Meschak Elia
Elia with DR Congo in 2016
Personal information
Full name Meschak Elia Lina
Date of birth (1997-08-06) 6 August 1997 (age 26)
Place of birth Kinshasa, DR Congo
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Young Boys
Number 15
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 CS Don Bosco
2016–2019 TP Mazembe 93 (21)
2020– Young Boys 115 (28)
International career‡
2016– DR Congo 42 (8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:30, 28 January 2024 (UTC)

Meschak Elia Lina (born 6 August 1997) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Swiss Super League club Young Boys and the DR Congo national team. He received the best player award after his and his teams win in the 2016 African Nations Championship.

Club career

In July 2019 it was announced that Elia would sign for Belgian First Division A club Anderlecht.[1] He, however, disappeared and allegedly falsified his year of birth,[2] which resulted in a 12-month ban by the Congolese Association Football Federation.[2] In February 2020, FIFA "provisionally cleared" Elia to play again and he signed for Swiss Super League side BSC Young Boys.[2]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 13 December 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
TP Mazembe 2015–16 — — 3[a] 0 1[b] 0 4 0
2016–17 — — 11[c] 1 1[b] 0 12 1
2017–18 — — 10[d] 3 1[b] 0 11 3
2018–19 — — 10[d] 4 0 0 10 4
Total — — 34 8 3 0 37 8
Young Boys 2019–20 Swiss Super League 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 2
2020–21 Swiss Super League 25 6 1 0 11[e] 1 0 0 37 7
2021–22 Swiss Super League 30 8 1 0 12[f] 2 0 0 43 10
2022–23 Swiss Super League 31 7 5 3 5[g] 2 0 0 41 12
2023–24 Swiss Super League 17 5 1 0 8[f] 2 0 0 26 7
Total 115 28 8 3 36 7 0 0 159 38
Career total 115 28 8 3 67 15 3 0 193 46
  1. ^ Two appearances in CAF Champions League, one appearances in CAF Confederation Cup
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in CAF Super Cup
  3. ^ Nine appearances and one goal in CAF Confederation Cup, two appearances in CAF Champions League
  4. ^ a b Appearances in CAF Champions League
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 28 January 2024[3]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
DR Congo 2016 9 5
2017 2 0
2018 4 1
2019 7 0
2022 5 1
2023 9 0
2024 5 1
Total 41 8
Scores and results list DR Congo's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elia goal.[4]
List of international goals scored by Meschak Elia
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 January 2016 Stade Huye, Butare, Rwanda  Ethiopia 3–0 3–0 2016 African Nations Championship
2 21 January 2016 Stade Huye, Butare, Rwanda  Angola 2–0 3–0 2016 African Nations Championship
3 7 February 2016 Amahoro Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda  Mali 1–0 3–0 2016 African Nations Championship
4 2–0
5 26 March 2016 Stade des Martyrs, Kinshasa, DR Congo  Angola 2–0 2–1 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6 9 September 2018 Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex, Monrovia, Liberia  Liberia 1–1 1–1 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
7 27 September 2022 Stade Père Jégo, Casablanca, Morocco  Sierra Leone 3–0 3–0 Friendly
8 28 January 2024 Laurent Pokou Stadium, San-Pédro, Ivory Coast  Egypt 1–0 1–1 2023 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

TP Mazembe

Young Boys

DR Congo

References

  1. ^ Gleeson, Mark (4 July 2019). "Vincent Kompany turns to DR Congo's TP Mazembe for new signings". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Meschak Elia: DR Congo star joins Young Boys until 2023 after". Kickoff. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  3. ^ Meschack Elia at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Mechak, Elia". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Young Boys wins Swiss league title in 54th week of season". Washington Post. Associated Press. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Schweizerischer Fussballverband - Statistik und Resultate". www.football.ch (in German). Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  7. ^ Meschak Elia at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

External links

BSC Young Boys – current squad
DR Congo squads
Awards
Categories