Cengiz Ünder (; born 14 July 1997) is a Turkish 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 for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Fenerbahçe, and the Turkey national team.

Club career

Early career

Ünder began his professional career at Altinordu, and later transferred to

Başakşehir Başakşehir is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 107 km2, and its population is 514,900 (2022). It is in the European part of Istanbul. The district is home to İsta ...

for €700K. In his breakout season with Başakşehir, Ünder established himself as one of the best players in the league, scoring 7 goals in 32 games in his debut season in the

Roma

On 16 July 2017, Ünder became a

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

player for a €13.4 million fee. He scored his first goal for Roma in a 1–0 win over

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

on 4 February 2018. In the same month, he marked his Champions League debut with a goal; the opener in a 2–1 loss to

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

in the first leg of the first round of knockout fixtures, becoming the youngest Turkish player ever to score in the Champions League. In his first season with Roma, he recorded 7 goals and 1 assist in 26 league games, 1 goal in 5 champions league matches. On 2 October 2018, he scored a goal and made an assist against Viktoria Plzen in 5-0 win

2018–19 UEFA Champions League The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. For the first ti ...

Group G match.

Leicester City (loan)

On 20 September 2020, Ünder signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on a season-long loan, with the option of a permanent transfer. He made his debut in a 3–0 defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, coming on as a substitute. On 25 October, he made his first goal contribution for Leicester when he assisted

Jamie Vardy Jamie Richard Vardy ( Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains club Leicester City. He will become a free agent on 1 July 2025. After being released by Sheffield Wednesday at ...

's winning goal in a 1–0 away win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, which ended Leicester's 47-year wait for a victory away at Arsenal. On 10 December, Ünder scored his first Leicester goal in a 2–0 home win over

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Marseille

On 4 July 2021, Ünder signed on loan for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, with an option to be buy of €9 million. On 8 August 2021, he made his debut with the team against

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, Marseille won 3–2. On 6 April 2022, Marseille used the option and signed permanent five-year contract.

Fenerbahçe

On 13 August 2023, Ünder signed a four-year contract with

club Fenerbahçe for a reported fee of €15 million. On 21 August 2023, he made his debut with the team against

Samsunspor Samsunspor Kulübü, officially known as Samsunspor Football Club Joint Stock Company, or as Reeder Samsunspor due to sponsorship agreements, is a Turkey, Turkish Football club (association football), professional football club that competes in t ...

away game, Fenerbahçe won 2–0. On 20 December 2023, he scored his first goal for the team against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

in league match that Fenerbahçe won 4–3. On 7 January 2024, after a slow start to his career with Fenerbahçe, he scored four goals in a 5–1 win over Istanbulspor.

Los Angeles FC (loan)

On 20 February 2025, he joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

on loan until the end of June. On 12 March 2025, he made his debut with an assist for the team in a

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

match against Colombus Crew. On 29 March, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3-2 loss to San Diego FC.

International career

Ünder has represented the U18 and U19 levels of the

Turkey national youth football team The Turkey national youth football team are the national under-20, under-19, under-18, under-17, under-16, under-15 and under-14 football teams of Turkey and are controlled by the Turkish Football Federation. The youth teams of Turkey participate ...

. He most recently was called up to the

Turkey national under-21 football team The Turkey national Under-21 football team (), also known as Turkey Under-21s or Turkey U-21s, is the Under-21 years of age team of the Turkey national football team. History This team is for Turkish players aged 21 or under at the start of a tw ...

. In November 2016 Ünder received his first call-up to the senior Turkey squad for the match 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 ...

. He scored his first international goal in his second cap for his country in a friendly victory against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

in March 2017.

Controversy

Following the Afrin offensive in Northern Syria, which was carried out by the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...

in January 2018, on 11 February, Ünder performed a

military salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Scouting ...

as a

goal celebration In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst ...

after netting in Roma's 5–2 home win over

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

in Serie A. In October 2019, following the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Ünder posted a picture of the aforementioned celebration on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

; his controversial post drew criticism on social media from Roma fans. When

signed Ünder in 2025, the team's Armenian fanbase ( Los Angeles is home to the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia) threatened to boycott games due to historical tensions between Armenian and Turkey relating to the

Armenian Genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

and Turkey's continuous denial as well as the

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...

(where Turkey has been accused of supporting Azerbaijan in attacking an ethnically Armenian area).

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Leicester City *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2020–21 Individual * Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2016–17 * Turkish Footballer of the Year: 2018

References

External links

* *
Marseille Profile
*
Personal Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Under, Cengiz 1997 births Living people People from Sındırgı Sportspeople from Balıkesir Province Men's association football forwards Turkish men's footballers Turkey men's international footballers Turkey men's youth international footballers Altınordu F.K. players İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players AS Roma players Leicester City F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Los Angeles FC players TFF 1. Lig players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Premier League players Süper Lig players Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) Turkish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Turkish expatriate sportspeople in England Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the United States UEFA Euro 2020 players 21st-century Turkish sportsmen