Tiago Ilori

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Almeida and the second or paternal family name is Ilori.

Tiago Abiola Delfim Almeida Ilori (born 26 February 1993) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a centre-back.

Tiago Ilori

Ilori playing for Portugal U19 in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Tiago Abiola Delfim Almeida Ilori[1]
Date of birth	(1993-02-26) 26 February 1993 (age 31)[1]
Place of birth	Hampstead, England
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
2002–2006	Imortal
2006–2012	Sporting CP
2007–2008	→ Estoril (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2013	Sporting CP	12	(1)
2012–2013	Sporting CP B	20	(0)
2013–2017	Liverpool	0	(0)
2014	→ Granada (loan)	9	(0)
2014–2015	→ Bordeaux (loan)	12	(1)
2015–2016	→ Aston Villa (loan)	0	(0)
2017–2019	Reading	53	(1)
2019–2023	Sporting CP	14	(0)
2021	→ Lorient (loan)	0	(0)
2021–2022	→ Boavista (loan)	10	(1)
2022–2023	→ Paços Ferreira (loan)	3	(0)
2024	Belenenses	8	(0)
International career
2010–2011	Portugal U18	2	(0)
2011–2012	Portugal U19	15	(1)
2012–2013	Portugal U20	9	(0)
2013–2015	Portugal U21	10	(1)
2016	Portugal U23	3	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Portugal UEFA European Under-21 Championship Runner-up 2015 Czech Republic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:41, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

He started his career with Sporting CP, making his debut with the first team in 2011 before signing with Liverpool two years later. He spent three seasons in the English Championship with Reading after joining in January 2017, and also competed professionally in Spain and France.

Ilori earned 36 caps for Portugal at youth level, including ten with the under-21 team.

Club career

Sporting CP

Born in Hampstead, London^[2] to a British father of Nigerian descent and a Portuguese mother, Ilori spent his childhood in the town of Albufeira in the Algarve, where he started playing football with local Imortal DC. He joined Sporting CP's youth ranks in the summer of 2006 as a striker, being loaned to Lisbon neighbours G.D. Estoril Praia at the age of 14 and returning for three more years already reconverted as a stopper.^[3]

Ilori made his official debut for the Lions' first team on 6 November 2011, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 Primeira Liga home win against U.D. Leiria.^[4] On 14 December he played his first game in the UEFA Europa League, starting in a 2–0 group stage loss to SS Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico as his team had already secured the first place in their group.^[5]

In only his fourth competitive appearance for Sporting, on 16 February 2013 at Gil Vicente FC, Ilori again played the entire match, and helped to a 3–2 victory by scoring the former's second goal in the sixth minute.^[6]

Liverpool

On 2 September 2013, Ilori was signed by Liverpool for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £7 million.^[7][8] It was also announced that The Football Association were in talks with the player for him to switch nationality and represent England internationally.^[3][9]

On 5 January 2014, Ilori was named on his new team's bench for the first time, in an FA Cup match against Oldham Athletic.^[10] Fifteen days later, he was loaned to Granada CF in La Liga until the end of the campaign.^[11] On 7 February he made his debut for the Andalusians, in a 1–0 away defeat to RCD Espanyol.^[12] In the following round he also started, and assisted Piti for the game's only goal at home against Real Betis.^[13]

Ilori was loaned again on 18 August 2014, now to FC Girondins de Bordeaux from France.^[14] He scored in his third Ligue 1 appearance, helping a to a 1–1 draw at AS Saint-Étienne.^[15]

Fellow Premier League club Aston Villa signed Ilori on a season-long loan deal on 1 September 2015.^[16] On 7 January 2016, the move was cancelled and he returned to Liverpool, making his first competitive appearance with the first team the following day by starting the FA Cup third round match against Exeter City, which ended with a 2–2 draw at St James Park.^[17]

Reading

Ilori completed a transfer to EFL Championship side Reading on 18 January 2017, for a reported £3.75 million.^[18][19] He made his debut three days later, starting in a 3–2 away loss against Derby County.^[20] He totalled eight matches for the season, including the penalty shootout loss to Huddersfield Town in the play-off final on 29 May.^[21]

On 5 August 2017, Ilori was sent off in the first game of the new campaign for a foul on Paweł Wszołek, from which Conor Washington scored a penalty in a 2–0 Queens Park Rangers victory.^[22] He scored his first goal in English football on 15 September 2018, in a 3–2 win at Preston North End.^[23]

Return to Sporting

On 29 January 2019, Ilori returned to Sporting for an undisclosed fee,^[24] with the player signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.^[25] During most of his spell, he played second-fiddle to Sebastián Coates and Jérémy Mathieu.^[26][27]

Ilori joined FC Lorient on 1 February 2021, on loan until 30 June.^[28] In August, in a similar deal, he moved to Boavista FC.^[29]

In July 2022, still owned by Sporting, Ilori signed a one-year loan deal with F.C. Paços de Ferreira.^[30] In August 2023, he left the Estádio José Alvalade after his contract expired.^[31]

Later career

Ilori returned to Portugal and its capital on 30 December 2023, agreeing to a six-month contract at C.F. Os Belenenses of the Liga Portugal 2.^[32]

International career

Ilori played for Portugal at four youth levels, representing the nation at the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the 2013 Toulon Tournament and the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.^[33] He remained eligible to play for Portugal, England and Nigeria as a senior.^[34]

