Rabbi Matondo

Rabbi Matondo

Matondo with Rangers in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Rabbi Matondo [1]
Date of birth	(2000-09-09) 9 September 2000 (age 23)
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Rangers
Number	17
Youth career
0000–2016	Cardiff City
2016–2019	Manchester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019	Schalke 04 II	2	(0)
2019–2022	Schalke 04	30	(2)
2021	→ Stoke City (loan)	10	(1)
2021–2022	→ Cercle Brugge (loan)	26	(9)
2022–	Rangers	38	(5)
International career‡
2015	England U15
2015–2016	Wales U17	10	(0)
2017–2018	Wales U21	8	(0)
2018–	Wales	12	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:10, 23 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:00, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

Rabbi Matondo (born 9 September 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Rangers and the Wales national team.

Matondo played youth football for Cardiff City and Manchester City. He joined German club Schalke 04 in January 2019, where he made 32 first-team appearances and was sent on loan to Stoke City and Cercle Brugge. He signed for Rangers in July 2022.

Born in England to parents from the DR Congo, Matondo was eligible to play for either country, as well as Wales, where he grew up. Having played for the England under-15 team, he later opted to represent Wales and played at under-17 and under-21 levels before making his debut for the senior national team in November 2018.

Early life

Matondo was born in Liverpool, England but moved to south-east Wales as a child. ^[3] He grew up in the Tremorfa area of Cardiff where he first played football in local parks with his father and brothers. ^[4] His father Dada played football in his native DR Congo. Two of his brothers, Cedrick and Japhet, also played football at youth level. ^[4] As a teenager he attended Llanishen High School. ^[4]

Club career

Early career

Matondo began his career as a youth player with Cardiff City. In 2016, he moved to Premier League side Manchester City for a small compensation fee under the Elite Player Performance Plan, an initiative created by the Premier League regarding movement of youth players. ^[3] Cardiff appealed against the move and Matondo was blocked from playing for Manchester City until March 2017 when the appeal was denied. However, a fee of £500,000 was reported to have been agreed. ^[5]

He made his debut for the Manchester City U21 side in the EFL Trophy on 15 August 2017 against Rotherham United, ^[6] scoring his first goal in the side's next match, a 2–1 defeat to Bradford City. ^[7] He added two more goals in the 2018–19 EFL Trophy, the game's only away to Tranmere Rovers in the final group game, ^[8] and one more in a 3–3 draw at Barnsley in the second round, as well as netting in the subsequent penalty shootout win. ^[9]

Schalke 04

On 30 January 2019, Matondo signed for Bundesliga club Schalke 04 for a reported fee of up to £11 million on a four-and-a-half-year deal. ^{[10] [11]} He made his professional league debut three days later in a 2–0 home loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach, as a 75th-minute substitute for Sebastian Rudy; on 16 February he was given a start in a goalless home draw with SC Freiburg. ^[12] On 28 September 2019, he scored his first goal for Schalke in a 3–1 away victory over RB Leipzig. ^[13]

On 7 January 2021, Matondo joined EFL Championship club Stoke City on a loan deal until the end of the 2020–21 season. ^{[14] [15]} He played 11 times for Stoke, scoring once in a 1–1 draw with Nottingham Forest on 24 April 2021. ^[16]

On 9 August 2021, Matondo agreed to join Cercle Brugge on a season-long loan with an option to make the move permanent. ^[17]

Rangers

On 12 July 2022, Rangers announced the signing of Matondo on a four-year deal, subject to international clearance. ^{[18] [19]} He made his debut for the club against Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise during a UEFA Champions League qualifier loss on 2 August. ^[20] On 4 October 2022, he made his 5th UEFA Champions League appearance for Rangers away against Liverpool as a substitute. Rangers lost 2-0, however their first big chance in the game came through Matondo in the 84th minute (3 minutes after he came on), where his pace allowed him to breeze past Joel Matip and nutmeg Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, but had his shot cleared off the line by Kostas Tsimikas before it could be tapped into the net by Fashion Sakala. ^[21] Matondo scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 1st leg Qualifier on 22 August 2023 vs PSV Eindhoven slotting home a first-time finish into the bottom corner after a counter-attack to equalise. ^[22]

International career

Matondo was eligible to represent DR Congo, England or Wales at international level. ^[4] He represented England at under-15 level before switching allegiance to Wales at under-17 level. ^[5] He made 10 appearances for the under-17 team. ^[23] He received his first call up to the Wales under-21 squad in September 2017, ^[24] making his debut for the side in a 3–1 victory over Liechtenstein. ^[25] After appearing in four qualifying matches as a substitute, ^[25] he made his first start for the under-21 side in a 1–1 draw with Georgia in the second of two friendlies against the nation in June 2018. ^{[26] [27]} He played eight games in total at under-21 level. ^[23]

In November 2018, Matondo received his first call up for the senior Welsh squad for a friendly against Albania. ^[28] He made his international debut during the match on 20 November as a 78th-minute substitute in place of Sam Vokes as Wales lost 1–0 in Elbasan. ^[29]

In May 2019, after travelling back to England from a Welsh national team training camp in Portugal, Matondo was escorted from the plane by police after "behaving disruptively". ^[30]

On 8 October 2020, Matondo started for Wales in a friendly against England. ^[31]

