Stephen Eze (born 8 March 1994) is a Nigerian 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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

. He has also represented the Nigeria national team, winning 13

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

Club career

In Nigeria

Eze started his professional career at Lobi Stars. He played regularly during two seasons, before moving to Sunshine Stars in September 2014. After two seasons with Sunshine, Eze joined Ifeanyi Ubah where he won Nigeria Super Cup in early 2017. On 9 November 2017, Eze joined

Kano Pillars Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football (soccer), football club based in Kano (city), Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They pl ...

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Two months later, on 18 January 2018, Eze joined

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

club

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv (), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Stadion Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park and ha ...

, signing a two-year contract. On 18 February, he made his league debut for Lokomotiv, coming on as a substitute for Asen Georgiev against Pirin Blagoevgrad. On 16 April 2019, Eze scored his first goal for Lokomotiv in a

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

match against Septemvri Sofia, which Lokomotiv won 4–0.

Tobol

On 21 January 2020, Eze joined

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

club

FC Tobol FC Tobol () is a Kazakhstan, Kazakh professional association football, football club based at the Kostanay Central Stadium, Central Stadium in Kostanay. They have been members of the Kazakhstan Premier League since its foundation in 1992. In 20 ...

. An injury sustained in a pre-season friendly match meant he never got to feature in an official game for the team, as he had to undergo an operation in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Eze parted ways with Tobol in July 2020.

Jamshedpur FC

On 10 September 2020, Eze joined

side

. After his one year contract was completed, on 1 July 2021, Eze left Jamshedpur FC and became a free agent.

NK Solin

On 17 February 2022, Eze joined

Croatian First League The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

club

NK Solin NK Solin is a Croatian football club based in the town of Solin, near Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, ...

. He made his debut coming off the bench in a 3-0 loss against

NK Dugopolje NK Dugopolje is a Croatian professional football club based in the town of Dugopolje on the outskirts of Split, a city on the Adriatic coast. They were founded in 1952, and they currently play in the Prva nogometna liga (English: First footbal ...

Queen's Park

After a year with Croatian club

, Eze signed for Scottish club Queen's Park in August 2022. In June 2023, Stephen Eze departed the club by mutual consent

Return to Jamshedpur FC

After leaving

Quang Nam FC Quảng Nam Football Club (), simply known as Quảng Nam, is a professional football club, based in Tam Ky city, Quang Nam province, Vietnam country. They are now playing in V.League 1. The team is currently playing at Tam Ky stadium. H ...

, Eze re-joined Jamshedpur. On 17 January 2025, Eze scored a stunning equalizer against

Mohun Bagan SG Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

. Picking up a pass from inside his own half, he dribbled past multiple Mohun Bagan Super Giant players, entered the penalty area, dribbled past three Mohun Bagan defenders, before finding the bottom right corner. The goal was nominated by the ISL for the Fan's Goal of the Week award as well.

International career

Eze was invited to play for the Nigeria national team. He was named in the ''Super Eagles 23-man A' team which played in the Caf CHAN 2016, led by coach

Sunday Oliseh Sunday Ogochukwu Oliseh (born 14 September 1974) is a Nigerian football manager and former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Physical yet technically gifted, he played for top European clubs including Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and J ...

. Eze played all the group games, but the team was eliminated in the first round. His performances led to an invitation to the full Nigeria team. He was also in the A' team in the

2018 African Nations Championship The 2018 African Nations Championship, known as the 2018 CHAN for short and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies, Total African Nations Championship, was the 5th edition of the biennial association football tournam ...

where results improved, Nigeria progressing to the final before losing to the hosts

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. In May 2018 he was named in the preliminary 30-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for 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 rights in l ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

; however, he did not make the final 23.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;Ifeanyi Ubah * Nigeria Super Cup: 2017 ;Lokomotiv Plovdiv *

: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eze, Stephen Living people 1994 births People from Makurdi Footballers from Benue State Men's association football central defenders Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers V.League 1 players Lobi Stars F.C. players Sunshine Stars F.C. players Ifeanyi Ubah F.C. players Kano Pillars F.C. players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Igbo sportspeople Jamshedpur FC players Indian Super League players NK Solin players Queen's Park F.C. players Quang Nam FC players Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in India Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam FC Tobol players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Nigeria men's A' international footballers 2016 African Nations Championship players Scottish Professional Football League players 2018 African Nations Championship players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen