Igor Aleksandrovich Smolnikov (russian: Игорь Александрович Смольников, p=ˈiɡərʲ ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈsmolʲnʲɪkəf; born 8 August 1988) is a Russian football player who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Lokomotiv Moscow.

Club career

On 29 July 2020, he returned to

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in south ...

, signing a 2-year contract with a 1-year extension option. On 8 June 2021, his contract with Krasnodar was terminated by mutual consent. On 23 July 2021, he joined

Arsenal Tula FC Arsenal Tula (russian: ФК Арсенал Тула) is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League. Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League ...

. On 8 February 2023, Smolnikov returned to Lokomotiv Moscow on a contract until the end of the 2022–23 season.

International career

Smolnikov was called up by

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career whi ...

to the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

squad for the first time on 4 October 2013 for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. He made his debut for the national team on 19 November 2013 in a friendly against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. On 11 May 2018, he was included in Russia's extended

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

squad. On 3 June 2018, he was included in the finalized World Cup squad. He played his first and last World Cup game in the last group stage game against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 25 June 2018 when he started the game, but was sent-off for two yellow cards in the 36th minute. On 11 May 2021, he was named as a back-up player for Russia's

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Euro ...

squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Statistics accurate as of match played 14 October 2020.''

Honours

;Zenit Saint Petersburg *

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 200 ...

: 2014–15, 2018–19, 2019–20 * Russian Cup: 2015–16, 2019–20 *

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premi ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, 2016

References

1988 births People from Kamensk-Uralsky Sportspeople from Sverdlovsk Oblast Living people Russian footballers Association football midfielders Russia youth international footballers Russia under-21 international footballers Russia B international footballers Russia international footballers FC Torpedo Moscow players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players FC Ural Yekaterinburg players FC Chita players FC Zhemchuzhina-Sochi players FC Rostov players FC Krasnodar players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players FC Arsenal Tula players Russian Premier League players Russian First League players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players {{Russia-footy-defender-1980s-stub