 Sakala withSpartak-2 Moscow in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Junior Fashion Sakala[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1997-03-14)14 March 1997 (age 28) | ||
| Place of birth | Chipata, Zambia | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Al-Fayha | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2016 | Nchanga Rangers | ||
| 2016–2017 | Zanaco | ||
| 2017–2018 | Spartak-2 Moscow | 35 | (10) |
| 2017–2018 | Spartak Moscow | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2021 | KV Oostende | 80 | (24) |
| 2021–2023 | Rangers | 59 | (21) |
| 2023– | Al-Fayha | 79 | (35) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Zambia U20 | 10 | (7) |
| 2019 | Zambia U23 | 1 | (0) |
| 2017– | Zambia | 39 | (11) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:22, 13 February 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 21:01, 26 December 2025 (UTC) | |||
Junior Fashion Sakala (born 14 March 1997) is a Zambian professionalfootballer who plays as aforward forSaudi Pro League clubAl-Fayha and theZambia national team.
Sakala played for Zambian clubsNchanga Rangers andZanaco, winning theZambia Super League in 2016 with the latter. He signed forSpartak Moscow in February 2017. Sakala made no first-team appearances for the club, instead appearing forSpartak-2 Moscow in the second tier of Russian football. He joined Belgian clubKV Oostende in July 2018, where he scored 31 goals in 102 appearances over three seasons. He joinedRangers on a free transfer in 2021, where he won theScottish Cup and scored 24 goals in 91 appearances.
Sakala was a member of theZambia under-20 team that won the2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. He made his senior international debut in September 2017.
Sakala began his senior career in Zambia withNchanga Rangers andZanaco.[2] He helped Zanaco win theZambia Super League in 2016.[3] In February 2017, he signed a three-year contract withRussian Premier League clubFC Spartak Moscow,[4] after being invited for a trial at their training camp in Cyprus.[5] He made his debut in theRussian Football National League forFC Spartak-2 Moscow on 23 March 2017, in a game againstFC Baltika Kaliningrad.[6]
On 9 July 2018, he signed a three-year contract with Belgian clubKV Oostende.[7]
On 4 May 2021, with his Oostende contract due to expire in the summer, Sakala signed a pre-contract agreement withScottish Premiership clubRangers on a four-year deal.[8] On 31 July, he made his official debut in a 3–0 win overLivingston in the league.[9] On 31 October, he scored his first hat-trick for Rangers in a 6–1 league victory overMotherwell.[10] On 4 October 2022, Sakala made hisUEFA Champions League debut as a substitute in a 2–0 away loss againstLiverpool.[11]
On 8 August 2023, Sakala joinedSaudi Pro League clubAl-Fayha on a two-year contract.[12][13]
On 11 January 2025, in a game vsAl-Ittihad Sakala scored to becomeAl-Fayha's all time top goal scorer in the RSL, with 24 goals, surpassing Ronnie Fernandez and Danilo Asprilla.[14]
Sakala played youth international football for Zambia atunder-20 andunder-23 levels.[15] He featured for the Zambia under-20 team that won the2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations,[16] scoring three goals at the tournament.[17] He also played for the under-20 team that reached the quarter-finals of the2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring four goals in the tournament.[18] He scored seven goals in ten appearances in total at under-20 level.[15] Sakala played one game for the Zambia under-23 team,[15] against Nigeria at the2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations.[19]
Sakala made his debut for the seniorZambia national team on 2 September 2017, in a2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier againstAlgeria, and was sent off for two bookings in the 56th minute.[20][21]
In December 2023, he was included in the squad of twenty-seven Zambian players selected byAvram Grant to compete in the2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
On 10 December 2025, Sakala was called up to the Zambia squad for the2025 Africa Cup of Nations.[22]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Spartak-2 Moscow | 2016–17 | Russian Football National League | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 31 | 10 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 10 | ||||||
| Total | 35 | 10 | — | — | — | — | 35 | 10 | ||||||
| KV Oostende | 2018–19 | Belgian Pro League | 24 | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 9[c] | 2 | 38 | 6 | ||
| 2019–20 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 30 | 9 | |||||
| 2020–21 | 28 | 13 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5[c] | 3 | 34 | 16 | ||||
| Total | 80 | 24 | 8 | 2 | — | — | 14 | 5 | 102 | 31 | ||||
| Rangers | 2021–22 | Scottish Premiership | 30 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13[d] | 0 | — | 50 | 12 | |
| 2022–23 | 29 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5[e] | 0 | — | 41 | 12 | |||
| Total | 59 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 0 | — | 91 | 24 | |||
| Al-Fayha | 2023–24 | Saudi Pro League | 31 | 19 | 2 | 0 | — | 8[f] | 3 | — | 41 | 22 | ||
| 2024–25 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 6 | |||||
| Total | 44 | 25 | 5 | 0 | — | 8 | 3 | — | 57 | 28 | ||||
| Career total | 218 | 80 | 21 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 26 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 285 | 93 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zambia | 2017 | 3 | 0 |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 4 | 5 | |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 7 | 2 | |
| Total | 39 | 11 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 June 2019 | Zayed Sports City Stadium,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |  Ivory Coast | 1–0 | 1–4 | Friendly |
| 2 | 10 October 2021 | National Heroes Stadium,Lusaka, Zambia |  Equatorial Guinea | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 13 November 2021 | National Heroes Stadium, Lusaka, Zambia |  Mauritania | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 3–0 | |||||
| 5 | 4–0 | |||||
| 6 | 16 November 2021 | Stade Hammadi Agrebi,Tunis, Tunisia |  Tunisia | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 23 March 2023 | Levy Mwanawasa Stadium,Ndola, Zambia |  Lesotho | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
| 8 | 17 October 2023 | Al Hamriya Sports Club Stadium,Al Hamriyah, United Arab Emirates |  Uganda | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 9 | 17 November 2023 | Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia |  Congo | 3–2 | 4–2 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 10 | 8 October 2025 | Amaan Stadium,Zanzibar City, Tanzania |  Tanzania | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 11 | 18 November 2025 | Estádio 11 de Novembro,Luanda, Angola |  Angola | 2–2 | 2–3 | Friendly |
Zanaco
Rangers
Zambia U20
Zambia squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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