Jānis Ikaunieks
Ikaunieks with Latvia in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-02-16) 16 February 1995
Place of birth Kuldīga, Latvia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Rīgas FS
Number 9
Youth career
2005–2013 Liepājas Metalurgs
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Liepājas Metalurgs II 21 (11)
2013–2014 Liepājas Metalurgs 19 (3)
2014–2015 Liepāja 32 (23)
2015–2018 Metz 12 (0)
2015–2017 Metz II 14 (4)
2017 → AEL (loan) 10 (1)
2017–2018 → Liepāja (loan) 6 (0)
2018–2019 Liepāja 41 (16)
2020 Strømsgodset 6 (0)
2020 RFS 14 (7)
2021–2022 KuPS 31 (11)
2023– RFS 22 (15)
International career‡
2011 Latvia U17 2 (0)
2011 Latvia U18 1 (1)
2013 Latvia U19 2 (0)
2014 Latvia U21 3 (0)
2014– Latvia 52 (14)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 November 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 October 2023

Jānis Ikaunieks (born 16 February 1995) is a Latvian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Rīgas FS and the Latvia national football team.

Club career

Liepājas Metalurgs

Ikaunieks was born in Kuldīga. As a youth player he played for the youth teams of Liepājas Metalurgs. Ikaunieks scored 11 goals in 20 matches in the 2012 First League season contributing to Liepājas Metalurgs II winning the championship. In 2013, he was promoted to the first team. On 7 April 2013, he made his debut in the Higher League in a 2–1 defeat against FK Daugava. Throughout his professional debut season, Ikaunieks played 19 league matches and scored three goals. After the end of the season the club was dissolved, due to financial difficulties, and as a result Ikaunieks alongside other players transferred to its successor, the newly established FK Liepāja.[1]

FK Liepāja

Starting the season as a nominal substitute, Ikaunieks strikingly rose to the first eleven and was named Higher League player of the month in May.[2] On 11 June 2014, Ikaunieks scored four goals in a 7–0 victory over FC Jūrmala.[3] All in all, he scored 23 goals in 32 league matches and became the second top scorer of the championship behind Vladislavs Gutkovskis from Skonto. In August 2014, Ikaunieks went on trial with the Croatian Prva HNL champions Dinamo Zagreb.[4] In September, he was named player of the month for the second time in the season.[5] In October, explicit interest in the player was reported from Ajax, Metz, VfB Stuttgart and Udinese Calcio.[6] On 5 December 2014, Ikaunieks was named the best midfielder of the season and was simultaneously voted as the best player of the 2014 Higher League.[7]

Metz

On 23 December 2014, Metz chairman Bernard Serin confirmed that Ikaunieks would join the Ligue 1 side on a four-year deal.[8] The transfer on an undisclosed fee was officially affirmed on 7 January 2015. Ikaunieks made his debut for Metz’ first team on 20 January 2015, coming on as a substitute in the Coupe de France 1/16 finals match victory over US Avranches.[9] He made his Ligue 1 debut in a 0–0 draw against Nice on 31 January.

AEL

In December 2016, Ikaunieks joined Greek Superleague team AEL on a six-month loan deal. On 4 January 2017, Ikaunieks made his debut in a 2–1 victory over Veria. On 18 January, against Veria once again, he scored his only goal for AEL in a match that ended 1–1. Reportedly, there was no buy option in the loan agreement and thus he returned to Metz at the end of the season.[10]

FK Liepāja

On 15 June 2017, it was announced that Ikaunieks had returned to FK Liepāja, while on loan from Metz.[11] He made his first match on 18 June, in a 1–0 victory over Ventspils. He only managed to make a total of seven matches, six in the league and in the cup final in which Liepāja lifted the trophy against Riga FC, due to being out for two months after suffering from a metatarsal fracture. After the conclusion of his loan deal, Ikaunieks joined Liepāja on a permanent basis.

He instantly became an important asset in the 2018 Higher League season, scoring nine goals in 17 matches as well as being involved in the assistance of three goals. Once again being unlucky with injuries, he suffered from a shoulder injury at the end of August and was out for about three months.

Returning strong for the 2019 Higher League season, Ikaunieks scored seven goals in 24 matches, as well as scoring one goal in a Europa League qualifying match against Dinamo Minsk.

Strømsgodset

On 11 February 2020, Ikaunieks signed for Norwegian Eliteserien team Strømsgodset.[12] He made his debut on 17 June against IK Start in a 2–2 draw. On 1 August 2020, having spent only a few months with the team and having only played six matches, Ikaunieks and Strømsgodset agreed on mutual termination of the contract.[13]

Rīgas FS

On 6 August 2020, Ikaunieks returned to Latvia and signed for Higher League club Rīgas FS.[14] He made his debut on 8 August against his old club Liepāja in a 3–0 victory. On 12 August, he scored his first goal in a 4–0 victory over Jelgava.

