Kyrian Nwoko
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-07-04) 4 July 1997
Place of birth Valletta, Malta
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Position(s) Winger, forward
Team information
Current team
 Floriana
Number 22
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 St. Andrews 82 (14)
2017–2021 Valletta 75 (12)
2021 → St Patrick's Athletic (loan) 8 (0)
2022– Floriana 20 (1)
2023 → Saint Lucia (loan) 8 (2)
International career‡
Malta U17
2017– Malta 30 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 November 2023

Kyrian Nwoko (born 4 July 1997) is a Maltese professional footballer who plays as a winger and forward for Floriana and the Malta national team. He has previously played for Maltese clubs St. Andrews & Valletta, as well as Irish club St Patrick's Athletic.

Personal life

He is the son of the Nigerian-born former Malta international footballer Chucks Nwoko.[2]

Club career

In July 2014, Nwoko was linked with a possible transfer to English clubs Huddersfield Town and Crystal Palace.[3] He moved from St. Andrews to Valletta in June 2017.[2] In July 2021, he was linked with a move to NIFL Premiership side Linfield.[1] Following a transfer fee being agreed between the two clubs, the transfer was held up due to issues obtaining a work permit under new Brexit regulations.[4] On 27 July 2021, Valletta announced that they had agreed a deal with League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic for Nwoko to move on a 6-month loan deal with the option to make the transfer permanent.[5] The transfer was completed on 28 July 2021,[6] with Nwoko becoming the second striker to sign for the club on that day, after Reading's Nahum Melvin-Lambert.[7] Nwoko made his debut for the club on 30 July 2021, coming off the bench in the 87th minute of the Dublin derby away to Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.[8] On 28 November 2021 Nwoko was an unused substitute in the 2021 FAI Cup Final, as his side defeated rivals Bohemians 4–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time in front of a record FAI Cup Final crowd of 37,126 at the Aviva Stadium.[9] On 31 August 2022, Nwoko returned to football after 9 months out of the game, returning to Malta and signing for Floriana.[10] On 27 January 2023, he signed for Saint Lucia on loan until the end of the season.[11]

International career

He made two appearances for Malta at the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[12] He made his senior national team debut in November 2017 in the 0–3 defeat against Estonia.[13] On 23 March 2019, Nwoko scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over Faroe Islands, as Malta won their first competitive home match in 13 years.[14] In January 2022, Nwoko accused the Malta national team selectors of 'unfair' treatment over allegedly not being selected for the team due to his refusal to take a COVID-19 vaccine when the squad were asked to take a Johnson & Johnson vaccine in May 2021 ahead of their departure to a training camp in Austria.[15] In November 2022, Nwoko returned to the national team, accepting his call up for the friendly games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 28 April 2023[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
St. Andrews 2013–14 Maltese Challenge League 0010——10
2014–15 24500——245
2015–16 Maltese Premier League 27520—1[lower-alpha 2]1306
2016–17 31410——324
Total 821440—118715
Valletta 2017–18 Maltese Premier League 266424[lower-alpha 3]0—348
2018–19 212304[lower-alpha 4]01[lower-alpha 5]0292
2019–20 132005[lower-alpha 6]01[lower-alpha 5]1193
2020–21 152101[lower-alpha 3]0—172
Total 751282140219915
St Patrick's Athletic (loan) 2021 LOI Premier Division 8010——90
Floriana 2022–23 Maltese Premier League 9010—0[lower-alpha 5]0100
Saint Lucia (loan) 2022–23 Maltese Premier League 8210–1[lower-alpha 7]1103
Career total 182281521404321733
  1. ↑ Includes Maltese FA Trophy & FAI Cup
  2. ↑ Appearances in the Maltese Premier League Relegation Play-offs
  3. 1 2 Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ 2 appearances in the UEFA Champions League & 2 appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  5. 1 2 3 Appearances in the Maltese Super Cup
  6. ↑ 4 appearances in the UEFA Champions League & 1 appearance in the UEFA Europa League
  7. ↑ Appearance in the 2022–23 Maltese Premier League Relegation play-offs

International

As of match played 19 June 2023[13]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Malta 201710
201830
201991
202042
202130
202210
202341
Total254

International goals

Scores and results list Malta's goal tally first.[13]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.23 March 2019National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Faroe Islands1–02–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2.6 September 2020 Latvia1–01–12020–21 UEFA Nations League D
3.7 October 2020 Gibraltar1–02–0Friendly
4.9 June 2023Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Luxembourg1–01–0

Honours

Valletta[17]

St Patrick's Athletic

References

  1. 1 2 "Who is Kyrian Nwoko? All you need to know about the Malta striker set to sign for Linfield". Belfasttelegraph – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  2. 1 2 "New Valletta FC signing". Valletta F.C. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Doug Thomson (11 July 2014). "Huddersfield Town and Crystal Palace linked with Maltese youngster Kyrian Nwoko". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Linfield battling Brexit issues in quest to sign Malta striker Kyrian Nwoko". Belfasttelegraph – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  5. ↑ FC, Valletta. "Kyrian Nwoko joins St Patricks Athletic FC". Valletta FC.
  6. ↑ "Nwoko Signs On Loan". www.stpatsfc.com.
  7. ↑ "St Pat's sign Malta international Kyrian Nwoko after Linfield move falls through". independent.
  8. ↑ "Rovers hit stride at perfect time to sink Saints in battle of table-toppers". independent.
  9. ↑ Leahy, Ed (28 November 2021). "Benson spot on as Saints beat Bohs to lift the FAI Cup" – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ↑ "Floriana set to sign former Malta striker Kyrian Nwoko". Times of Malta.
  11. ↑ "Santa Lucia sign striker Kyrian Nwoko on loan from Floriana". Times of Malta. 27 January 2023.
  12. ↑ Kyrian Nwoko – UEFA competition record (archive)
  13. 1 2 3 "Kyrian Nwoko". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  14. ↑ Camilleri, Valhmor (23 March 2019). "Watch: Gutsy Malta see off Faroe Islands". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  15. ↑ "Kyrian Nwoko hits out at national team's treatment for his anti-vaccine stance". Times of Malta.
  16. ↑ "28-man squad announced for November friendlies". mfa.com.mt.
  17. 1 2 Kyrian Nwoko at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
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