Dzyuba Signals His Playing Career Is Likely Finished
Russia's all-time top scorer Artyom Dzyuba, 38, said Thursday his playing career is likely over, though he stopped short of a formal retirement announcement.
Artyom Dzyuba, Russia's all-time leading goalscorer and former national team captain, said Thursday he believes his professional playing career has come to an end. The 38-year-old forward has been without a club since his spell at FC Akron Tolyatti concluded with the end of the 2025-26 season in May.
Speaking to reporters in footage published by RB Sport, Dzyuba said his career was over, but he did not issue a formal retirement statement, noting he might still feature in the Fonbet Russian Cup, a competition running from July through June 2027.
A long career in Russian football
A graduate of Spartak Moscow's youth academy, Dzyuba built a lengthy career in Russian football. In March 2025, while playing for Akron Tolyatti — a Samara-region club founded in 2018 that had just been promoted to the Russian Premier League — he reached a career milestone of 234 goals, cementing a place in the country's football history. Across his club and international career, he scored 264 goals in total.
At club level, Dzyuba won four Russian Premier League titles, three Russian Super Cups and four Russian Cups, with all but one of those trophies coming during his time at Zenit St. Petersburg.
On the international stage, he scored 31 goals in 56 appearances for Russia, matching Alexander Kerzhakov's record as the national team's all-time top scorer. Dzyuba first gained wide recognition during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Russia, when he converted a crucial penalty to equalize against Spain. Russia went on to win the match 4-3 on penalties, advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1970.
