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 FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

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 southe ...

, 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. On 8 February 2023, Smolnikov returned to

on a contract until the end of the 2022–23 season.

International career

Smolnikov was called up by Fabio Capello 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-eig ...

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 A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

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 Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. On 11 May 2018, he was included in Russia's extended 2018 FIFA World Cup 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 Europe ...

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 2001 ...

: 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 Premie ...

: 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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