Igor Thiago

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Igor Thiago
Igor Thiago, Ludogorets Razgrad footballer.jpg
Igor Thiago with Ludogorets Razgrad in 2022
Personal information
Full name Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues
Date of birth (2001-06-26) 26 June 2001 (age 24)
Place of birth Gama, Federal District, Brazil [1]
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 9
Youth career
Gremio Ocidental
Verê
Cruzeiro
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2020–2022 Cruzeiro 60 (9)
2022 Ludogorets Razgrad II 4 (3)
2022–2023 Ludogorets Razgrad 34 (16)
2023–2024 Club Brugge 34 (18)
2024– Brentford 11 (2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15:58, 30 August 2025 (UTC)

Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues (born 26 June 2001), known as Igor Thiago or just Thiago, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Brentford.

Contents

Early life

Born in Gama, a small city close to capital Brasília, Thiago was 13 years old when he lost his father, and supported his street-cleaner mother María Diva by working in construction as a bricklayer, odd-jobbing at fairs, and by handing out flyers. [2]

He did not consider a career in football, but began playing at Gremio Ocidental, where his brother was already a player. He started playing futsal and had trials at several teams before joining the under-17 team of Verê, from the interior of Paraná. He later joined Cruzeiro's academy. [3]

Club career

Cruzeiro

On 22 January 2020, Thiago made his professional debut as an 18-year-old when he started for Cruzeiro in their Campeonato Mineiro match against Boa Esporte. [4]

Despite being in the first-team squad for two years, Thiago did not play for Cruzeiro in Brazil's Série A, with his 64 appearances instead coming in Série B, the Mineiro and the Copa do Brasil. [5] [3]

Ludogorets Razgrad

After a series of rumours, on 2 March 2022, Thiago finally signed with the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad. [6] He joined Ludogorets II to adapt better in the Bulgarian league and made his debut on 18 April in a league match against Litex Lovech, scoring his debut goal. [7] A week later, he scored a brace in a 3–2 away defeat against Dobrudzha Dobrich. [8]

Thiago's good start for the second team granted him a call-up to the first team where he made his debut in a league match against CSKA Sofia, coming on as a substitute and marking his debut for the first team with a goal. [9]

With Ludogorets, Thiago won back-to-back Bulgarian First League titles for 2021–22 and 2022–23, as well as the 2023 Bulgarian Cup and 2022 Bulgarian Supercup, contributing to the club's success with 21 goals in 55 games.[ citation needed ]

Club Brugge

On 12 June 2023, Thiago signed for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge on a four-year contract. [10] The €7.9 million fee received by Ludogorets was a record for a Bulgarian club. [11]

Having started in a 3–0 win over Aarhus in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers on 27 July 2023, Thiago scored in his first two league games for Club Brugge, a late equaliser to earn a 1–1 draw against Mechelen, [12] then netting the only goal in a 1–0 win at Westerlo to put the club near the top of the table early in the season. [13]

Scoring the opening goal in a 4–2 win over Charleroi on 16 September 2023 saw him reach six goals in all competitions, [14] but Thiago didn't score in Club's next nine games, finally breaking his duck in a 6–0 Belgian Cup victory at Beerschot on 1 November. [15] However, there were no more league goals until December of that year.

Netting a double in a 5–0 away win over Beşiktaş in the Conference League sparked a major goalscoring run from the Brazilian striker, [16] going on to fire 18 goals in his next 12 games across December 2023 and January 2024. Thiago was only shut out in one of those matches, against Mechelen where a header he scored was erroneously ruled out for offside. [17] [18] After that blank, Thiago scored in his next eight games. [19]

Brentford

On 14 February 2024, Premier League club Brentford announced an agreement for the signing of Thiago on a five-year deal, which would come into effect on 1 July. [20] The fee was undisclosed by the club, but reported to be in the region of a club-record £30 million. [21] In Belgian terms, this was a new Pro League record sale of €38 million. [22]

On 20 July 2024, Thiago suffered a meniscus injury on his Brentford debut in a pre-season friendly, and was subsequently expected to be out of action for the remainder of the year. [23] However, on 23 November, Thiago made his first appearance for the club against Everton, when he replaced Yoane Wissa in the 72nd minute. [24] Despite the brief return, he missed most of the remaining season, only making his return on 4 May 2025 in Brentford's 4–3 home victory against Manchester United in the league. [25]

On 17 August 2025, Thiago scored his first goal for Brentford in a 3–1 away defeat against Nottingham Forest in the club's opening game of the Premier League season. [26]

International career

Born in Brazil, Thiago received a Bulgarian passport in 2023, which made him available to play for both Brazil and Bulgaria. [27] [28] In January 2024 he received a call-up for Brazil U23, but declined it, despite the fact he said it would be a dream to represent Brazil on international level. [29]

Career statistics

As of match played 30 August 2025 [30]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueState league [a] National cup [b] League cup [c] ContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cruzeiro 2020 Série B 1806330——00273
2021 Série B2544000——00294
2022 Série B007211——0083
Total43417541—00006410
Ludogorets Razgrad II 2021–22 Bulgarian Second League 43—————43
Ludogorets Razgrad 2021–22 Bulgarian First League 21—00—001 [d] 031
2022–23 Bulgarian First League3215—51—15 [e] 4005220
Total34160051—154105521
Club Brugge 2023–24 Belgian Pro League 3418—54—16 [f] 7—5529
Brentford 2024–25 Premier League 80—0000——80
2025–26 Premier League32—0011——43
Total1120000110000123
Career total126431751461132121019066
  1. ↑ Includes Campeonato Mineiro
  2. ↑ Includes Copa do Brasil, Bulgarian Cup, Belgian Cup, FA Cup
  3. ↑ Includes EFL Cup
  4. ↑ Appearance in Bulgarian Supercup
  5. ↑ Five appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League, two appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa Conference League
  6. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Ludogorets Razgrad

