Enner Valencia

Enner Remberto Valencia Lastra (born 4 November 1989) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors.

Valencia previously played for Emelec in Ecuador, where he won the 2013 Ecuadorian Serie A and was awarded the Copa Sudamericana Golden Boot in 2013. He also played for Pachuca in Mexico, being awarded the Liga MX Golden Boot in the 2014 Clausura tournament. He joined English club West Ham United for an estimated £12 million in July 2014, almost breaking the club's signing record. In August 2016, Valencia went out on loan to Everton for the season, before being sold to Mexican club Tigres UANL in July 2017. At Tigres, he won Liga MX's 2017 Apertura and 2019 Clausura tournaments, and finished runner-up in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League, winning the latter competition's Golden Boot. In August 2020, Valencia signed for Fenerbahçe in Turkey and won the Turkish Cup in his final season, before joining Brazilian club Internacional in mid-2023.

At the international level, Valencia earned over 100 caps for Ecuador between his debut in 2012 and 2026. He represented the nation at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2022 and 2026, and the Copa América in 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024. Widely regarded as one of the best Ecuadorian players of all time, Valencia is Ecuador's all-time top scorer with 49 goals, and has also scored a record six World Cup goals for his national team.

Club career Emelec Enner Valencia came to Guayaquil to trial for Emelec in 2008 from Caribe Junior's youth system, the same team where Ecuador star Antonio Valencia played in his early years. In 2008, he was transferred to Emelec.

Valencia scored nine league goals in 30 league matches in 2011. In November 2012, he scored five goals in five separate matches against El Nacional, LDU Loja, Técnico Universitario, and twice against Manta in both home and away matches, winning four of the five matches, only drawing against LDU Loja. He finished the season as league champions with Emelec, the club's first since 2002.

Pachuca After numerous rumours involving the interest of Liga MX side Pachuca for Valencia, both parties came to terms and agreed on a transfer.

On 18 January 2014, Valencia scored his first goal in a 2–1 victory against Tijuana. The following week he scored two goals to in Pachuca's first away win league match against league champions Club León. He finished the regular season as the top goal-scorer with 12 goals, scoring various braces for Pachuca. Valencia scored his first hat-trick against UNAM in a 2–4 away win to advance in the 2014 Liga MX Clausura play-offs.

West Ham United 2014–15

On 29 July 2014, Premier League club West Ham United completed the transfer of Valencia, on a five-year contract for a fee estimated at £12 million. He later confirmed that he knew little about West Ham before signing and that he mainly knew of them having watched hooligan films such as the 2005 release of Green Street starring Elijah Wood. Valencia made his West Ham debut on 16 August 2014 in a 1–0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for Carlton Cole. On 27 August, he had his penalty saved by Mark Howard as West Ham were knocked out at home in the second round of the League Cup by Sheffield United. Valencia's first goal for West Ham came in his full league debut, against Hull City on 15 September 2014, in a 2–2 draw. The strike, timed at , was described by journalist Henry Winter of The Daily Telegraph as an "exceptional goal". Valencia went on to score two more goals for West Ham in the following weeks, including a header in a 3–1 away win at Burnley, and a goal in a 2–2 draw with Stoke City.

2015–16 His first match of his second season was on 30 July 2015 in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg at home against Astra Giurgiu; he headed West Ham into the lead but was one of two players substituted through injury in the first half as the team eventually drew 2–2. It was confirmed that he had suffered "significant" injuries to his right knee and ankle, and was ruled out for twelve weeks. Valencia scored his first league goals of the 2015–16 season with two in a 3–1 comeback win against AFC Bournemouth on 12 January 2016, including a powerfully hit free-kick.

Loan to Everton On 31 August 2016, Valencia signed for Everton on a season-long loan, with the option of a permanent £14.5 million move in the summer of 2017. Valencia scored his first league goal for Everton when he fired home from close range in a 3–0 win against Southampton on 2 January 2017.

Tigres UANL On 13 July 2017, Valencia signed for Tigres UANL for a fee of 4.2 million.

Fenerbahçe 2020–21 season On 28 August 2020, Valencia signed for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe on a free transfer. In his first year with the team, he scored 12 goals in 34 matches of 2020–21 Süper Lig.

2021–22 season On 26 August 2021, he made his first hat-trick with the team against HJK Helsinki in 2021–22 UEFA Europa League season and Fenerbahçe won the game 5-2 He scored 13 goals in all competitives of 33 matches.

2022–23 season He made a very strong start to the 2022–23 season with coach Jorge Jesus and recorded braces against Ümraniyespor, Kasımpaşa and Adana Demirspor in his first three matches of the season. On 15 January 2023, he also scored a brace against Gaziantep.

On 9 October 2022, he scored his first hat-trick in a league match against Karagümrük in 2022–23 Süper Lig season and Fenerbahçe won the match 5–4 and on 29 January 2023, he scored 4 goals against Kasımpaşa and helped Fenerbahçe to a 5–1 victory.

He also recorded braces against Konyaspor and Alanyaspor in the season. In total, Valencia scored 29 goals, becoming the top scorer in the Süper Lig.

