Elias Kachunga

Elias Kachunga

Kachunga with Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Elias Kachunga [1]
Date of birth	(1992-04-22) 22 April 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Haan, Germany
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [2]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Cambridge United
Number	21
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2012	Borussia Mönchengladbach II	47	(13)
2010–2014	Borussia Mönchengladbach	2	(0)
2012	→ VfL Osnabrück (loan)	17	(10)
2012	→ Hertha BSC II (loan)	4	(3)
2012	→ Hertha BSC (loan)	2	(0)
2012–2013	→ SC Paderborn (loan)	13	(3)
2013–2015	SC Paderborn	65	(12)
2015–2017	FC Ingolstadt 04	10	(0)
2016–2017	→ Huddersfield Town (loan)	42	(12)
2017–2020	Huddersfield Town	75	(4)
2020–2021	Sheffield Wednesday	27	(0)
2021–2023	Bolton Wanderers	70	(2)
2023–	Cambridge United	36	(5)
International career‡
2008–2009	Germany U17	8	(1)
2009–2010	Germany U18	7	(2)
2010–2011	Germany U19	7	(3)
2011–2012	Germany U20	3	(0)
2014	Germany U21	2	(0)
2017	DR Congo	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:42, 27 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2017

Elias Kachunga (born 22 April 1992) is a professional footballer who plays for Cambridge United as a forward. Born in Germany, Kachunga represents the DR Congo national team.

Early and personal life

Born in Haan, Germany, ^[2] Kachunga has a Congolese father and a German mother. ^[3]

Club career

Kachunga spent his early career in Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfL Osnabrück, Hertha BSC and SC Paderborn. ^{[2] [4]} Following Paderborn's relegation, he moved to FC Ingolstadt 04 in June 2015. ^[5] He was the club's record signing, at a transfer fee of €1.7 million. ^[3] He signed a season-long loan deal with an option to buy at the end with English Championship club Huddersfield Town in June 2016. ^[6] He made his debut for them on 6 August 2016, scoring the first goal in a 2–1 win over Brentford. ^[7] On 22 March 2017, Huddersfield paid Ingolstadt £1.1 million to turn Kachunga's loan deal into a permanent transfer. ^[8]

In December 2017 he was ruled-out for three months due to injury. ^[9]

He was released by Huddersfield at the end of the 2019–20 season. ^[10]

On 2 September 2020, he was signed by Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer. ^{[11] [12]} He made his debut coming off the bench against Cardiff City on the opening day of the season. ^[13] He scored his first goal for Wednesday in a 2-0 EFL Cup win against Rochdale on 15 September 2020. ^[14]

On 20 May 2021, it was announced that he would leave Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract. ^[15]

On 6 August 2021, he signed for Bolton Wanderers. ^{[16] [17]} He made his debut a day later as a late substitute against Milton Keynes Dons and provided an assist for Alex Baptiste in the 95th minute, rescuing a point for Bolton in a 3–3 draw. ^[18] His first Bolton goal came on 7 November in a 2–2 draw against Stockport County in the FA Cup. ^[19] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy Final. He scored the third goal, with the Final against Plymouth Argyle eventually ending with a 4–0 Bolton win. ^[20] On 23 May the club confirmed that Kachunga would be leaving at the end of his contract in June. ^[21]

On 1 August 2023 he signed for Cambridge United. ^[22]

International career

Kachunga has represented Germany at all youth age levels from under-17 through to under-21. ^[23]

He debuted for the senior DR Congo national team in a friendly 2–1 loss to Kenya on 26 March 2017. ^{[24] [25]}

