Kyrian Nwoko

Last updated

Kyrian Nwoko
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-07-04) 4 July 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Valletta, Malta
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) [1]
Position(s) Winger, forward
Team information
Current team
 Floriana
Number 22
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2014–2017 St. Andrews 82 (14)
2017–2021 Valletta 75 (12)
2021 → St Patrick's Athletic (loan) 8 (0)
2022– Floriana 33 (3)
2023 → Saint Lucia (loan) 8 (2)
International career‡
Malta U17
2017– Malta 32 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 October 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 July 2024

Kyrian Nwoko (born 4 July 1997) is a Maltese professional footballer who plays as a winger and forward for Floriana and the Malta national team. He has previously played for Maltese clubs St. Andrews and Valletta, as well as Irish club St Patrick's Athletic.

Contents

Personal life

He is the son of the Nigerian-born former Maltese international footballer Chucks Nwoko. [2]

Club career

In July 2014, Nwoko was linked with a possible transfer to English clubs Huddersfield Town and Crystal Palace. [3] He moved from St. Andrews to Valletta in June 2017. [2] In July 2021, he was linked with a move to NIFL Premiership side Linfield. [1] Following a transfer fee being agreed between the two clubs, the transfer was held up over obtaining a work permit under new Brexit regulations. [4] On 27 July 2021, Valletta announced that they had agreed a deal with League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic for Nwoko to move on a 6-month loan deal with the option to make the transfer permanent. [5] The transfer was completed on 28 July 2021, [6] with Nwoko becoming the second striker to sign for the club on that day, after Reading's Nahum Melvin-Lambert. [7] Nwoko made his debut for the club on 30 July 2021, coming off the bench in the 87th minute of the Dublin derby away to Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium. [8] On 28 November 2021 Nwoko was an unused substitute in the 2021 FAI Cup Final, as his side defeated rivals Bohemians 4–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time in front of a record FAI Cup final crowd of 37,126 at the Aviva Stadium. [9] On 31 August 2022, Nwoko returned to football after 9 months out of the game, returning to Malta and signing for Floriana. [10] On 27 January 2023, he signed for Saint Lucia on loan until the end of the season. [11]

International career

He made two appearances for Malta at the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. [12] He made his senior national team debut in November 2017 in the 0–3 defeat against Estonia. [13] On 23 March 2019, Nwoko scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over Faroe Islands, as Malta won their first competitive home match in 13 years. [14] In January 2022, Nwoko accused the Malta national team selectors of 'unfair' treatment over not being selected for the team allegedly due to his refusal to take a COVID-19 vaccine when the squad were asked to take a Johnson & Johnson vaccine in May 2021 ahead of their departure to a training camp in Austria. [15] In November 2022, Nwoko returned to the national team, accepting his call up for the friendly games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland. [16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 27 September 2024 [17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational Cup [a] Europe OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
St. Andrews 2013–14 Maltese Challenge League 0010——10
2014–15 24500——245
2015–16 Maltese Premier League 27520—1 [b] 1306
2016–17 31410——324
Total821440—118715
Valletta 2017–18 Maltese Premier League266424 [c] 0—348
2018–19 212304 [d] 01 [e] 0292
2019–20 132005 [f] 01 [e] 1193
2020–21 152101 [c] 0—172
Total751282140219915
St Patrick's Athletic (loan) 2021 LOI Premier Division 8010——90
Floriana 2022–23 Maltese Premier League9010—0 [e] 0100
2023–24 19131——222
2024–25 52003 [g] 1—83
Total333413100405
Saint Lucia (loan) 2022–23 Maltese Premier League8210–1 [h] 1103
Career total206311831714324738
  1. ↑ Includes Maltese FA Trophy & FAI Cup
  2. ↑ Appearances in the Maltese Premier League Relegation Play-offs
  3. 1 2 Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ 2 appearances in the UEFA Champions League & 2 appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  5. 1 2 3 Appearances in the Maltese Super Cup
  6. ↑ 4 appearances in the UEFA Champions League & 1 appearance in the UEFA Europa League
  7. ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Conference League
  8. ↑ Appearance in the 2022–23 Maltese Premier League Relegation play-offs

International

As of match played 11 June 2024 [13]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Malta 201710
201830
201991
202042
202130
202210
202391
202420
Total324

International goals

Scores and results list Malta's goal tally first. [13]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 March 2019 National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg  Faroe Islands 1–02–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2.6 September 2020Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 1–01–1 2020–21 UEFA Nations League D
3.7 October 2020Flag of Gibraltar.svg  Gibraltar 1–02–0 Friendly
4.9 June 2023 Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 1–01–0

Honours

Valletta [17]

St Patrick's Athletic

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References

  1. 1 2 "Who is Kyrian Nwoko? All you need to know about the Malta striker set to sign for Linfield". Belfasttelegraph– via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  2. 1 2 "New Valletta FC signing". Valletta F.C. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Doug Thomson (11 July 2014). "Huddersfield Town and Crystal Palace linked with Maltese youngster Kyrian Nwoko". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Linfield battling Brexit issues in quest to sign Malta striker Kyrian Nwoko". Belfasttelegraph– via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  5. ↑ FC, Valletta. "Kyrian Nwoko joins St Patricks Athletic FC". Valletta FC.
  6. ↑ "Nwoko Signs On Loan". www.stpatsfc.com.
  7. ↑ "St Pat's sign Malta international Kyrian Nwoko after Linfield move falls through". independent.
  8. ↑ "Rovers hit stride at perfect time to sink Saints in battle of table-toppers". independent.
  9. ↑ Leahy, Ed (28 November 2021). "Benson spot on as Saints beat Bohs to lift the FAI Cup" – via www.rte.ie.
  10. ↑ "Floriana set to sign former Malta striker Kyrian Nwoko". Times of Malta.
  11. ↑ "Santa Lucia sign striker Kyrian Nwoko on loan from Floriana". Times of Malta. 27 January 2023.
  12. ↑ Kyrian Nwoko – UEFA competition record ( archive )
  13. 1 2 3 "Kyrian Nwoko". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  14. ↑ Camilleri, Valhmor (23 March 2019). "Watch: Gutsy Malta see off Faroe Islands". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  15. ↑ "Kyrian Nwoko hits out at national team's treatment for his anti-vaccine stance". Times of Malta.
  16. ↑ "28-man squad announced for November friendlies". mfa.com.mt.
  17. 1 2 Kyrian Nwoko at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
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