Francesco Antonucci (born 20 June 1999) is a Belgian 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Qatari Stars League club Al Shahaniya. A Belgium youth international, Antonucci played in the academies of

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

, before being signed by

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

in 2017. He made his breakthrough on loan at

FC Volendam Football Club Volendam () is a professional association football, football club based in Volendam, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024 ...

, earning a transfer to

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

in August 2020.

Club career

Monaco

Antonucci played in the youth of La Louvière Centre,

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

and

. In the winter break of the 2016–17 season he moved to

. At Monaco, he played for the second team, competing in the

Championnat National 2 The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a Association football, football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system be ...

, the fourth tier of the

French football league system The French football league system, also known as the French football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in France and Monaco, and includes one Spanish side. At the top two levels of the system is the Ligue de Footb ...

Loan to Volendam

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Antonucci was sent on a one-season loan to Dutch second-tier

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

club

, where he made his professional debut on 13 September 2019, a 1–1 home draw against

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

. He came on for Alex Plat in the 74th minute. A week later, he made his debut in the starting lineup in the ''Vissersderby'' against

SC Telstar Sportclub Telstar () is a Dutch professional football club based in the town of Velsen-Zuid, North Holland. The team competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in t ...

and immediately scored his first senior goal, the first of the match off an assist from Kevin Visser, in a match that Volendam eventually won 2–1. In the second ''period'' of the Eerste Divisie season, Antonucci really started to find his feet in manager

Wim Jonk Wilhelmus Maria "Wim" Jonk (; born 12 October 1966) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player, who is the current technical manager of Eerste Divisie club Volendam. In his career as a midfielder, he won a variety of national hon ...

's team, as Volendam won eight matches in a row and thus took a period title, qualifying them for promotion play-offs. In the deciding match, against

MVV Maastricht Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently ...

(4–1 win), Antonucci scored. Throughout the season, Antonucci would become one of the defining players of the Volendam team, as he scored six goals and made three assists in the months of December and January alone. In March 2020, he was named "Best Talent" of the third period. Shortly afterwards, all football activity was suspended in the Netherlands due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. At that time, Antonucci was joint club top goalscorer alongside Martijn Kaars.

Feyenoord

Second loan to Volendam

Antonucci returned to AS Monaco in early June 2020, as the 2019–20 season had been officially cancelled in Dutch football. In August 2020, Antonucci signed a four-year contract with an option of another year with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

, with part of the deal being Antonucci playing another year on loan at Volendam. He continued his strong play and finished the 2020–21 season as the Volendam player with the most assists (11). Antonucci and Volendam qualified for the play-offs for promotion, but

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 ...

proved too strong.

Return to Feyenoord

At the end of the 2020–21 season, Antonucci returned to Feyenoord. On 22 July 2021, he made his debut for the club as a substitute in a qualifying match for the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

against Drita. In stoppage time, Antonucci struck the post and could thus not prevent the match from ending in a 0–0 draw.

Third loan to Volendam

On 6 January 2022, Antonucci was sent on his third loan to Volendam, signing a six-month loan deal. If the club were to win promotion to the Eredivisie, the loan would be automatically extended one season. Volendam was promoted and the loan was extended for 2022–23.

Release by Feyenoord

On 15 August 2023, Antonucci's contract with Feyenoord was terminated by mutual consent, making him a free agent.

Al Shahaniya

On 2 September 2023, Qatari Second Division club Al Shahaniya announced the signing of Antonucci. The duration of the contract was undisclosed.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Individual *

Team of the Month: May 2023

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonucci, Francesco 1999 births Living people Belgian people of Italian descent Belgian men's footballers Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Championnat National 2 players Belgian Pro League players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Qatari Second Division players Qatar Stars League players UR La Louvière Centre players Royal Charleroi S.C. players R.S.C. Anderlecht players AFC Ajax players AS Monaco FC players FC Volendam players Al Shahaniya SC players Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar 21st-century Belgian sportsmen