Career statistics

As of match played on 27 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Borussia Mönchengladbach II	2009–10 [2]	Regionalliga West	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	2010–11 [2]	Regionalliga West	24	1	—		—		—		24	1
	2011–12 [2]	Regionalliga West	18	12	—		—		—		18	12
	Total		47	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	47	13
Borussia Mönchengladbach	2010–11 [2]	Bundesliga	2	0	0	0	—		—		2	0
	2011–12 [2]	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2012–13 [2]	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
VfL Osnabrück (loan)	2011–12 [2]	3. Liga	17	10	0	0	—		—		17	10
Hertha BSC II (loan)	2012–13 [2]	Regionalliga Nordost	4	3	—		—		—		4	3
Hertha BSC (loan)	2012–13 [2]	2. Bundesliga	2	0	1	0	—		—		3	0
SC Paderborn (loan)	2012–13 [2]	2. Bundesliga	13	3	0	0	—		—		13	3
SC Paderborn	2013–14 [2]	2. Bundesliga	33	6	2	0	—		—		35	6
	2014–15 [2]	Bundesliga	32	6	0	0	—		—		32	6
	Total		65	12	2	0	0	0	0	0	67	12
FC Ingolstadt 04	2015–16 [2]	Bundesliga	10	0	0	0	—		—		10	0
	2016–17 [2]	Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Huddersfield Town (loan)	2016–17 [26]	Championship	42	12	2	0	1	1	3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	48	13
Huddersfield Town	2017–18 [27]	Premier League	19	1	0	0	2	0	—		22	1
	2018–19 [28]	Premier League	20	0	1	0	1	0	—		22	0
	2019–20 [29]	Championship	36	3	0	0	1	0	—		37	3
	Total		75	4	1	0	4	0	0	0	81	4
Sheffield Wednesday	2020–21 [13]	Championship	27	0	0	0	2	1	—		29	1
Bolton Wanderers	2021–22 [30]	League One	32	2	2	2	2	0	5 [lower-alpha 2]	0	41	4
	2022–23 [31]	League One	38	0	1	0	2	1	9 [lower-alpha 3]	3	50	4
	Total		70	2	3	2	4	1	14	3	91	8
Cambridge United	2023–24 [32]	League One	36	5	1	1	1	0	1	0	39	6
Career total			410	64	10	3	8	3	18	3	449	74

1. Appearance(s) in the EFL Championship play-offs.
2. Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy.
3. Seven appearances in the EFL Trophy, two appearances in the League One play-offs

Honours

Huddersfield Town

• EFL Championship play-offs: 2017 ^[33]

Bolton Wanderers

• EFL Trophy: 2022–23 ^[20]

References

1. "Squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
2. Elias Kachunga at Soccerway. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
3. Thorsten Felske (4 July 2015). "Kachunga (23) ist der Wechsel-König" (in German). Bild. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
4. Elias Kachunga at fussballdaten.de (in German)
5. "KACHUNGA NACH INGOLSTADT" (in German). Bundesliga. 26 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
6. "Elias Kachunga: Huddersfield sign Ingolstadt striker on loan". BBC Sport. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
7. "Huddersfield Town 2-1 Brentford". 6 August 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
8. "Elias Kachunga: Huddersfield Town sign on-loan striker for £1.1m". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
9. "Elias Kachunga: Huddersfield striker out with medial ligament injury". 18 December 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
10. Chicken, Steven (24 July 2020). "Ten players depart Huddersfield Town with two deals extended". YorkshireLive.
11. "Wednesday sign Elias Kachunga". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
12. "Wednesday sign forward Kachunga" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
13. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
14. "Rochdale 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
15. "Owls confirm 2020/21 retained list". www.swfc.co.uk.
16. McDougall, John (6 August 2021). "Bolton swoop for ex-Huddersfield and Sheff Weds attacker Kachunga". Manchester Evening News.
17. "Bolton bring in striker Kachunga" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
18. "Bolton Wanderers 3-3 Milton Keynes Dons" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
19. "County hold Bolton in entertaining draw" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
20. "Bolton Wanderers 4-0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport.
21. "Wanderers Confirm Retained List". bwfc.co.uk. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
22. "Cambridge sign former Bolton forward Kachunga" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
23. "Elias Kachunga » Internationals". worldfootball.net.
24. "Kenya v Congo DR". 26 March 2017 – via www.bbc.com.
25. "Léopards : La RDC chute 2-1 en amical face au Kenya". 26 March 2017.
26. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
27. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
28. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
29. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
30. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
31. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
32. "Games played by Elias Kachunga in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
33. Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2017). "Huddersfield Town 0–0 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2018.

External links

• Elias Kachunga at Soccerbase