There are players who shine from an early age and there are late bloomers. France goalkeeper Hatadou Sako is definitely in the latter camp, as she was hardly earmarked as one of the best in the world on her position early on in her career.

15 years later, Sako is definitely a mainstay between the shot stoppers at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, with some dazzling displays between the posts as France no.1 goalkeeper.

‘Many times I had the feeling that people didn’t trust me, but in my head it was just like, “Okay, they don’t trust you, but you will show them that they have to trust you.” It doesn’t matter if people want to close their eyes to you; your performances will force them to open their eyes, because they will have no choice but to say, “Hatadou is really, really, really strong”,’ says Sako.

Hard work, believing in herself and some breaks made Sako who she is now: a goalkeeper who made 47 saves at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, with a 34% saving efficiency, for the third best defence in the competition, which concedes 21 goals per average after seven matches.

But, yet again, it was never easy.

France have a fantastic pyramid, earmarking talented young players from an early age. If you are good, you will definitely be seen. And then, top clubs are never shy of snapping up good young players and promote them in the senior squad.

For Sako, the pathway was different. She spent five years in the second league at Noisy-le-Grand Handball, a team on the outskirts on French capital, Paris. 

But then, in 2016, when she was only 21 years old, she decided it was time to go and play in the first league. So the move to OGC Nice, in the South of France, was done. 

 

‘When I signed my first professional contract, I was not really ready to play at this high level. I signed my first contract for Nice, and I was like, “Okay, you have this opportunity, just go, try to play at a high level, and then if you don’t like it, just come back.” And I realised that this is the environment where I want to be: a professional environment, with people who know how to play handball, who are professional,’ adds Sako.

After the first six months were not really a slam-dunk, Sako started playing better and better. By that time, she was already featuring for the Senegal national team, where she played between 2015 and 2021, before making the switch to her homecountry, France.

In 2018, Sako was the All-Star goalkeeper at the CAHB Women’s African Handball Championship, and one year later, she was named the best goalkeeper in the French league.

‘My role was not that easy at first, because people didn’t trust me when I was young. I was really small, I was overweight, and yes, people were not expecting anything from me. But I was just like, “Okay, just work hard, do what you want, do what gives you a lot of pleasure, and then you will see where you go.” This is my view now: I just try to work hard and see where I will go. I don’t have many targets or objectives in my life; I just try to work hard and see what happens,’ adds the France goalkeeper.

But with the move to Metz Handball – a powerhouse in the French league – her raw talent, skill and personality were always there to be seen, always on display at each match. Sako was gaining confidence and became better and better.

“I just tried to keep working and it just went on. I can say that I did have a few objectives in my life: the Olympic Games with the French national team, and winning the Champions League. Today, those are the two targets that I have completed, and of course I’m really proud,” adds the 30-year-old goalkeeper.

Indeed, Sako became immediately a crucial piece of France’s dominant team, winning the title at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship and the silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she shared duties with Laura Glauser.

 

But with Glauser out due to an injury at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, Sako became the no.1 choice for coach Sebastian Gardillou and is thriving in this role, making some key saves in France’s march towards the third consecutive World Championship final, after the one lost in 2021 and the one won in 2023.

“You know, I’m a player who likes a challenge, and I think it was a big challenge when we started the World Championship, to be the first choice. I had to show people that, yes, I can also be the first goalkeeper of the French national team. Before, I was the second, and it was okay, I accepted this position, but now it’s a different feeling, and it was not that easy. But I think I did well, and I’m really, really happy. I can say that 10 or 20 years ago, I would never have thought that I would play for France national team, and even less that I would be the first goalkeeper in this team,” adds Sako.

Her extrovert personality, celebrating each save with a fist bump or jumping in the air, made her an instant fan-favourite, not only for the French supporters, but also for the general handball public.

“I’m a player who is really extroverted, and I know and believe that my body language, how I scream, how I act in goal, can affect the players. Of course, playing handball is not only about scoring or defending; it’s also a mental fight. And yes, for me it’s not only about making saves from the wing, from the back or against the line player, it’s also about winning this psychological fight,” says Sako.

“I think people love it when a player can share feelings with them, you know? When they see players asking them to make more noise, to celebrate, or just looking for the fans in the stands, I think this is why people like me. I just try to share my feelings, my emotions. I just want to show that I’m taking a lot of pleasure on the court. And this is what I always say: people come to watch our games, they buy tickets, and I think it’s our responsibility to give them a good show, a lot of good feelings, a lot of emotions. For me, when I’m on the court, I just want to take a lot of pleasure and give a lot of pleasure to the people.”

 

But what about this current iteration of the France team, which is lacking some senior presence, such as Glauser, captain Estelle Nze Minko, Laura Flippes, Coralie Lassource or Chloe Valentini, all players who carried the load over the last years?

So far, with a blip on the radar in their loss against the Netherlands, France turned out to be a well-versed team, especially in their win against Denmark in the quarter-finals in Rotterdam, 31:26, where they dominated the match from start to finish.

Sako made nine saves, for a 30% saving efficiency, but some of the balls stopped were crucial, including seven one-on-one saves.

“I feel happy for me, for the girls, for our national team. It’s of course a really good feeling to win this game against Denmark, and we are really, really proud to be in the semi-final. That’s why we celebrated loud, because it was a great game from us. I think we approached it in the right way, and it was a really good result. We are in the last four teams, and we are really proud of this,” says the goalkeeper.

“People have to understand that for our French national team, it doesn’t matter if we miss some players, even key players, it will always work, because we are hard workers, and the people who play in this national team are really, really strong. Of course, we have young players, we have many new players, but it’s still working well. I believe in this, and this is what we say between us: it doesn’t matter if we miss a lot of key players, we have to fight until the end, and I think this works well now.”

And probably the most important thing for Sako is that she reached a level where she never thought she would reach in her career.

“Maybe it was not my ambition. I just wanted to play handball and take a lot of pleasure, but now I’m here. I just try to enjoy it and to play well. I’m not that strong at thinking very far ahead. I’m strong for thinking about now, what happens now, but I don’t want to think too far, because I’m not really good at that,” concludes the France goalkeeper.