.jpg) Matondo withRangers in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rabbi Matondo[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2000-09-09)9 September 2000 (age 25) | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rangers | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Cardiff City | |||
| 2016–2019 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019 | Schalke 04 II | 2 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Schalke 04 | 30 | (2) |
| 2021 | →Stoke City (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | →Cercle Brugge (loan) | 26 | (9) |
| 2022– | Rangers | 44 | (7) |
| 2025 | →Hannover 96 (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | England U15 | ||
| 2015–2016 | Wales U17 | 10 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Wales U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 2018– | Wales | 15 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14:27, 25 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:00, 9 June 2025 (UTC) | |||
Rabbi Matondo (born 9 September 2000) is a professionalfootballer who plays as awinger forScottish Premiership clubRangers and theWales national team.
Matondo played youth football forCardiff City andManchester City. He joined German clubSchalke 04 in January 2019, where he made 32 first-team appearances and was sent on loan toStoke City andCercle Brugge. He signed for Rangers in July 2022.
Born in England to parents from theDR Congo, Matondo was eligible to play for either country, as well as Wales, where he grew up. Having played for theEngland under-15 team, he later opted to represent Wales and played atunder-17 andunder-21 levels before making his debut for the senior national team in November 2018.
Matondo was born inLiverpool, England but moved tosouth Wales as a child.[3] He grew up in theTremorfa area ofCardiff where he first played football in local parks with his father and brothers.[4] His father Dada played football in his nativeDR Congo. Two of his brothers, Cedrick and Japhet, also played football at youth level.[4] As a teenager he attendedLlanishen High School.[4]
Matondo began his career as a youth player withCardiff City. In 2016, he moved toPremier League sideManchester City for a small compensation fee under theElite Player Performance Plan, an initiative created by the Premier League regarding movement of youth players.[3] Cardiff appealed against the move and Matondo was blocked from playing for Manchester City until March 2017 when the appeal was denied. However, a fee of £500,000 was reported to have been agreed.[5]
He made his debut for theManchester City U21 side in theEFL Trophy on 15 August 2017 againstRotherham United,[6] scoring his first goal in the side's next match, a 2–1 defeat toBradford City.[7] He added two more goals in the2018–19 EFL Trophy, the game's only away toTranmere Rovers in the final group game,[8] and one more in a 3–3 draw atBarnsley in the second round, as well as netting in the subsequent penalty shootout win.[9]
On 30 January 2019, Matondo signed forBundesliga clubSchalke 04 for a reported fee of up to £11 million on a four-and-a-half-year deal.[10][11] He made his professional league debut three days later in a 2–0 home loss toBorussia Mönchengladbach, as a 75th-minute substitute forSebastian Rudy; on 16 February he was given a start in a goalless home draw withSC Freiburg.[12] On 28 September 2019, he scored his first goal for Schalke in a 3–1 away victory overRB Leipzig.[13]
On 7 January 2021, Matondo joinedEFL Championship clubStoke City on a loan deal until the end of the2020–21 season.[14][15] He played 11 times for Stoke, scoring once in a 1–1 draw withNottingham Forest on 24 April 2021.[16]
On 9 August 2021, Matondo agreed to joinCercle Brugge on a season-long loan with an option to make the move permanent.[17]
On 12 July 2022,Rangers announced the signing of Matondo on a four-year deal, subject to international clearance.[18][19] He made his debut for the club againstBelgian sideUnion Saint-Gilloise during aUEFA Champions League qualifier loss on 2 August.[20]On 4 October 2022, he made his 5thUEFA Champions League appearance forRangers away againstLiverpool as a substitute. Rangers lost 2-0, however their first big chance in the game came through Matondo in the 84th minute (3 minutes after he came on), where his pace allowed him to breeze pastJoel Matip andnutmeg Liverpool goalkeeperAlisson Becker, but had his shot cleared off the line byKostas Tsimikas before it could be tapped into the net byFashion Sakala.[21]Matondo scored his firstUEFA Champions League goal in a 1st leg Qualifier on 22 August 2023 vsPSV Eindhoven slotting home a first-time finish into the bottom corner after a counter-attack to equalise.[22]
On 30 January 2025, Matondo signed forHannover 96 on loan from Rangers for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.[23]Matondo scored 34 minutes into his debut againstHamburger SV, receiving the ball on the left wing, and jinking between two defenders before curling into the far right corner.[24]
Matondo was eligible to represent DR Congo, England or Wales at international level.[4] He represented England at under-15 level before switching allegiance to Wales atunder-17 level.[5] He made 10 appearances for the under-17 team.[25] He received his first call up to theWales under-21 squad in September 2017,[26] making his debut for the side in a 3–1 victory overLiechtenstein.[27] After appearing in four qualifying matches as a substitute,[27] he made his first start for the under-21 side in a 1–1 draw withGeorgia in the second of two friendlies against the nation in June 2018.[28][29] He played eight games in total at under-21 level.[25]
In November 2018, Matondo received his first call up for thesenior Welsh squad for afriendly againstAlbania.[30] He made his international debut during the match on 20 November as a 78th-minute substitute in place ofSam Vokes as Wales lost 1–0 inElbasan.[31]
In May 2019, after travelling back to England from a Welsh national team training camp in Portugal, Matondo was escorted from the plane by police after "behaving disruptively".[32]
On 8 October 2020, Matondo started for Wales in a friendly against England.[33]
On 1 June 2022, Matondo came on as a half time substitute for Wales in aNations League Group A game againstPoland. Wales lost 2–1 with Matondo providing the assist forJonny Williams's Wales goal.[34]
On 22 March 2025, Matondo came on in the second half for Wales in aWorld Cup qualifier againstKazakhstan. Wales won 3-1 with Matondo scoring his first international goal in the closing stages of the match.[35]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester City U21 | 2017–18[36] | — | — | — | — | — | 2[c] | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 2018–19[37] | — | — | — | — | — | 4[c] | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| Total | — | — | — | — | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | ||||||
| Schalke 04 II | 2018–19[2] | Oberliga Westfalen | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2019–20[2] | Regionalliga West | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| Schalke 04 | 2018–19[37] | Bundesliga | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[38] | Bundesliga | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 2 | ||||
| 2020–21[39] | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | ||||
| Stoke City (loan) | 2020–21[39] | Championship | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| Cercle Brugge (loan) | 2021–22[2] | Belgian Pro League | 26 | 9 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 27 | 10 | |||
| Rangers | 2022–23[40] | Scottish Premiership | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7[d] | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | |
| 2023–24[41] | Scottish Premiership | 19 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[e] | 1 | — | 31 | 6 | ||
| 2024–25[42] | Scottish Premiership | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | — | 8 | 2 | ||
| Total | 44 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 1 | — | 67 | 8 | |||
| Hannover 96 (loan) | 2024–25 | 2. Bundesliga | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 119 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 150 | 23 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | 2018 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 March 2025 | Cardiff City Stadium,Cardiff, Wales |  Kazakhstan | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Rangers
