# Cengiz Ünder

Cengiz Ünder (Turkish pronunciation:; born 14 July 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC, on loan from Fenerbahçe, and the Turkey national team.

## Club career
### Early career

Ünder began his professional career at Altinordu, and later transferred to Başakşehir for €700K. In his breakout season with Başakşehir, Ünder established himself as one of the best players in the league, scoring 7 goals in 32 games in his debut season in the Süper Lig.

### Roma

On 16 July 2017, Ünder became a Roma player for a €13.4 million fee. He scored his first goal for Roma in a 1–0 win over Hellas Verona in the Serie A on 4 February 2018. In the same month, he marked his Champions League debut with a goal; the opener in a 2–1 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of the first round of knockout fixtures, becoming the youngest Turkish player ever to score in the Champions League. In his first season with Roma, he recorded 7 goals and 1 assist in 26 league games, 1 goal in 5 champions league matches.
On 2 October 2018, he scored a goal and made an assist against Viktoria Plzen in 5-0 win 2018–19 UEFA Champions League Group G match.

#### Leicester City (loan)

On 20 September 2020, Ünder signed for Premier League club Leicester City on a season-long loan, with the option of a permanent transfer. He made his debut in a 3–0 defeat to West Ham United, coming on as a substitute. On 25 October, he made his first goal contribution for Leicester when he assisted Jamie Vardy's winning goal in a 1–0 away win over Arsenal, which ended Leicester's 47-year wait for a victory away at Arsenal. On 10 December, Ünder scored his first Leicester goal in a 2–0 home win over AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League.

### Marseille

On 4 July 2021, Ünder signed on loan for Ligue 1 club Marseille, with an option to be buy of €9 million. On 8 August 2021, he made his debut with the team against Montpellier in Ligue 1, Marseille won 3–2.
On 6 April 2022, Marseille used the option and signed permanent five-year contract.

### Fenerbahçe

On 13 August 2023, Ünder signed a four-year contract with Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe for a reported fee of €15 million. On 21 August 2023, he made his debut with the team against Samsunspor in Süper Lig away game, Fenerbahçe won 2–0.
On 20 December 2023, he scored his first goal for the team against Kayserispor in league match that Fenerbahçe won 4–3. On 7 January 2024, after a slow start to his career with Fenerbahçe, he scored four goals in a 5–1 win over Istanbulspor.

#### Los Angeles FC (loan)

On 20 February 2025, he went on a loan to Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC until the end of June.
On 12 March 2025, he made his debut with an assist for the team in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match against Colombus Crew.

## International career

Ünder has represented the U18 and U19 levels of the Turkey national youth football team. He most recently was called up to the Turkey national under-21 football team.
In November 2016 Ünder received his first call-up to the senior Turkey squad for the match against Kosovo. He scored his first international goal in his second cap for his country in a friendly victory against Moldova in March 2017.

## Controversy

Following the Afrin offensive in Northern Syria, which was carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in January 2018, on 11 February, Ünder performed a military salute as a goal celebration after netting in Roma's 5–2 home win over Benevento in Serie A. In October 2019, following the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Ünder posted a picture of the aforementioned celebration on Twitter; his controversial post drew criticism on social media from Roma fans.
When Los Angeles FC signed Ünder in 2025, the team's Armenian fanbase (Los Angeles is home to the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia) threatened to boycott games due to historical tensions between Armenian and Turkey relating to the Armenian Genocide and Turkey's continuous denial as well as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (where Turkey has been accused of supporting Azerbaijan in attacking an ethnically Armenian area).

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 15 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Altınordu | 2014–15 | TFF First League | 20 | 5 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 5 |
| Altınordu | 2015–16 | TFF First League | 31 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 6 |
| Altınordu | Total | Total | 51 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 11 |
| Başakşehir | 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 32 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 9 |
| Roma | 2017–18 | Serie A | 26 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 32 | 8 |
| Roma | 2018–19 | Serie A | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 6 |
| Roma | 2019–20 | Serie A | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| Roma | Total | Total | 70 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 88 | 17 |
| Leicester City (loan) | 2020–21 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 19 | 2 |
| Marseille (loan) | 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 32 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 47 | 13 |
| Marseille | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 37 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 46 | 5 |
| Marseille | Total | Total | 69 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 2 | 93 | 18 |
| Fenerbahçe | 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 24 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 33 | 9 |
| Fenerbahçe | 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Fenerbahçe | Total | Total | 27 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 42 | 9 |
| Los Angeles FC (loan) | 2025 | Major League Soccer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 259 | 55 | 30 | 4 | 56 | 7 | 345 | 66 |
* ↑ Includes Turkish Cup, Coppa Italia, FA Cup, Coupe de France, Leagues Cup
* 1 2 3 4 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
* 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League, seven appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa Conference League
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
* ↑ Appearance in CONCACAF Champions Cup

### International

    As of match played 12 September 2023
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Turkey | 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| Turkey | 2017 | 6 | 3 |
| Turkey | 2018 | 10 | 1 |
| Turkey | 2019 | 3 | 2 |
| Turkey | 2020 | 6 | 2 |
| Turkey | 2021 | 10 | 3 |
| Turkey | 2022 | 9 | 4 |
| Turkey | 2023 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 51 | 16 |
* ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Euro 2020
    Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ünder goal.
List of international goals scored by Cengiz Ünder :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. | 27 March 2017 | New Eskişehir Stadium, Eskişehir, Turkey | Moldova | 3–0 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 2. | 11 June 2017 | Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër, Albania | Kosovo | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3. | 13 November 2017 | New Antalya Stadium, Antalya, Turkey | Albania | 1–2 | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 4. | 27 March 2018 | Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro | Montenegro | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 5. | 30 May 2019 | New Antalya Stadium, Antalya, Turkey | Greece | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 6. | 8 June 2019 | Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey | France | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
| 7. | 11 November 2020 | Vodafone Park, Istanbul, Turkey | Croatia | 3–3 | 3–3 | Friendly |
| 8. | 15 November 2020 | Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey | Russia | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
| 9. | 3 June 2021 | Benteler-Arena, Paderborn, Germany | Moldova | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 10. | 1 September 2021 | Vodafone Park, Istanbul, Turkey | Montenegro | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 11. | 7 September 2021 | Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands | Netherlands | 1–6 | 1–6 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 12. | 29 March 2022 | Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey | Italy | 1–0 | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 13. | 4 June 2022 | Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey | Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C |
| 14. | 22 September 2022 | Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey | Luxembourg | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League C |
| 15. | 16 November 2022 | Diyarbakır Stadium, Diyarbakır, Turkey | Scotland | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 16. | 16 June 2023 | Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia | Latvia | 2–1 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualification |

## Honours

Leicester City
* FA Cup: 2020–21
Individual
* Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2016–17
* Turkish Footballer of the Year: 2018