Dazet Wilfried Armel Zaha (born 10 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for the Ivory Coast national team.
A product of Crystal Palace's youth academy, Zaha made his senior debut for the then Championship, now Premier League, side in 2010. He scored 18 goals in 143 appearances in just over three seasons with the club, and was instrumental in their promotion to the Premier League in 2013. He subsequently joined Manchester United for £10 million, becoming Sir Alex Ferguson's last signing for the club, and won the Community Shield on his debut.
Having made just four appearances in his only season in Manchester and enduring a brief loan spell at Cardiff City, Zaha returned to Crystal Palace in 2014. He went on to score 72 goals in 315 appearances for the club over the next nine seasons, becoming the club's tenth-highest all-time goalscorer, and their highest ever goalscorer in the Premier League, helping to establish the club in the top-flight before his departure in 2023.
Born in the Ivory Coast, Zaha grew up in England. He made his debut for the England national team in 2012, appearing in two non-competitive matches (the latter of which came in 2013). After not playing for England for four years, he switched to play for Ivory Coast in 2016, and represented the nation at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2025.
Born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Zaha moved with his family – including his eight siblings – to Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon, at age four. He was educated at Whitehorse Manor Junior School, Thornton Heath and Selsdon High School, Selsdon.
He played football at school, and joined the Crystal Palace academy aged 8.
Zaha was given his Crystal Palace first-team debut at home to Cardiff City on 27 March 2010 by caretaker manager Paul Hart as a substitute for Stern John with 10 minutes remaining in the 2–1 loss. He signed a two-year professional contract with Palace in April.
He quickly progressed through the ranks at Palace and became a key member of the first team during the 2010–11 pre-season friendlies. On 7 August 2010, he scored his first senior goal in a 3–2 win over Leicester City. Zaha assisted Kieron Cadogan in the home match against Queens Park Rangers in October and James Vaughan in the away match against Watford in February 2011. On 12 April 2011, he was sent off in the 95th minute against Leicester City for an alleged stamp on Patrick van Aanholt but it was later rescinded. Zaha ended the season playing a total of 44 matches, while scoring 1 goal and having 2 assists in all competitions.
Zaha started the 2011–12 season by scoring two goals in a League Cup match on 23 August 2011 at home to Crawley Town. On 30 November, Zaha impressed in Crystal Palace's 2–1 shock win over Manchester United in the League Cup, constantly sneaking through the United defence and in January, attracting interest from Liverpool and Manchester United.
In March 2012, Zaha was voted The Football League's Young Player of the Year.
In the latter part of the season, manager Dougie Freedman opted to play Zaha as a striker and on 21 April he scored in a 2–2 draw with Reading, in a match that saw Reading secure the Championship title. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Zaha was voted Crystal Palace Young Player of the Year for a second time in a row. During this season, he made 48 appearances while scoring 9 goals and recording 5 assists.
Zaha started the 2012–13 season brightly, getting an assist in the League Cup against Exeter City and winning a penalty in the first league match against Watford. Zaha scored his first two goals of the season against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 October 2012. He then scored two goals in a match again, four days later, in a 4–3 win over Burnley.
On 5 March 2013, Zaha scored his first goal for Crystal Palace since being loaned back from Manchester United, in a 4–2 victory against promotion rivals Hull City. On 13 May 2013, in the second leg of the play-off semi-final against Brighton & Hove Albion, Zaha scored two goals in the second half to put Crystal Palace into the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. In the play-off final on 27 May 2013, Zaha won a penalty that was converted to secure Crystal Palace a Premier League spot for the 2013–14 season.
On 25 January 2013, Zaha agreed to join Premier League club Manchester United, and would immediately be loaned back to Crystal Palace for the remainder of the season. Palace tried to delay the transfer and agree the transfer in the summer of 2013, but Football League rules prevented this with the player having to join United and be loaned back to Palace. Zaha passed the medical at Manchester United, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract on 26 January 2013 for a reported £10m rising to £15m with performance-related add-ons.
On 11 August 2013, Zaha made his debut for Manchester United in the 2013 FA Community Shield win against Wigan Athletic. He was included in the starting line-up and played 61 minutes before being replaced by Antonio Valencia He did not play again until 29 October, starting in a 4–0 win over Norwich City in the third round of the League Cup at Old Trafford. His Premier League debut was on 7 December in a 1–0 home loss to Newcastle United, as a substitute for Nani shortly after his team conceded.
On 31 January 2014, Zaha completed a loan move to Cardiff City for the remainder of the 2013–14 season after being left out of favour by manager David Moyes.
At the end of the season, following Moyes' sacking, Zaha said that he was never given a chance by the Scot. He contrasted his experience with that of Raheem Sterling, another young attacker who was given a chance by Liverpool after a difficult start. He also said that he was upset by false and malicious online rumours about his personal life.
On 28 August 2014, Zaha agreed to a season-long loan deal with Crystal Palace. Two days later, in the first match of his loan, he scored a stoppage-time equaliser in a 3–3 draw at Newcastle United. On 2 February 2015, the final day of the winter transfer window, Zaha's move to Palace was made permanent with the signing of a five-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £3 million, rising to £6 million with add-ons; Manchester United would also receive a percentage of the fee if Palace sell Zaha in the future. United wouldn't receive this sell-on fee as Zaha would join Galatasaray on a free transfer in 2023.