Eduard Mkrtychevich Spertsyan (; ; born 7 June 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli. Born in Russia, he plays for the Armenia national team.

Club career

Spertsyan made his debut in the Russian Professional Football League for FC Krasnodar-2 on 17 March 2018 in a game against FC Biolog-Novokubansk. He made his Russian Football National League debut for Krasnodar-2 on 1 October 2018 in a game against FC Khimki.

After scoring seven goals in the first nine games of the FNL season for FC Krasnodar-2, Spertsyan made his Russian Premier League debut for FC Krasnodar on 18 September 2020 in a match against FC Khimki. On 28 October 2020, he made his European debut as a late substitute in the Champions League 4–0 home loss against Chelsea, making him the youngest ever Armenia national team player to ever play UEFA Champions League group stages, surpassing Henrikh Mkhitaryan for over one year and one month.

On 7 July 2026, Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli announced the signing of Spertsyan to a four-year contract.

International career On 17 February 2021, the Football Federation of Armenia confirmed that Spertsyan would join the Armenia national team in March to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers. Spertsyan made his debut for the national team on 31 March 2021 against Romania. He came on as a substitute at half-time, scoring in the 56th minute at the Republican Stadium. He scored in two Nations League matches against Ireland. He scored the only goal in a match in Yerevan for Armenia to get the win, as well as at the away game in Dublin as Ireland would go on to win 3–2 at the Aviva Stadium.Ireland shocked in Armenia as Spertsyan hits winner RTÉ News, 4 June 2022. On 17 October 2023 he scored the only goal for Armenia in a friendly game vs North Macedonia from a freekick.

On 7 November 2025, it was announced that Spertsyan had become the captain of the Armenian national team.

Personal life Spertsyan was born into a mixed family. His father, an ethnic Armenian, was previously involved in the tobacco business, and his mother has Russian-German roots (her maiden name was Ekman). The footballer has an older brother, Eric, with whom the age difference is three years.

Spertsyan married Alina Karapetyan on 23 June 2023. The celebration took place in Pyatigorsk and was organized in the traditional Armenian style. Alina is a relative of the former Armenian national team footballer Aleksandr Karapetyan.

Career statistics

Club

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsKrasnodar-22017–18Russian Football National League 2111———1112018–19Russian Football National League110——501602019–20Russian Football National League200———2002020–21Russian Football National League3216———3216Total7417——507917Krasnodar-32018–19Russian Second League121———1212019–20Russian Second League10———10Total131———131Krasnodar2020–21Russian Premier League500020—702021–22Russian Premier League25820——2782022–23Russian Premier League2810134——41142023–24Russian Premier League291140——33112024–25Russian Premier League281160—1035112025–26Russian Premier League3013111—104214Total14553365202018558Al-Ahli2026–27Saudi Pro League2111001042Career total23472376208028178

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsArmenia202171202262 2023101 202492202585202662Total4613

Scores and results list Armenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Spertsyan goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Eduard SpertsyanNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 31 March 2021 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 1–0 3–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification2 4 June 2022 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 1–0 1–0 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B3 27 September 2022 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland 2–2 2–3 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B4 17 October 2023 Stadion Blagoj Istatov, Strumica, North Macedonia 1–3 1–3 Friendly5 7 September 2024 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 4–1 4–1 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C6 17 November 2024 Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia 1–0 2–1 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C7 6 June 2025 Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Pristina, Kosovo 2–1 2–5 Friendly8 9 June 2025 Gradski Stadium, Nikšić, Montenegro 1–0 2–2 Friendly9 2–210 9 September 2025 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 1–0 2–1 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification11 16 November 2025 Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal 1–1 1–9 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification12 6 June 2026 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 1–1 1–1 Friendly13 28 September 2026 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 2–2 2–3 2026–27 UEFA Nations League C

Honours FC Krasnodar Russian Premier League: 2024–25 Russian Cup runner-up: 2022–23

Individual Armenian Footballer of the Year: 2022, 2025 Russian Premier League Midfielder of the Season: 2022–23, 2023–24, 2025–26 Russian Premier League Team of the Season: 2022–23 Russian Premier League Player of the Month: October 2023, November/December 2025 Russian Premier League Goal of the Month: April 2024 (on 24 April against Baltika Kaliningrad)

References

External links