Stephen Eze

Stephen Eze (born 8 March 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Indian Super League club Jamshedpur.

Stephen Eze

Eze playing for Lokomotiv Plovdiv in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth	(1994-03-08) 8 March 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Makurdi, Nigeria
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Jamshedpur
Number	6
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	Lobi Stars
2014–2016	Sunshine Stars	63	(3)
2017	Ifeanyi Ubah	29	(0)
2017	Kano Pillars	0	(0)
2018–2019	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	57	(3)
2020	Tobol	0	(0)
2020–2021	Jamshedpur	20	(4)
2022	NK Solin	1	(0)
2022–2023	Queen's Park	21	(3)
2023–2024	Quang Nam	19	(2)
2024–	Jamshedpur	16	(2)
International career‡
2015–2018	Nigeria	13	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 04:44, 3 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 July 2019

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

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

Two months later, on 18 January 2018, Eze joined Bulgarian First League club Lokomotiv Plovdiv, signing a two-year contract.^[3] On 18 February, he made his league debut for Lokomotiv, coming on as a substitute for Asen Georgiev against Pirin Blagoevgrad.^[4] On 16 April 2019, Eze scored his first goal for Lokomotiv in a Bulgarian Cup match against Septemvri Sofia, which Lokomotiv won 4–0.^[5]

Tobol

On 21 January 2020, Eze joined Kazakhstan Premier League club FC Tobol.^[6] 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. Eze parted ways with Tobol in July 2020.^[7]

Jamshedpur FC

On 10 September 2020, Eze joined Indian Super League side Jamshedpur.^[8] After his one year contract was completed, on 1 July 2021, Eze left Jamshedpur FC and became a free agent.^{[citation needed]}

NK Solin

On 17 February 2022, Eze joined Croatian First League club NK Solin. He made his debut coming off the bench in a 3-0 loss against NK Dugopolje.^[9]

Queen's Park

After a year with Croatian club NK Solin, Eze signed for Scottish club Queen's Park in August 2022.^[10] In June 2023, Stephen Eze departed the club by mutual consent ^[11]

Return to Jamshedpur FC

After leaving Quang Nam FC, Eze re-joined Jamshedpur. On 17 January 2025, Eze scored a stunning equalizer against Mohun Bagan SG. 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.^[12] The goal was nominated by the ISL for the Fan's Goal of the Week award as well.^[13]

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. 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 where results improved, Nigeria progressing to the final before losing to the hosts Morocco.^[14][15]

In May 2018 he was named in the preliminary 30-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia;^[16] however, he did not make the final 23.^[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 September 2019^[update]

Club	League	Season	League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	First League	2017–18	13	0	0	0	—		—		13	0
		2018–19	25	0	6	1	—		—		31	1
		2019–20	10	1	0	0	4	0	1[a]	0	15	1
Career statistics			48	1	6	1	4	0	1	0	59	2

1. 2019 Bulgarian Supercup

Honours

Ifeanyi Ubah

• Nigeria Super Cup: 2017

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

• Bulgarian Cup: 2018–19

References

1. "Eze joins Sunshine from Lobi". supersport.com. 13 September 2014.
2. "CHAN Eagles defender, Stephen Eze joins Kano Pillars". sportsration.com. 9 November 2017.
3. "Nigeria's Stephen Eze signs two-year contract with Lokomotiv Plovdiv". goal.com. 19 January 2018.
4. "Lokomotiv 1–0 Pirin". soccerway.com. 18 February 2018.
5. "Lokomotiv Plovdiv 4–0 Septemvri Sofia". soccerway.com. 16 April 2019.
6. "Стивен Эзе – новичок желто-зеленых". Fctobol.kz (in Russian). FC Tobol. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
7. "Удачи, Стивен!". Fctobol.kz (in Russian). FC Tobol. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
8. "Nigerian International Stephen Eze joins Jamshedpur". Fcjamshedpur.com. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
9. "Stephen Eze". Playmaker. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
10. "Stephen Eze Signs for Queen's Park". queensparkfc.co.uk. Queen's Park Football Club. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
11. Gordon, Mhairi (29 June 2023). "Liam Brown and Stephen Eze depart Queen's Park". Queen's Park Football Club. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
12. "Stephen Eze's equaliser helps Jamshedpur FC draw with Mohun Bagan Super Giant". www.the-aiff.com.
13. "Fans' Goal of the Week | Matchweek 17 | ISL 2024-25". 20 January 2025 – via YouTube.
14. Isabirye, David (5 February 2018). "Morocco wins 2018 CHAN championship". Kawowo. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
15. Cavell, Nick (4 February 2018). "Morocco beat Nigeria 4–0 in final to lift trophy". BBC. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
16. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal.com. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
17. "Iwobi named in Nigeria World Cup squad". Bbc.co.uk. 3 June 2018.

External links

• Stephen Eze at National-Football-Teams.com
• Stephen Eze at Soccerway