KuPS

On 22 February 2021, Ikaunieks signed a two-year contract with Finnish Veikkausliiga team KuPS.[15]

International career

Ikaunieks was a member of the Latvia U18, Latvia U19 and Latvia U21 national teams. He made his debut for Latvia on 13 October 2014, playing the entire 90 minutes in a 1–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying draw against Turkey.[16] It was later calculated that he had repeated the record of Māris Verpakovskis who debuted in 1999, being exactly 19 years, 7 months and 25 days old.[17] On 29 March 2016, in a 5–0 friendly victory over Gibraltar, Ikaunieks scored his first two goals for his country. He has been marked as one of the best Latvians of his generation and has been linked with clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Borussia Dortmund.

Personal life

His elder brother Dāvis is also a professional footballer, currently playing for FK Jablonec in the Czech First League.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of 25 June 2023[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Liepājas Metalurgs II 2012 1. līga 2011———2011
2013 10———10
Total 21110000002111
Liepājas Metalurgs 2013 Higher League 1933010—233
FK Liepāja 2014 Higher League 322331——3524
Metz II 2014–15 CFA 62———62
2015–16 32———32
2016–17 50———50
Total 144000000144
Metz 2014–15 Ligue 1 4020——60
2015–16 Ligue 2 8010——90
2016–17 Ligue 1 0000——00
Total 12030—150
AEL 2016–17 Super League 10100——101
FK Liepāja 2017 Higher League 601000—70
2018 1791010—199
2019 2471011—268
Total 41163021—4617
Strømsgodset 2020 Eliteserien 6000——60
Rīgas FS 2020 Higher League 1473110—188
KuPS 2021 Veikkausliiga 83216100165
2022 2383152353416
Total 311152113355021
Rīgas FS 2023 Higher League 9 1 0 0 0 0 — 9 1
Career total 209772041543524790

International

As of 28 March 2023[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Latvia 201430
201540
201672
201740
201831
201950
202073
202161
202294
2023 2 0
Total5011
Scores and results list Latvia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ikaunieks' goal.
List of international goals scored by Jānis Ikaunieks[21]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
129 March 2016Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar Gibraltar1–05–0Friendly
25–0
32 June 2018Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia Estonia1–01–02018 Baltic Cup
410 October 2020Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands Faroe Islands1–01–12020–21 UEFA Nations League D
517 November 2020Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Andorra2–05–0
63–0
724 March 2021Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia Montenegro1–01–22022 FIFA World Cup qualification
83 June 2022Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia Andorra3–03–02022–23 UEFA Nations League D
910 June 2022Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova Moldova2–14–2
104–2
1122 September 2022Daugava Stadium, Riga, Latvia Moldova1–21–2

Honours

Liepājas Metalurgs II

FK Liepāja

Latvia

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Virslīgā spēlēs FK "Liepāja"". liepajniekiem.lv. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Virslīgas labākie maijā - J.Ikaunieks un Beškarevs". sportacentrs.com. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Jānim Ikauniekam pokers, "Liepāja" ar 7:0 pazemo "Jūrmalu"". liepajniekiem.lv. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "Zagrebas "Dinamo" interesējas par J.Ikaunieku". nra.lv. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Labākie septembrī - Jānis Ikaunieks un Viktors Dobrecovs". sportacentrs.com. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Stuttgart an Ikaunieks dran?". n24.de. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Jānis Ikaunieks - Latvijas "SMScredit.lv Virslīgas" labākais pussargs un futbolists". liepajniekiem.lv. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Bernard Serin: "Albert Cartier et son staff ont toute ma confiance"" (in French). wort.lu. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Jānis Ikaunieks debitē, "Metz" tikai pagarinājumā uzvar 3. līgas klubu". sportacentrs.com. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  10. ↑ "Janis Ikaunieks (Metz) transféré à Larissa". www.lequipe.fr. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  11. ↑ Αποστόλου, Κυριάκος. "Βρήκε ομάδα ο Ικάουνιεκς!" (in Greek). Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Klar for Godset".
  13. ↑ "Godset-spiller Janis Ikaunieks løst fra kontrakten". Drammen Live24 (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "Norvēģiju priekšlaicīgi atstājušais Ikaunieks pievienojies RFS | Ziņas | LETA". www.leta.lv. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "Latvijas izlases futbolists Jānis Ikaunieks karjeru turpinās Somijas klubā "KuPS"". www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Latvija-Turcija (1:1)". lff.lv. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "Ikaunieks atkārto Verpakovska vecuma rekordu debijā izlasē". irliepaja.lv. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  18. ↑ Jānis Ikaunieks at Soccerway. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  19. ↑ Jānis Ikaunieks at Soccerway. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  20. ↑ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Jānis Ikaunieks". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  21. ↑ "Ikaunieks, Jānis". National Football Teams. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  22. ↑ "Perinteinen Koplajoukkue nimetty - jalkapallotoimittajien valinnat kauden parhaiksi". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). 16 October 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
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