Fyodor Mikhaylovich Smolov (links=yes; born 9 February 1990) is a Russian professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Club career
Smolov is a graduate of the Master-Saturn Yegoryevsk football academy. In 2007, he joined Dynamo Moscow. He made his Russian Premier League debut for Dynamo on 28 April 2007 in a game against FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok, at the age of 17, as a last-minute substitute for Cícero. Despite scoring prolifically for the national junior teams and Dynamo's own Under-21 squad, he only scored one goal for the senior team in the next 3.5 seasons and only started in 11 games up to that point. On 14 July 2010, the club announced that Smolov would join
Feyenoord on a one-year loan deal.
Returning from loan, Smolov started 2011–12 season as a squad player, but after 9 matchdays his impact was limited to substitute appearances. So he was loaned again, this time to Anzhi Makhachkala - initially for whole 2012–13 season,
Loan to Ural
On 1 September 2014, Smolov joined Ural Yekaterinburg on a season-long loan deal.
Two weeks later, on his new club debut, he scored a goal in a 1–2 away loss to Amkar Perm.
He provided 8 goals and 2 assists in 22 league appearances for Ural.
Krasnodar
On 2 June 2015, Smolov signed a four-year contract with the Russian Premier League club
FC Krasnodar as a free agent.
He made his competitive debut for his new club in a 1–0 away victory over Amkar Perm in his first league match on 20 July 2015,
and scored his first goal in a 3–3 draw against Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round on 6 August.
On 10 April 2016, Smolov scored four goals in Krasnodar's 6–0 victory over his former club Ural Yekaterinburg.
Lokomotiv Moscow
On 9 August 2018, he joined the Russian Premier League champion FC Lokomotiv Moscow.
Loan to Celta
On 30 January 2020, he joined Spanish club Celta Vigo on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.
He scored his first goal for the new club on 16 February 2020 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium against
Real Madrid in a 2–2 away draw. Smolov scored the second goal of his loan spell in a 2–2 draw with
FC Barcelona on 27 June.
Return to Lokomotiv
On 12 May 2021, he scored the go-ahead goal in the 2021 Russian Cup Final against Krylia Sovetov.
He won his third trophy at Lokomotiv and also became the tournament's joint-top scorer with 4 goals, along with teammate François Kamano.
Return to Dynamo
On 12 January 2022, Dynamo announced the signing of Fyodor from Lokomotiv, making him return to the first club in his professional career.
Also the Moscow club disclosed that the term of the contract is 1.5 years plus an additional optional year.
On 26 February 2022, in his first competitive game back with Dynamo, he scored the opening goal of the 3–0 victory over
FC Khimki, 11 years after he last scored for Dynamo.
On 31 May 2023, Smolov extended his contract with Dynamo for the 2023–24 season, with an option for the 2024–25 season.
Return to Krasnodar
On 18 June 2024, Smolov returned to
FC Krasnodar on a one-year contract.
On 24 May 2025, he won the Russian Premier League title for the first time in his career.
Smolov left Krasnodar on 27 May 2025.
International career
Smolov was part of the Russia Under-21 side that was competing in the 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualification.
He was an important factor in the U-21 team qualifying for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in the next cycle, scoring three goals in the qualification play-offs against the Czech Republic. On 6 November 2012, Russia manager
Fabio Capello included Smolov in the squad for a friendly game against the United States.
During the game, he made his debut and scored his first goal for the national team, netting the opener in a 2–2 home draw on 14 November.
Smolov scored his first competitive goal for the national team in a 7–0 away victory against Liechtenstein in a Euro 2016 qualifier on 8 September 2015.
He was subsequently included in Russia's squad for the final tournament in France, where he started in all three matches as Russia finished 4th in group B.
In the opening match of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup against New Zealand on 17 June at Krestovsky Stadium, Smolov scored Russia's second goal in a 2–0 win and was Man of the Match.
On 3 June 2018, he was included in the finalized World Cup squad.
On 11 May 2021, he was named as a back-up player for Russia's UEFA Euro 2020 squad.
Personal life
Smolov is fluent in
English language and has read
Mario Puzo's books in the original language.
From 2012, he was in a relationship with Russian model and TV hostess Victoria Lopyreva. The couple got married in December 2013 but then divorced in May 2015.
He has supported
AC Milan since the 1997–98 season and once cited
George Weah and Andriy Shevchenko as his childhood favorite players.
On 1 August 2018, Smolov crashed his BMW M5 into a
traffic barrier in Krasnodar. He was later fined and had his driver's license suspended for one year for leaving the scene of the accident.
On April 5, 2020 Smolov broke Spain's coronavirus protocols to return to Russia to celebrate the 18th birthday of his
Engagement Maria Yumasheva, the granddaughter of
Boris Yeltsin.
He is the first Russian footballer to speak out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
In June 2023 Smolov married DJ and blogger Karina Istomina.
Career statistics
Club
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |
|
|
| Dynamo Moscow | 2007 | Russian Premier League | 0 |
| 2008 | Russian Premier League | 1 |
| 2009 | Russian Premier League | 1 |
| 2010 | Russian Premier League | 0 |
| 2011–12 | Russian Premier League | 2 |
| 2013–14 | Russian Premier League | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Russian Premier League | 0 |
|
| Feyenoord (loan) | 2010–11 | Eredivisie | 1 |
| Anzhi Makhachkala (loan) | 2012–13 | Russian Premier League | 1 |
| 2013–14 | Russian Premier League | 2 |
|
| Ural Yekaterinburg (loan) | 2014–15 | Russian Premier League | 8 |
| FC Krasnodar | 2015–16 | Russian Premier League | 24 |
| 2016–17 | Russian Premier League | 25 |
| 2017–18 | Russian Premier League | 14 |
| 2018–19 | Russian Premier League | 1 |
|
| Lokomotiv Moscow | 2018–19 | Russian Premier League | 7 |
| 2019–20 | Russian Premier League | 4 |
| 2020–21 | Russian Premier League | 11 |
| 2021–22 | Russian Premier League | 7 |
|
| Celta Vigo (loan) | 2019–20 | La Liga | 2 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2021–22 | Russian Premier League | 7 |
| 2022–23 | Russian Premier League | 12 |
| 2023–24 | Russian Premier League | 6 |
|
| Krasnodar | 2024–25 | Russian Premier League | 4 |
|
International
- Scores and results list Russia's goal tally first.
|
| Friendly |
| Friendly |
| UEFA Euro 2016 qualification |
| Friendly |
| Friendly |
| Friendly |
| Friendly |
| 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup |
| Friendly |
| Friendly |
| 3–3 |
| Friendly |
| UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
| 8–0 |
| 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
- Lokomotiv Moscow
-
Russian Cup: 2018–19,
-
Russian Super Cup: 2019
Krasnodar
-
Russian Premier League: 2024–25
- Individual
-
Russian Premier League top goalscorer: 2015–16, 2016–17
-
Footballer of the Year in Russia (Sport-Express): 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
External links
