José Cifuentes
Ecuadorian footballer (born 1999)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
José Adoni Cifuentes Charcopa (born 12 March 1999) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, on loan from Scottish Premiership club Rangers, and the Ecuador national team.
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Cifuentes playing for Rangers in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | José Adoni Cifuentes Charcopa[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 March 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Esmeraldas, Ecuador | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Central midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Toronto FC (on loan from Rangers) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Universidad Católica del Ecuador | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2020 | Universidad Católica del Ecuador | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | → América de Quito (loan) | 68 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2023 | Los Angeles FC | 102 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Rangers | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | → Cruzeiro (loan) | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | → Aris (loan) | 29 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | → Toronto FC (loan) | 17 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Ecuador U20 | 19 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Ecuador U23 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Ecuador | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:06, 25 April 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 00:25, 13 June 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Cifuentes began his club career in Ecuadorian football with Universidad Católica and América de Quito. He joined MLS club Los Angeles FC in January 2020. He made more than 100 appearances for LAFC and helped them win the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup double in 2022. Cifuentes signed for Rangers in August 2023.
Cifuentes played youth international football for Ecuador at under-20 and under-23 levels. He made his senior international debut in September 2019.
Club career
Universidad Católica and América de Quito
Cifuentes began his career at Ecuadorian club Universidad Católica, having joined their youth system in 2014.[2] He was sent on loan to América de Quito from the 2017 season until the end of the 2019 season.[3]
Los Angeles FC
In January 2020, Cifuentes joined Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC on a four-year contract, for a reported transfer fee of $3 million.[4] He helped LAFC win the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup double in the 2022 season, and reach the final of the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.[5]
Rangers
On 3 August 2023, he signed for Scottish Premiership club Rangers for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract.[6] The reported fee paid for Cifuentes was £1.2 million ($1.5 million).[7] He made his Rangers debut on 9 August, during a UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Swiss side Servette.[8]
Loan to Cruzeiro
On 7 February 2024, Cifuentes joined Cruzeiro on loan until the end of 2024.[9]
Loan to Aris
Cifuentes joined Aris on a one year loan spell on 13 August 2024.[10]
Loan to Toronto FC
Cifuentes joined Toronto FC on loan on 22 August 2025.[11] The loan is set to run until June 2026, with a purchase option included in the deal.
The midfielder did not occupy an international roster spot from the club, due to MLS rules regarding US Green Card holders and rules for Canadian MLS teams.
International career
Youth
Cifuentes played youth international football for Ecuador at under-20 and under-23 levels, making 19 appearances for the under-20 team and six appearances for the under-23 team.[12] He represented the under-20 team at the 2019 South American U-20 Championship, which Ecuador won, and the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where Ecuador finished third. In the latter tournament, Cifuentes scored the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over the United States.[13]
Senior
Cifuentes was called up to the senior Ecuador national team for the first time for friendlies against Peru and Bolivia in September 2019.[14] He made his senior international debut on 5 September 2019, against Peru.[15]
Cifuentes was a member of Ecuador's squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and made two appearances at the tournament.[16]
Cifuentes was called up to the final 26-man Ecuador squad for the 2024 Copa América.[17]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 25 April 2026
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Universidad Católica | 2016[18] | Ecuadorian Serie A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2017[18] | Ecuadorian Serie A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| América de Quito (loan) | 2017[19] | Ecuadorian Serie B | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 22 | 2 | |||
| 2018[19] | Ecuadorian Serie B | 29 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 29 | 5 | ||||
| 2019[18] | Ecuadorian Serie A | 17 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 19 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 68 | 7 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 70 | 8 | |||||
| Los Angeles FC | 2020[18] | Major League Soccer | 18[a] | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[b] | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 2021[18] | Major League Soccer | 32 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 32 | 5 | |||||
| 2022[18] | Major League Soccer | 33 | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3[d] | 0 | 39 | 7 | |||
| 2023[18] | Major League Soccer | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 7[b] | 1 | — | 26 | 2 | |||
| Total | 102 | 14 | 3 | 0 | — | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 120 | 15 | |||
| Rangers | 2023–24[20] | Scottish Premiership | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9[e] | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |
| Cruzeiro (loan) | 2024[18] | Série A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[f] | 0 | 6[g] | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Aris (loan) | 2024–25 | Super League Greece | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 31 | 1 | |||
| Toronto FC (loan) | 2025[18] | Major League Soccer | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| 2026[18] | Major League Soccer | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |||
| Total | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||||
| Career total | 232 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 274 | 25 | ||
- Includes three appearances in MLS is Back Tournament group stage
- Appearances in CONCACAF Champions League
- Appearances in MLS is Back Tournament knockout stage
- Appearances in MLS Cup playoffs
- Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
- Appearances in Campeonato Mineiro
International
- As of match played 12 June 2024[19]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ecuador | 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 0 | |
