Iké Dominique Ugbo (born 21 September 1998) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. Born in England, he represents the Canada national team. Ugbo grew up in Canada and played youth soccer there before returning to England, where he played with the youth team of Chelsea. He had loan spells at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; ), shortly as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or simply Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. The c ...

and

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

, before signing for

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

in 2021. He represented England at under-17 and under-20 youth levels, before making his senior international debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 2021.

Early life

Ugbo was born in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, Greater London, to Nigerian parents. He moved to Canada with his family when he was four or five. In Canada, he played youth soccer with Brampton East SC and

Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The team plays home g ...

, winning an international under-10 tournament at Disney in 2008 with the latter. Upon his return to the UK, he joined the Chelsea Academy at under-10 level. He won the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

with Chelsea in 2014–15 and 2015–16.

Club career

Chelsea

In 2015, he signed his first professional contract with Chelsea, but continued to play for the U17 through U23 sides. On 17 July 2017, Ugbo signed a season-long loan deal with

. On 5 August 2017, Ugbo made his debut off the bench against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

which resulted in a 3–1 loss. He scored his first professional goal on 26 August against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. On 3 January 2018, Ugbo's loan spell with Barnsley was terminated, following a lack of game time. The next day, Ugbo joined League One club

on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. On 6 January 2018, Ugbo made his debut for the club, featuring in a 1–0 third round

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 ...

away victory over

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. He joined

on loan in August 2018, alongside

Jak Alnwick Jak Alnwick (born 17 June 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City. Alnwick turned professional at Newcastle United ...

. In August 2019, it was announced the striker would head to Holland to spend the season on loan at

in the Dutch second tier. On 18 August 2020, he went to Belgian club

on loan.

Genk

In August 2021, he signed a permanent deal with Belgian club

. He made his first competitive appearance on 29 August against

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 ...

as a late substitute for Paul Onuachu and scored on his debut, netting the game-winner in a 1–0 victory.

Troyes

In January 2022, Ugbo joined

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

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 ...

on loan. He made his debut for Troyes on 13 February, playing the full 90 in a 5–1 defeat to Brest. In Ugbo's third game for Troyes against

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

on 20 February, he scored his first goal. In August 2022 Troyes announced they had reached a deal with Genk over the permanent transfer of Ugbo, signing him on a four-year deal until 2026. In July 2023, Ugbo joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on a season-long loan deal. The next month on 6 August, Ugbo made his debut for Cardiff against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and had a goal and an assist in an eventual 2-2 draw at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

. On 11 January 2024, he was recalled from Cardiff City and sent on loan to Championship rivals

. He made his debut in the 2–1 defeat against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

on 20 January coming off the bench. His first goals for the club came against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

on 9 February 2023, scoring a brace. After scoring 5 goals in 5 games in February 2024, he was nominated for the Championship Player of the Month.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 8 August 2024, Ugbo returned to

after his loan spell the previous season, signing for an undisclosed fee. He made his return in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, coming on late to help his side win 2–1. His first goal on his return was in the following round against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

International career

Ugbo was eligible to represent England (through birth), Canada (through youth residency), and Nigeria (through his parents).

England

Ugbo has represented England at under-17 and under-20 level. In June 2017, Ugbo represented England U20 at the

2017 Toulon Tournament The 2017 Toulon Tournament (officially ) was the 45th edition of the Toulon Tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the tournament in 1967 and died in 2016. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 29 ...

, scoring the only goal in their 1–0 opening group stage match against

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and converted a penalty kick in the shootout of the final against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, helping his side win the title.

Canada

In September 2021, he announced that he had decided to change his international allegiance to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. However, two months later on 4 November, he instead switched his international allegiance to

. The next day he was called up to the team for that month's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He made his international debut for Canada in the match against Costa Rica on 12 November, appearing as an 83rd-minute substitute. In November 2022, Ugbo was named to Canada's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ugbo, Ike 1998 births Living people English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen Canadian sportspeople of Nigerian descent English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham People from Lewisham Canadian men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Canada men's international soccer players England men's youth international footballers English Football League players Eerste Divisie players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Woodbridge Strikers players Chelsea F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Roda JC Kerkrade players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players KRC Genk players ES Troyes AC players Cardiff City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in France Canadian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France 2022 FIFA World Cup players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen