Fyodor Mikhaylovich Smolov (; born 9 February 1990) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Club career Smolov is a graduate of the Master-Saturn Yegoryevsk football academy. In 2007, he joined Dynamo Moscow. He made his Russian Premier League debut for Dynamo on 28 April 2007 in a game against FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok, at the age of 17, as a last-minute substitute for Cícero. Despite scoring prolifically for the national junior teams and Dynamo's own Under-21 squad, he only scored one goal for the senior team in the next 3.5 seasons and only started in 11 games up to that point. On 14 July 2010, the club announced that Smolov would join Feyenoord on a one-year loan deal.
Returning from loan, Smolov started 2011–12 season as a squad player, but after 9 matchdays his impact was limited to substitute appearances. So he was loaned again, this time to Anzhi Makhachkala - initially for whole 2012–13 season, and then for the second part of 2013–14 season.
Loan to Ural On 1 September 2014, Smolov joined Ural Yekaterinburg on a season-long loan deal. Two weeks later, on his new club debut, he scored a goal in a 1–2 away loss to Amkar Perm. He provided 8 goals and 2 assists in 22 league appearances for Ural.
Krasnodar On 2 June 2015, Smolov signed a four-year contract with the Russian Premier League club Krasnodar as a free agent. He made his competitive debut for his new club in a 1–0 away victory over Amkar Perm in his first league match on 20 July 2015, and scored his first goal in a 3–3 draw against Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round on 6 August.
On 10 April 2016, Smolov scored four goals in Krasnodar's 6–0 victory over his former club Ural Yekaterinburg. With 20 goals in 29 games, he became the top scorer of the 2015–16 Russian Premier League season, and he is the first Krasnodar player who achieved this title. He repeated as top scorer in the 2016–17 Russian Premier League, scoring 18 times. In the 2017–18 Russian Premier League, he came in second with 14 goals to Quincy Promes' 15.
Lokomotiv Moscow On 9 August 2018, he joined the Russian Premier League champion FC Lokomotiv Moscow.
Loan to Celta On 30 January 2020, he joined Spanish club Celta Vigo on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season. He scored his first goal for the new club on 16 February 2020 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium against Real Madrid in a 2–2 away draw. Smolov scored the second goal of his loan spell in a 2–2 draw with Barcelona on 27 June.
Return to Lokomotiv On 12 May 2021, he scored the go-ahead goal in the 2021 Russian Cup Final against Krylia Sovetov. He won his third trophy at Lokomotiv and also became the tournament's joint-top scorer with 4 goals, along with teammate François Kamano.
Return to Dynamo On 12 January 2022, Dynamo announced the signing of Fyodor from Lokomotiv, making him return to the first club in his professional career. Also the Moscow club disclosed that the term of the contract is 1.5 years plus an additional optional year. On 26 February 2022, in his first competitive game back with Dynamo, he scored the opening goal of the 3–0 victory over FC Khimki, 11 years after he last scored for Dynamo.
On 31 May 2023, Smolov extended his contract with Dynamo for the 2023–24 season, with an option for the 2024–25 season.
Return to Krasnodar On 18 June 2024, Smolov returned to Krasnodar on a one-year contract. On 24 May 2025, he won the Russian Premier League title for the first time in his career. Smolov left Krasnodar on 27 May 2025.
He ended his professional career in 2025.
International career
Smolov was part of the Russia Under-21 side that was competing in the 2011 European Under-21 Championship qualification. He was an important factor in the U-21 team qualifying for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in the next cycle, scoring three goals in the qualification play-offs against the Czech Republic. On 6 November 2012, Russia manager Fabio Capello included Smolov in the squad for a friendly game against the United States. During the game, he made his debut and scored his first goal for the national team, netting the opener in a 2–2 home draw on 14 November. Smolov scored his first competitive goal for the national team in a 7–0 away victory against Liechtenstein in a Euro 2016 qualifier on 8 September 2015. He was subsequently included in Russia's squad for the final tournament in France, where he started in all three matches as Russia finished 4th in group B. In the opening match of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup against New Zealand on 17 June at Krestovsky Stadium, Smolov scored Russia's second goal in a 2–0 win and was Man of the Match.
On 3 June 2018, he was included in the finalized World Cup squad. He started the tournament-opener game against Saudi Arabia and appeared as a substitute in every subsequent game. He scored the opening penalty kick in the shoot-out that helped Russia defeat Spain in the Round of 16, but had his shot saved by Danijel Subašić in the quarterfinal shoot-out which Russia lost to Croatia.
On 11 May 2021, he was named as a back-up player for Russia's UEFA Euro 2020 squad.
Personal life Smolov is fluent in English and has read Mario Puzo's books in the original language. From 2012, he was in a relationship with Russian model and TV hostess Victoria Lopyreva. The couple got married in December 2013 but then divorced in May 2015. He has supported AC Milan since the 1997–98 season and once cited George Weah and Andriy Shevchenko as his childhood favorite players. On 1 August 2018, Smolov crashed his BMW M5 into a traffic barrier in Krasnodar. He was later fined and had his driver's license suspended for one year for leaving the scene of the accident. On April 5, 2020 Smolov broke Spain's coronavirus protocols to return to Russia to celebrate the 18th birthday of his fiancee Maria Yumasheva, the granddaughter of Boris Yeltsin.
He is the first Russian footballer to speak out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
In June 2023 Smolov married DJ and blogger Karina Istomina. On the 15th of November of the same year the couple had a daughter named Laura.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsDynamo Moscow2007Russian Premier League3000——302008Russian Premier League7110——812009Russian Premier League1803120—2312010Russian Premier League2000——202011–12Russian Premier League23210——2422013–14Russian Premier League13010——1402014–15Russian Premier League200010—30Total683613000774Feyenoord (loan)2010–11Eredivisie1111020—141Anzhi Makhachkala (loan)2012–13Russian Premier League1503081—2612013–14Russian Premier League1120040—152Total2623012100413Ural Yekaterinburg (loan)2014–15Russian Premier League22810——238Krasnodar2015–16Russian Premier League292031123—44242016–17Russian Premier League22181186—31252017–18Russian Premier League22140020—24142018–19Russian Premier League210000—21Total755342229—10164Lokomotiv Moscow2018–19Russian Premier League2264130—2972019–20Russian Premier League1430040111942020–21Russian Premier League21734301028112021–22Russian Premier League157006010227Total722375160319829Celta Vigo (loan)2019–20La Liga14200——142Dynamo Moscow2021–22Russian Premier League11542——1572022–23Russian Premier League241072——31122023–24Russian Premier League25492——346Total6019206——8025Krasnodar2024–25Russian Premier League16172—11244Career total3641124916551042472140
International
National team Year Apps GoalsRussia201211201341201552201692201795201891201922202162Total4516
Scores and results list Russia's goal tally first.
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 14 November 2012 Kuban Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia 1–0 2–2 Friendly 2. 19 November 2013 Zabeel Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 1–1 2–1 Friendly 3. 8 September 2015 Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein 5–0 7–0 UEFA Euro 2016 qualification 4. 17 November 2015 Olimp-2, Rostov-on-Don, Russia 1–0 1–3 Friendly 5. 26 March 2016 Otkritie Arena, Moscow, Russia 1–0 3–0 Friendly 6. 6 September 2016 Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia 1–0 1–0 Friendly 7. 5 June 2017 Groupama Arena, Budapest, Hungary 1–0 3–0 Friendly 8. 17 June 2017 Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia 2–0 2–0 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup 9. 7 October 2017 VEB Arena, Moscow, Russia 1–0 4–2 Friendly 10. 14 November 2017 Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia 1–2 3–3 Friendly 11. 3–3 12. 27 March 2018 Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia 1–2 1–3 Friendly 13. 8 June 2019 Mordovia Arena, Saransk, Russia 7–0 9–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification 14. 8–0 15. 7 September 2021 Otkritie Arena, Moscow, Russia 1–0 2–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 16. 11 November 2021 Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia 2–0 6–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
Honours Lokomotiv Moscow Russian Cup: 2018–19, 2020–21 Russian Super Cup: 2019
Krasnodar Russian Premier League: 2024–25
Individual Russian Premier League top goalscorer: 2015–16, 2016–17 Footballer of the Year in Russia (Sport-Express): 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 Best sports YouTube channel in The Bookmakers Ratings Awards: 2025
References
External links