Ion Nicolaescu (born 7 September 1998) is a Moldovan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

and the Moldova national team. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for his country, and was named Moldovan Footballer of the Year in 2023 and 2024.

Club career

Zimbru Chișinău

On 20 May 2016, Nicolaescu made his professional debut for Zimbru Chișinău in the

Divizia Națională The Moldovan Liga, officially known as Liga 7777.md for sponsorship reasons, is an association football league that is the top division of Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when Moldova became independent ...

against

Academia Chișinău An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute. In the 2018 Moldovan National Division he scored 5 goals in 12 appearances and reached the final of the

2017–18 Moldovan Cup The 2017–18 Moldovan Cup () was the 27th season of the annual Moldovan football cup competition. Sheriff Tiraspol entered as the defending champions after winning the 2016–17 edition. It began with the first preliminary round on 22 July 2017, ...

Shakhtyor Soligorsk

Nicolaescu joined Shakhtyor Soligorsk in August 2018. However, he was used as substitute and didn't score a single goal for the Belarusian team. Out of his 15 appearances during two seasons he started in only three matches. In an interview, Nicolaescu said that this was due to the general director and the coach having a falling out. He won the

2018–19 Belarusian Cup 2018–19 Belarusian Cup is the 28th season of the Belarusian annual cup competition. Contrary to the league season, it is conducted in a fall-spring rhythm. It started in May 2018 and concluded with the final match in May 2019. FC Shakhtyor Solig ...

, playing in the both legs of the quarter-finals.

Vitebsk

In January 2020 Nicolaescu went on loan to the Belarusian team

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

. He was the team's top goal scorer in the

2020 Belarusian Premier League The 2020 Belarusian Premier League was the 30th season of top-tier football in Belarus. Dynamo Brest were the defending champions, having won their first league title last year. Shakhtyor Soligorsk became champions on the last play date by bea ...

, scoring 9 goals in 18 matches.

DAC Dunajská Streda

Nicolaescu joined

DAC Dunajská Streda DAC may refer to: Businesses and organisations * DacEasy, originally Dac Software, Inc. * Danish Architecture Centre, an international cultural attraction * Defense Ammunition Center (United States), of the United States Department of Defense * ...

of Fortuna Liga in September 2020. After mere two days with the club he contributed with two goals to a 5–3 victory over Jablonec, advancing the Slovak side to the Third Round of UEFA Europa League qualifying.

Beitar Jerusalem

Nicolaescu scored 15 league goals and 3 goals in

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

at the 2022–23 season, helping

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club (), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply Beitar (), is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Jerusalem, that plays in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier in Israeli football ...

win the Israeli State Cup. His three goals in the State Cup games, one against F.C. Kafr Qasim on 11 December 2022, one against Hapoel Afula, on 1 February 2023, during the 4–0 win and another goal at the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in Netanya. Established in 1934, the club was a founding member of the Israeli League in 1949. After winning their first championship in 1971, the club's golden period last ...

. Nicolaescu scored 4 goals in a 6–3 win over

in an

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

match.

Heerenveen

On 7 August 2023, Dutch side

announced they had signed Nicolaescu to a three-year contract. Five days later he scored the opening goal in his debut, a 3–1 win over

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

. On 31 August 2024 he scored a brace in a 4–0 win over

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

after coming on as a substitute in the 66th minute. He scored the winner in his Derby of the North debut, a 2–1 win over

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

International career

Nicolaescu debuted for Moldova on 8 September 2018 against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 62nd minute. He scored his first goal for the national team against

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

2020–21 UEFA Nations League The 2020–21 UEFA Nations League was the second season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from Septembe ...

, which was Moldova's only goal in the league phase. He was Moldova's top goal scorer in

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

and

2022–23 UEFA Nations League The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League was the third season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The competition was held from June to Se ...

, scoring 3 out of 5 and 4 out of 10 team's goals, respectively. Nicolaescu became Moldova's top goal scorer after scoring his 11th and 12th goals in a 3–2 win over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

. With 4 goals in the competition, he became the first Moldovan to be the top goal scorer of a qualifying group.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Moldova's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nicolaescu goal.''

Honours

Club

Zimbru Chișinău *

Moldovan Cup Cupa Moldovei (), officially known as Cupa Orange Group, Orange for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football competition, held annually in Moldova. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. Finals Th ...

runner-up: 2017–18 Shakhtyor Soligorsk *

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League (, ''Vyšejšaja Liha'' or ''Vysheyshaya Liga''; ; "Top League"), also called the BETERA Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Belarus and the highest level of the B ...

runner-up:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Belarusian Cup The Belarusian Cup () is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for men's football clubs of Belarus, organized by the Football Federation of Belarus. Belarusian Cup was established in 1992. Each year the winning team qualifies f ...

: 2018–19 DAC Dunajská Streda *

Slovak First Football League The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Slovak football league system. It was formed in 1993 following th ...

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Beitar Jerusalem *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Israel Super Cup The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions (, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champions and the winner of the late ...

runner-up:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual

* Moldovan Footballer of the Year: 2023, 2024

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolaescu, Ion 1998 births Living people Moldovan men's footballers 21st-century Moldovan sportsmen Moldovan expatriate men's footballers Moldova men's youth international footballers Moldova men's under-21 international footballers Moldova men's international footballers Men's association football forwards FC Zimbru Chișinău players FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk players FC Vitebsk players FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. players Beitar Jerusalem F.C. players SC Heerenveen players Moldovan Super Liga players Belarusian Premier League players Slovak First Football League players Israeli Premier League players Eredivisie players Expatriate men's footballers in Belarus Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Moldovan expatriate sportspeople in Belarus Moldovan expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Moldovan expatriate sportspeople in Israel Moldovan expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Footballers from Chișinău