–2 aggregate win to secure a place in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final.
RB Leipzig On 22 December 2018, Haidara was signed by German club RB Leipzig. On 30 March 2019, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 5–0 win over Hertha BSC. In the 2019–20 season, RB Leipzig managed to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
On 8 December 2020, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–2 win over Manchester United in the 2020–21 season.
Lens On 23 December 2025, after seven years with RB Leipzig, Haidara moved to France, joining Ligue 1 club Lens on a contract until June 2029, for a reported fee of €2 million, which could rise to €3 million with performance-related add-ons.
International career Haidara played five matches for the Malian U17 team, scoring one goal. Haidara made his senior debut for the Mali national football team in a 2018 World Cup qualification tie against Ivory Coast on 6 October 2017.
He took part in his first international tournament at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. In December 2021, Haidara was named by head coach Mohamed Magassouba in Mali’s squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
On 2 January 2024, he was included in the list of twenty-seven Malian players selected by Éric Chelle to compete in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
On 11 December 2025, Haidara was called up to the Mali squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsFC Liefering (loan)2016–17Austrian First League252———252Red Bull Salzburg2016–17Austrian Bundesliga512100—722017–18Austrian Bundesliga3136118Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, sixteen appearances and three goals in UEFA Europa League4—5582018–19Austrian Bundesliga122207Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League1—213Total486102255—8313RB Leipzig2018–19Bundesliga913000—1212019–20Bundesliga190207Appearances in UEFA Champions League0—2802020–21Bundesliga3136261—4362021–22Bundesliga203216Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League0—2842022–23Bundesliga31250701Appearance in DFL-Supercup04422023–24Bundesliga2121050—2722024–25Bundesliga2804080—4002025–26Bundesliga0000——00Total159112333911022215Lens2025–26Ligue 17130——1012026–27Ligue 14000101Appearance in Trophée des Champions060Total111301010161Career total243203656562034631
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsMali2017202018402019912020212021702022902023302024100202550202620Total532
Scores and results list Mali's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Haidara goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Amadou Haidara No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 1 July 2019 Ismailia Stadium, Ismailia, Egypt 1–0 1–0 2019 Africa Cup of Nations 2 9 October 2020 Emirhan Sport Center Stadium, Side, Turkey 3–0 3–0 Friendly
Honours Red Bull Salzburg Austrian Bundesliga: 2016–17, 2017–18 Austrian Cup: 2016–17
RB Leipzig DFB-Pokal: 2021–22, 2022–23; runner-up: 2020–21
Lens Coupe de France: 2025–26 Trophée des Champions: 2026
Mali U17 FIFA U-17 World Cup runner-up: 2015
Individual Austrian Bundesliga Team of the Year: 2017–18
References
External links
Profile at the RB Leipzig website