Club Brugge

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Costa, Maic (29 August 2023). "Ex-Cruzeiro, Thiago superou infância difícil e hoje brilha na Europa". Trivela (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Igor Thiago, la primera venta de Ronaldo en Cruzeiro, destaca en el rival de Osasuna en la Conference". Marca (in Spanish). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Igor Thiago: Who is the Club Brugge striker heading to the Premier League as Brentford's possible Ivan Toney replacement?". Sky Sports . 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  4. ↑ "Cruzeiro vs. Boa 2 – 0". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Ex-Cruzeiro, Thiago superou infância difícil e hoje brilha na Europa" [Former Cruzeiro player Thiago overcame a difficult childhood and now shines in Europe]. Trivela (in Portuguese). 29 August 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  6. ↑ "Тиаго и Групер: Идваме в голям клуб" (in Bulgarian). PFC Ludogorets Razgrad. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  7. ↑ "Лудогорец II загуби с 1:2 от Литекс (Ловеч)" (in Bulgarian). PFC Ludogorets Razgrad. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. ↑ "Два гола на нов не спомогнаха на Лудогорец 2, Добруджа с витален успех". Gong.bg (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  9. ↑ "Лудогорец с шампионска победа над ЦСКА-София" (in Bulgarian). PFC Ludogorets Razgrad. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Igor Thiago moves to Club Brugge". Club Brugge KV. 12 June 2023. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "Лудогорец реализира рекорден трансфер" (in Bulgarian). PFC Ludogorets Razgrad. 12 June 2023. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "Club Brugge laat meteen punten liggen tegen KV Mechelen, dat vloekt op de VAR én 1–2 laat liggen (Club Brugge immediately drops points against KV Mechelen, who criticise VAR and misses 2–1 win)". Sporza (in Dutch). 30 July 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  13. ↑ "Dominant Club Brugge bibbert in slot naar eerste seizoenszege op bezoek bij Westerlo (Dominant Club Brugge finally staggers towards its first victory of season at Westerlo)". Sporza (in Dutch). 6 August 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  14. ↑ "Wonderboy Antonio Nusa schenkt Club Brugge ultiem de overwinning na kat-en-muisspelletje met Charleroi (Wonderboy Antonio Nusa gives Club Brugge ultimate victory after cat-and-mouse game with Charleroi)". Sporza (in Dutch). 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  15. ↑ "Club Brugge bezorgt het Kiel een horroravond en smeert Beerschot een 0-6-pandoering aan (Club Brugge gives Kiel a horror evening and Beerschot a 6–0 pounding)". Sporza (in Dutch). 1 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  16. ↑ "Club Brugge speelt een absolute referentiematch en smeert Besiktas forfaitscore aan (A milestone match for Club Brugge, beating Besiktas by a forfeit score)". Sporza (in Dutch). 30 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  17. ↑ "Zegereeks Club Brugge wordt afgebroken door stug KV Mechelen (Club Brugge's winning streak is interrupted by tough KV Mechelen)". Sporza (in Dutch). 10 December 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  18. ↑ "KIJK. "Match wordt niet herspeeld": Referee Department licht blunder bij goal Thiago toe, Van Damme voorlopig geen VAR meer (WATCH. "Match will not be replayed": Referee Department explains blunder at Thiago goal, Van Damme no longer VAR for the time being)". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 11 December 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  19. ↑ "Plots is de twijfelspits de strafste van Europa: hoe valt de transformatie van Igor Thiago te verklaren? (Suddenly the peak of doubt is the strongest in Europe: how can Igor Thiago's transformation be explained?)". Sporza (in Dutch). 23 January 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  20. ↑ "Brentford Sign Forward Igor Thiago". Brentford FC. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  21. ↑ "Brentford announce £30m signing of Club Brugge striker Igor Thiago". The Guardian. 14 February 2024. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  22. ↑ "Het verhaal achter de (stiekeme) recordtransfer van Igor Thiago: "Zelfs Fabrizio Romano wist dit niet"" [The story behind Igor Thiago's (secret) record transfer: "Even Fabrizio Romano didn't know this"]. Sporza (in Dutch). 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  23. ↑ "Brentford signing Thiago out until end of year". BBC Sport. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  24. ↑ Hafez, Shamoon (23 November 2024). "Everton 0–0 Brentford: Toffees held to goalless draw by 10-man visitors". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  25. ↑ "'He will not start': Frank provides injury update before Brentford's trip to Ipswich". Brentford F.C. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  26. ↑ "Nottingham Forest 3 Brentford 1: Thiago on target in opening day defeat". Brentford F.C. 17 August 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  27. ↑ "В Белгия: Тиаго може да е от изключителна полза за България". Gong.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  28. ↑ "Гласят сензацията Игор Тиаго за национал на България". Gol (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  29. ↑ "Игор Тиаго получи повиквателна от Бразилия и я отказа". Gong.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  30. ↑ Igor Thiago at Soccerway . Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  31. ↑ UEFA.com (1 June 2024). "Club Brugge's Thiago named 2023/24 Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season". UEFA . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
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