Internacional On 12 June 2023, Valencia signed a three-year contract with Série A club Internacional on a free transfer, signing with the Colorado club for three years. He made his debut for the team on 9 July, starting in a 2-0 loss to Fluminense at Maracanã. The player had a rather discreet performance, without any shots on goal and was substituted at halftime.

He scored his first goal for the club on 1 August, but couldn't prevent the comeback defeat of 2-1 to River Plate at Monumental de Nuñez, in a match valid for the Round of 16 of the Libertadores.

After advancing against River Plate, Internacional travelled to La Paz to face Bolívar in a quarter-final match of the Copa Libertadores. At the 16th minute of the game, Enner received a good pass from Alan Patrick and advanced alone against the Bolivian team's defenders, successfully finishing with a powerful and unstoppable shot into the lower right corner of the goalkeeper Lampe. The forward emerged as a hero in the Colorado's victory in high altitude, alongside Uruguayan goalkeeper Rochet, who made important saves.

Return to Pachuca On 11 September 2025, Valencia joined Pachuca after leaving Internacional, beginning his second spell with the club. He departed the club in July 2026.

Boca Juniors On 9 August 2026, Valencia signed for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors on a free transfer until 31 December 2027.

International career After playing for the nation's under-22 team at the 2011 Pan American Games, Valencia made his debut for the Ecuador senior team on 12 February 2012 in a friendly against Honduras. After making three appearances in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, he scored his first international goal in a 2–2 draw against Honduras on 19 November 2013. He continued his good form in 2014, scoring in three of Ecuador's four pre-tournament friendlies. On 5 March, he scored, assisted a goal and won a penalty kick as La Tri came from 3–0 down to defeat Australia 4–3.

In June 2014, Valencia was named to Ecuador's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. On 15 June, he made his World Cup debut in the team's opening match against Switzerland at the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasília, opening the scoring with a header in a 2–1 defeat. In Ecuador's second match, Valencia scored both goals to defeat Honduras 2–1 in Curitiba. He continued his good form after the tournament, scoring the third goal of a 4–0 victory against Bolivia. On 10 October, Valencia again netted for Ecuador in the 88th minute of a 1–1 friendly draw with the United States.

In Ecuador's second group match at the 2015 Copa América in Chile, Valencia successfully converted a penalty against Bolivia, but the kick had to be taken again due to an opponent's infringement; the re-take would be saved by goalkeeper Romel Quiñónez. Valencia later scored in the match from close range, but Ecuador lost 2–3 nonetheless. Four days later in Rancagua, Valencia set up Miller Bolaños' opener and scored Ecuador's second goal as they won 2–1 against Mexico, eliminating their opponents.

On 8 October 2021, in a 2022 World Cup qualification match against Bolivia, Valencia scored his 32nd and 33rd international goals, overtaking Agustín Delgado as Ecuador's all-time top goalscorer.

Valencia was named to the Ecuadorian squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. During the World Cup opening match on 20 November, Valencia scored the first goal of the tournament from the penalty spot and then got a second via a header in the first half as Ecuador defeated hosts Qatar 2–0. In doing so, he became Ecuador's record scorer at World Cup final tournaments, with five goals. On 25 November, Valencia scored Ecuador's equaliser in a 1–1 draw against the Netherlands, thus becoming the first South American player to score six consecutive World Cup goals for their team.

On 10 September 2024, Valencia scored the only goal in Ecuador's 2026 World Cup qualifying win against Peru. He earned his 100th cap against Argentina on 9 September 2025, becoming the seventh Ecuadorian to do so, and scored the only goal of the match via a penalty kick to secure Ecuador their first victory over Argentina in nearly ten years.

On 31 May 2026, Valencia was named to Ecuador's 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, becoming just the second Ecuadorian after Édison Méndez to feature in three different World Cup tournaments. After failing to score in any of his side's four matches, Valencia announced his international retirement following Ecuador's round of 32 elimination against co-hosts Mexico on 30 June.

Personal life

Valencia hails from Esmeraldas Province and is of Afro-Ecuadorian descent. He came from a poor family and when he arrived at Emelec, he had to sleep in rudimentary lodgings at the club's Estadio George Capwell, as he had no money to stay anywhere else and at times struggled to buy enough to eat.

In October 2016, a warrant was issued for his arrest in Ecuador for unpaid child support. As his warrant coincided with a World Cup qualifier against Chile, police arrived to arrest him once the match concluded; Valencia then seemingly collapsed with an injury in the 82nd minute and had to be taken off with an ambulance cart, which then got into a pursuit with Ecuadorian police.

Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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2010

Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Valencia goal.

Tigres UANL Liga MX: Apertura 2017, Clausura 2019 Campeones Cup: 2018

Fenerbahçe Turkish Cup: 2022–23

Internacional Campeonato Gaúcho: 2025

Individual Ecuadorian Serie A Best Player: 2013 Copa Sudamericana Top scorer: 2013 Liga MX Top scorer: Clausura 2014 Liga MX Best XI: Apertura 2017 CONCACAF Champions League Golden Boot: 2019 CONCACAF Champions League Team of the Tournament: 2019 Süper Lig Top scorer: 2022–23 Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2022–23