Sinama Pongolle was born in Saint-Pierre, Réunion, and began his career at hometown club JS Saint-Pierroise before moving to Le Havre AC in Metropolitan France at the age of 11. In 2001 he, along with his cousin Anthony Le Tallec, was signed by Liverpool, after some impressive performances in both the UEFA European Under-16 Championship and the FIFA Under-17 World Championship. He was named player of the tournament as France won the latter competition, and remained at Le Havre – as Le Tallec – for a further two years on loan.