Career statistics

Ilori in 2012

As of match played 13 October 2023^[35][36]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sporting CP	2011–12	Primeira Liga	1	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	—		2	0
	2012–13		11	1	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	—		12	1
	Total		12	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	14	1
Liverpool	2013–14	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2014–15		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2015–16[37]		0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		3	0
	2016–17		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Granada (loan)	2013–14	La Liga	9	0	0	0	—		—		—		9	0
Bordeaux (loan)	2014–15	Ligue 1	12	1	2	0	1	0	—		—		15	1
Aston Villa (loan)	2015–16[37]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Reading	2016–17[38]	Championship	5	0	0	0	0	0	—		3[b]	0	8	0
	2017–18[39]		29	0	3	0	2	0	—		—		34	0
	2018–19[40]		19	1	1	0	2	0	—		—		22	1
	Total		53	1	4	0	4	0	0	0	3	0	64	1
Sporting CP	2018–19	Primeira Liga	6	0	3	0	0	0	1[a]	0	—		10	0
	2019–20		8	0	0	0	1	0	4[a]	0	—		13	0
	2020–21		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		14	0	3	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	23	0
Lorient (loan)	2020–21	Ligue 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Boavista (loan)	2021–22	Primeira Liga	10	1	1	0	1	0	—		—		12	1
Paços Ferreira (loan)	2022–23	Primeira Liga	3	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		4	0
Career total			113	4	13	0	7	0	7	0	3	0	144	4

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in EFL Championship play-offs

Honours

Sporting CP

• Taça de Portugal: 2018–19^[41]

References

1. "Tiago Ilori" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
2. De Menezes, Jack (1 August 2014). "Mats Hummels transfer latest: Manchester United to revive interest as Liverpool's Tiago Ilori could hold the key to move". The Independent. London. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
3. "10 facts about new boy Tiago Ilori". Liverpool F.C. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
4. Shave, Ben (6 November 2011). "Liga round-up: Sporting close gap". PortuGOAL. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
5. Menicucci, Paolo (14 December 2011). "Clinical Lazio through after Sporting triumph". UEFA. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
6. Cole, Richard (16 February 2013). "Young Lions prevail in Barcelos". PortuGOAL. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
7. "Liverpool complete Ilori deal". Liverpool F.C. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
8. "Liverpool sign Tiago Ilori from Sporting Lisbon as they look to add defensive depth". Daily Mirror. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
9. Bascombe, Chris (2 September 2013). "Roy Hodgson wants Liverpool's Tiago Ilori to declare for England". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
10. Sanghera, Mandeep (5 January 2014). "Liverpool 2–0 Oldham Athletic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
11. "Ilori seals loan switch to Granada". Liverpool F.C. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
12. "Moreno fires Espanyol to victory". ESPN FC. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
13. "Piti wins it for Granada". ESPN FC. 16 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
14. "Prêt – Tiago Ilori, nouvelle recrue bordelaise!" [Loan – Tiago Ilori, new bordelaise recruit!] (in French). FC Girondins. 18 August 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
15. "Saint-Etienne-Bordeaux (1–1), Bordeaux résiste à Saint-Etienne" [Saint-Etienne-Bordeaux (1–1), Bordeaux hold on at Saint-Etienne] (in French). Goal. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
16. "Aston Villa loan Liverpool's Tiago Ilori". Express & Star. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
17. Rose, Gary (8 January 2016). "Exeter City 2–2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
18. Shaw, Chris (18 January 2017). "Tiago Ilori completes permanent move to Reading". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
19. "Tiago Ilori moves to Reading from Liverpool on three-and-a-half year deal". ESPN FC. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
20. "Derby County 3–2 Reading: Rams win battle of promotion hopefuls". Sky Sports. 21 January 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
21. Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2017). "Huddersfield Town 0–0 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
22. Friday, Courtney (5 August 2017). "PICTURE GALLERY: Ilori sees red as Reading FC's Championship opener ends in 2–0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
23. "Preston North End 2–3 Reading". BBC Sport. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
24. "Ilori departs to sign for Sporting Lisbon". Reading F.C. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
25. "Comunicado por Tiago Ilori" [Tiago Ilori announcement] (in Portuguese). Sporting CP. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
26. Gomes, Rui Miguel (1 June 2019). "Ilori tem porta aberta para sair do Sporting" [Ilori with open door to leave Sporting]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
27. "Coates castigado, Neto ainda lesionado: teste de fogo para Ilori no dérbi" [Coates suspended, Neto still injured: acid test for Ilori in derby] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
28. "Tiago Ilori prêté au FC Lorient" [Tiago Ilori loaned to FC Lorient] (in French). FC Lorient. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
29. "Leões emprestam Tiago Ilori às panteras" [Lions loan Tiago Ilori to panthers]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 18 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
30. Pereira, Sérgio (22 July 2022). "OFICIAL: Sporting empresta Tiago Ilori ao Paços Ferreira" [OFFICIAL: Sporting loan Tiago Ilori to Paços Ferreira] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
31. Marques, Eduardo (2 August 2023). "Tiago Ilori rescindiu" [Tiago Ilori cut ties]. A Bola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 August 2023.
32. "Oficial: Tiago Ilori volta ao ativo e assina pelo Belenenses" [Official: Tiago Ilori returns to active and signs for Belenenses]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
33. "Tiago Ilori" (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
34. Prentice, David (11 November 2014). "Mamadou Sakho believes he has the leadership qualities to help Liverpool FC". Daily Post. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
35. "Tiago Ilori". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
36. "Tiago Ilori". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
37. "Games played by Tiago Ilori in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
38. "Games played by Tiago Ilori in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
39. "Games played by Tiago Ilori in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
40. "Games played by Tiago Ilori in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
41. Nogueira, Carlos (26 May 2019). "Leão rei dos penáltis leva para casa o segundo troféu da época" [Penalty-king lion takes home second trophy of the season]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 May 2019.

External links

• Tiago Ilori at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Tiago Ilori at Soccerbase
• Tiago Ilori national team profile at the Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese)
• Tiago Ilori – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Tiago Ilori – UEFA competition record (archive)