.jpg) Ilori playing forPortugal U19 in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tiago Abiola Delfim Almeida Ilori[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1993-02-26)26 February 1993 (age 32)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Hampstead, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Dila | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 34 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Imortal | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2012 | Sporting CP | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | →Estoril (loan) | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Sporting CP | 12 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Sporting CP B | 20 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2017 | Liverpool | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | →Granada (loan) | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | →Bordeaux (loan) | 12 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | →Aston Villa (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Reading | 53 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | Sporting CP | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | →Lorient (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | →Boavista (loan) | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | →Paços Ferreira (loan) | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Belenenses | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Dila | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Portugal U18 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Portugal U19 | 15 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Portugal U20 | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Portugal U21 | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Portugal U23 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:41, 6 June 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Tiago Abiola Delfim Almeida Ilori (born 26 February 1993) is a Portuguese professionalfootballer who plays as acentre-back for forErovnuli Liga clubDila.
He started his career withSporting CP, making his debut with the first team in 2011 before signing withLiverpool two years later. He spent three seasons in the EnglishChampionship withReading after joining in January 2017, and also played in Spain and France.
Ilori earned 36caps forPortugal at youth level, including ten with theunder-21 team.
Born inHampstead,London[2] to a British father ofNigerian descent and aPortuguese mother, Ilori spent his childhood in the town ofAlbufeira in theAlgarve, where he started playing football with localImortal DC. He joinedSporting CP's youth ranks in the summer of 2006 as astriker, being loaned toLisbon neighboursG.D. Estoril Praia at the age of 14 and returning for three more years already reconverted as a stopper.[3]
Ilori made his official debut for theLions' first team on 6 November 2011, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 3–1Primeira Liga home win againstU.D. Leiria.[4] On 14 December he played his first game in theUEFA Europa League, starting in a2–0 group stage loss toSS Lazio at theStadio Olimpico as his team had already secured the first place in their group.[5]
In only his fourth competitive appearance for Sporting, on 16 February 2013 atGil Vicente FC, Ilori again played the entire match, and helped to a 3–2 victory by scoring the former's second goal in the sixth minute.[6]
On 2 September 2013, Ilori was signed byLiverpool for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around£7 million.[7][8] It was also announced thatThe Football Association were in talks with the player for him to switch nationality and representEngland internationally.[3][9]
On 5 January 2014, Ilori was named on his new team'sbench for the first time, in anFA Cup match againstOldham Athletic.[10] Fifteen days later, he was loaned toGranada CF inLa Liga until the end ofthe campaign.[11] On 7 February he made his debut for theAndalusians, in a 1–0 away defeat toRCD Espanyol.[12] In the following round he also started, andassistedPiti for the game's only goal at home againstReal Betis.[13]
Ilori was loaned again on 18 August 2014, now toFC Girondins de Bordeaux from France.[14] He scored in his thirdLigue 1 appearance, helping a to a 1–1 draw atAS Saint-Étienne.[15]
FellowPremier League clubAston Villa signed Ilori on aseason-long loan deal on 1 September 2015.[16] On 7 January 2016, the move was cancelled and he returned to Liverpool, making his first competitive appearance with the first team the following day by starting the FA Cupthird round match againstExeter City, which ended with a 2–2 draw atSt James Park.[17]
Ilori completed a transfer toEFL Championship sideReading on 18 January 2017, for a reported £3.75 million.[18][19] He made his debut three days later, starting in a 3–2 away loss againstDerby County.[20] He totalled eight matches forthe season, including thepenalty shootout loss toHuddersfield Town in theplay-off final on 29 May.[21]
On 5 August 2017, Ilori wassent off in the first game ofthe new campaign for a foul onPaweł Wszołek, from whichConor Washington scored a penalty in a 2–0Queens Park Rangers victory.[22] He scored his first goal inEnglish football on 15 September 2018, in a 3–2 win atPreston North End.[23]
On 29 January 2019, Ilori returned to Sporting for an undisclosed fee,[24] with the player signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.[25] During most of his spell, he played second-fiddle toSebastián Coates andJérémy Mathieu.[26][27]
Ilori joinedFC Lorient on 1 February 2021, on loan until 30 June.[28] In August, in a similar deal, he moved toBoavista FC.[29]
In July 2022, still owned by Sporting, Ilori signed a one-year loan deal withF.C. Paços de Ferreira.[30] In August 2023, he left theEstádio José Alvalade after his contract expired.[31]
Ilori returned to Portugal and its capital on 30 December 2023, agreeing to a six-month contract atC.F. Os Belenenses of theLiga Portugal 2.[32] On 25 March 2025, he moved to the GeorgianErovnuli Liga withFC Dila Gori on a deal until the end ofthe season.[33]
Ilori played forPortugal at four youth levels, representing the nation at the2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, the2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the2013 Toulon Tournament and the2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[34] He remained eligible to play for Portugal,England andNigeria as a senior.[35]
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| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sporting CP | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | ||
| Liverpool | 2013–14 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16[38] | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Granada (loan) | 2013–14 | La Liga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Bordeaux (loan) | 2014–15 | Ligue 1 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | ||
| Aston Villa (loan) | 2015–16[38] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Reading | 2016–17[39] | Championship | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[b] | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[40] | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 0 | ||||
| 2018–19[41] | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 53 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 64 | 1 | ||
| Sporting CP | 2018–19 | Primeira Liga | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| Lorient (loan) | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Boavista (loan) | 2021–22 | Primeira Liga | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||
| Paços Ferreira (loan) | 2022–23 | Primeira Liga | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 113 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 144 | 4 | ||
Sporting CP