On 1 June 2022, Matondo came on as a half time substitute for Wales in a Nations League Group A game against Poland. Wales lost 2–1 with Matondo providing the assist for Jonny Williams's Wales goal. ^[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 May 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester City U21	2017–18 [33]	—	—		—		—		—		2 [lower-alpha 3]	1	2	1
	2018–19 [34]	—	—		—		—		—		4 [lower-alpha 3]	2	4	2
	Total		—		—		—		—		6	3	6	3
Schalke 04 II	2018–19 [2]	Oberliga Westfalen	1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
	2019–20 [2]	Regionalliga West	1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
	Total		2	0	—		—		—		—		2	0
Schalke 04	2018–19 [34]	Bundesliga	7	0	1	0	—		0	0	—		8	0
	2019–20 [35]	Bundesliga	20	2	1	0	—		—		—		21	2
	2020–21 [36]	Bundesliga	3	0	0	0	—		—		—		3	0
	Total		30	2	2	0	—		0	0	—		32	2
Stoke City (loan)	2020–21 [36]	Championship	10	1	1	0	—		—		—		11	1
Cercle Brugge (loan)	2021–22 [2]	Belgian Pro League	26	9	1	1	—		—		—		27	10
Rangers	2022–23 [37]	Scottish Premiership	19	0	1	0	1	0	7 [lower-alpha 4]	0	—		28	0
	2023–24 [38]	Scottish Premiership	19	5	5	0	1	0	6 [lower-alpha 5]	1	—		31	6
	Total		38	5	6	0	2	0	13	1	—		59	6
Career total			106	17	10	1	2	0	13	1	6	3	137	22

1. Includes DFB-Pokal, FA Cup, Belgian Cup, Scottish Cup
2. Includes Scottish League Cup
3. Appearances in EFL Trophy
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 6 June 2024 ^[39]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2018	1	0
	2019	3	0
	2020	3	0
	2021	1	0
	2022	3	0
	2024	1	0
Total		12	0

Honours

Rangers

• Scottish League Cup: 2023–24 ^[40]

References

1. "2018/19 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
2. "Rabbi Matondo". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
3. Abbandonato, Paul (23 September 2016). "Cardiff City have one of Wales' brightest young talents snatched away from them by Manchester City". WalesOnline. Media Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
4. Coleman, Tom (9 October 2018). "Manchester City's Rabbi Matondo: The Cardiff kid who's grown up to be the fastest player at one of the world's biggest clubs". WalesOnline. Media Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
5. Vittles, Jack (13 March 2017). "Manchester City starlet Rabbi Matondo cleared to play after being snatched away from Cardiff City". WalesOnline. Media Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
6. Edwards, John (15 August 2017). "Rotherham United 1–1 City". Manchester City F.C. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
7. Edwards, John (24 October 2017). "Bradford City 2–1 City". Manchester City F.C. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
8. Garnett, Richard (31 October 2018). "Tranmere knocked out of the Checkatrade Trophy by Manchester City U21s". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
9. "Reds out of trophy after shoot-out loss to City kids". Barnsley Chronicle. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
10. "Rabbi Matondo transfer: Manchester City starlet completes £11million Schalke switch". Manchester Evening News. 30 January 2019.
11. "Rabbi Matondo: Schalke sign Manchester City and Wales winger". BBC Sport. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
12. "Former Manchester City youth player Rabbi Matondo: "It's been easy to adapt at Schalke"". Bundesliga. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
13. "Schalke's Rabbi Matondo: "I think we can keep this going now"". Bundesliga. 29 September 2019.
14. "Matondo completes loan move". Stoke City. 7 January 2021.
15. "Rabbi Matondo: Stoke City sign Wales winger on loan from FC Schalke 04". BBC Sport. 7 January 2021.
16. "Nottingham Forest 1-1 Stoke". BBC. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
17. "Rabbi Matondo moves on loan to Cercle Brugge". FC Schalke 04. 9 August 2021.
18. "Rabbi Matondo: Rangers sign Wales winger from Schalke on four-year deal". BBC Sport. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
19. "Rangers Sign Rabbi Matondo". www.rangers.co.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
20. "Union Saint-Gilloise 2-0 Rangers". BBC Sport. 2 August 2022.
21. "Kostas Tsimikas: Liverpool ace's incredible goal line clearance vs Rangers". One Football. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
22. "Rangers 2-2 PSV Eindhoven (22 Aug, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
23. "R. Matondo". besoccer.com. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
24. "Wales add Cian Harries and Rabbi Matondo". BBC Sport. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
25. Rabbi Matondo at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
26. "Georgia U21 1–1 Wales U21". sofascore.com. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
27. "U21 Squad Announced For Georgia Double Header". Football Association of Wales. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
28. Davies, Matthew (18 November 2018). "Wales add Manchester City's Rabbi Matondo to squad for Albania friendly and fans are loving it". WalesOnline. Media Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
29. "Albania 1–0 Wales". BBC Sport. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
30. "Rabbi Matondo: Police escort 'disruptive' Wales winger from flight". BBC Sport. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
31. "England 3-0 Wales: Dominic Calvert-Lewin debut goal helps England beat Wales". BBC Sport. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
32. "Poland 2-1 Wales: Much changed visitors impress in Nations League defeat". BBC Sport. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
33. "Games played by Rabbi Matondo in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
34. "Games played by Rabbi Matondo in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
35. "Games played by Rabbi Matondo in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
36. "Games played by Rabbi Matondo in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
37. "Games played by Rabbi Matondo in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
38. "Games played by Rabbi Matondo in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
39. "Rabbi Matondo". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
40. "Rangers 1-0 Aberdeen". BBC. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.