Rio Ngumoha
Active- Current or last club
- Liverpool
- Country (nationality)
- England
- League or competition
- Premier League
- Position
- Left winger * right winger
- How is the religion known?
- Reported by reputable media
- Last checked
- 8 October 2026
We list a player’s religion only where they have spoken about it publicly or it has been reliably reported, and we link our sources. If something is wrong, or a player’s views have changed, please tell us and we will review it.
Table of Contents
What religion is Rio Ngumoha?
Rio Ngumoha is an English professional footballer who is a Christian. He often wears “Ballers in God” wristbands during training sessions to show his beliefs and has also made his faith very clear by publicly stating that he belongs to Jesus.
Rio Ngumoha is a left winger and attacking midfielder for the Premier League football club Liverpool as well as England’s national team. He spent eight years of his youth career with Chelsea, and he began his senior career with Liverpool in 2024.
Rio Ngumoha has achieved several major milestones early in his career. He earned his first senior England cap as the fifth-youngest debutant in history. He also made his Champions League debut as a teenager, and his great form earned him a nomination for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. On the international stage, he has played for England at various youth and senior levels. His most notable appearances include playing at the 2025 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and featuring in a World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand in June 2026.
Contract & salary
Rio Ngumoha signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on September 25, 2025, shortly after turning 17. This deal ties him to the club until June 30, 2028. Under this agreement, he earns a weekly wage of £1,000, which adds up to a yearly salary of £52,000. This new contract gave him a massive 360 percent pay rise from his old academy scholar salary of £14,400 a year. Additionally, because he moved from the Chelsea academy, Liverpool agreed to a 20 percent sell-on clause. This means Chelsea will get a fifth of the profit if Liverpool sells him in the future.
Early life
Rio Chima Ngumoha was born on August 29, 2008, in London, England, to Nigerian immigrant parents. His father is Nigerian, originally of Igbo descent from Abia State, and his mother is of Guadeloupean descent. Because of his parents, Rio holds both Nigerian and French nationalities alongside his British citizenship. When Rio was eight years old, he began playing on the youth team of Chelsea.
Chelsea
Rio Ngumoha played youth football with Chelsea after spending brief spells at the youth academies of Arsenal and West Ham. In April 2024, he scored a goal in Chelsea’s 3–1 win over Wolves to capture the Under-17 Premier League Cup title. Chelsea tried hard to keep him by offering a new contract. However, Ngumoha chose to reject the offer and sign with Liverpool after being convinced by the progression plan they laid out for him.
His move caused a major dispute between the clubs. Chelsea reportedly responded by banning Liverpool scouts from attending youth matches at their Cobham training ground. On February 5, 2026, a Premier League tribunal ordered Liverpool to pay Chelsea a minimum of £2.8 million for his early training and development.
Liverpool
Rio Ngumoha arrived at Liverpool’s academy in September 2024. He played for the under-18, under-19, and under-21 youth teams during the 2024–25 season. Manager Arne Slot handed him his senior debut in January 2025, starting him against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup. In August 2025, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute and scored in the 10th minute of stoppage time, securing a 3–2 away win over Newcastle United and becoming the youngest goalscorer in club history.
Days after that historic goal, on his 17th birthday, Ngumoha signed his first professional contract with Liverpool. He soon made his debut in European football, appearing for Liverpool in the Champions League against Atlético Madrid. Throughout the 2025–26 season, he played 19 Premier League matches and scored two goals. He also featured in Champions League, FA Cup, and League Cup games. To top off his early career success, Rio won the Premier League title in 2024–25 and lifted the J.League World Challenge trophy in 2025.
International career
Rio Ngumoha played for England’s youth teams from the under-15s up to the under-19 level. He played many matches across those age groups and scored multiple goals. He is also eligible to play for Nigeria through his family roots, but he has stayed completely committed to the Three Lions.
On June 6, 2026, Ngumoha made a historic debut for the senior England national team and became England’s 1,300th capped player. At just 17 years and 281 days old, the Liverpool winger became the fifth-youngest debutant in England national team history. In May 2026, he was also called up by manager Thomas Tuchel to join England’s pre-World Cup training camp in Florida. After his debut match, Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham presented Rio with his debut international cap following the team’s 1-0 friendly victory over New Zealand.
Personal life
Ngumoha is cousins with Jason Adigun, the midfielder who plays for Stockport County. Both players share Nigerian heritage and have backgrounds in English club academies.
