Mateo Cassierra

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cassierra and the second or maternal family name is Cabezas.

Zander Mateo Cassierra Cabezas (born 13 April 1997) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Colombia national team.

Mateo Cassierra

Cassierra with Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Zander Mateo Cassierra Cabezas
Date of birth	(1997-04-13) 13 April 1997 (age 28)
Place of birth	Barbacoas, Colombia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number	30
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2016	Deportivo Cali	43	(12)
2016–2018	Jong Ajax	46	(29)
2016–2019	Ajax	21	(3)
2018	→ FC Groningen (loan)	10	(1)
2019	→ Racing (loan)	0	(0)
2019–2021	Belenenses SAD	63	(14)
2021–2022	Sochi	22	(14)
2022–	Zenit Saint Petersburg	87	(33)
International career‡
2023–	Colombia	3	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 August 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22 March 2024

Career

Deportivo Cali

Cassierra made his debut for Deportivo Cali in 2015. Despite having played at Deportivo Cali with a jersey displaying "Casierra", his official name is spelled "Cassierra" (with two s's).^[2]

Ajax

On 17 June 2016, Cassierra signed a five-year contract with Dutch club Ajax, lasting until 2021.^[3] The club paid Deportivo Cali €5.5 million to complete the transfer.^[4] Cassierra is the third Colombian player to play for Ajax after Daniel Cruz (2000–2003) and Davinson Sánchez.^[5] He scored a goal in his Eredivisie debut against Sparta Rotterdam in a 1–3 win.

Cassierra spent the majority of the 2017–18 season playing for the reserves' team Jong Ajax, in the Eerste Divisie. He finished as top scorer of the reserves team with 18 goals scored, helping his side to clinch their first championship since joining the professional ranks and competing in the second tier of Dutch football.^[6]

Groningen loan

On 2 June 2018, Ajax announced its loan, for one season, to FC Groningen. However, he returned after only half a season.^[7]

Racing loan

In January 2019, he joined Racing on loan until July 2020.^[8]

Sochi

On 26 August 2021, he signed a two-year contract with an additional one-year option with Russian Premier League club PFC Sochi.^[9] Cassierra finished 2021–22 Russian Premier League as the second-best goal scorer with 14 goals, behind Gamid Agalarov who scored 19, as Sochi finished in 2nd place, club's historical best position.^[10]

Zenit St. Petersburg

On 30 June 2022, Zenit St. Petersburg announced the signing of Cassierra to a three-year contract, with the option of an additional year.^[11]

After scoring only twice in the 2022–23 Russian Premier League, Cassiera started the 2023–24 season with 6 goals in the first 6 games, taking the top spot in the scoring race. He went into the winter break of the season in December with 14 goals, 6 goals ahead of the second-highest scorers.^[12] On 2 February 2024, Cassiera extended his contract with Zenit to June 2027.^[13]

On 19 May 2024, Cassiera scored 5 goals in a 5–1 victory over Akhmat Grozny. He became the first player to score 5 goals in a game since Russian Premier League was formed in 2002, and the third overall player to do so in the history of the Russian top-tier championship (following Viktor Panchenko in 1994 and Oleg Veretennikov in 1998).^[14] He finished the season as league's top scorer with 21 goals as Zenit came back on the last match day to claim their sixth consecutive title.^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 August 2025^[16]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Deportivo Cali	2015	Categoría Primera A	23	8	10	3	—		—		33	11
	2016		20	4	0	0	6	2	—		26	6
	Total		43	12	10	3	6	2	0	0	59	17
Ajax	2016–17	Eredivisie	17	2	3	2	9	0	—		29	4
	2017–18		4	1	1	0	0	0	—		5	1
	Total		21	3	4	2	9	0	0	0	34	5
Jong Ajax	2016–17	Eerste Divisie	17	11	—		—		—		17	11
	2017–18		29	18	—		—		—		29	18
	Total		46	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	46	29
Groningen	2018–19	Eredivisie	10	1	0	0	—		—		10	1
Jong Groningen	2018–19	Derde Divisie	2	1	—		—		—		2	1
Racing	2018–19	Argentine Primera División	0	0	—		0	0	2[b]	0	2	0
	2019–20		0	0	—		—		—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
Belenenses SAD	2019–20	Primeira Liga	29	4	1	0	—		—		30	4
	2020–21		32	10	4	1	—		—		36	11
	2021–22		2	0	—		—		1[c]	0	3	0
	Total		63	14	5	1	0	0	1	0	69	15
Sochi	2021–22	Russian Premier League	22	14	1	0	–		–		23	14
Zenit Saint Petersburg	2022–23		26	2	6	3	—		1[d]	0	33	5
	2023–24		28	21	9	3	—		1[d]	0	38	24
	2024–25		30	8	8	4	—		1[d]	0	39	12
	2025–26		3	2	0	0	—		—		3	2
	Total		87	33	23	10	–		3	0	113	43
Career total			294	107	43	16	15	2	6	0	358	125

1. Includes Copa Colombia, KNVB Cup, Taça de Portugal, Russian Cup
2. Appearances in Copa de la Superliga
3. Appearance in Taça da Liga
4. Appearance in Russian Super Cup

International

As of match played 22 March 2024^[17]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Colombia	2023	2	1
	2024	1	0
Total		3	1

Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first.^[18]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 June 2023	Mestalla Stadium, Valencia, Spain	Iraq	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Honours

Ajax

• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2016–17^[19]

Jong Ajax^[19]

• Eerste Divisie: 2017–18

Racing Club^[19]

• Primera División: 2018–19

Zenit Saint Petersburg

• Russian Premier League: 2022–23,^[20] 2023–24^[21]
• Russian Cup: 2023–24^[22]
• Russian Super Cup: 2022,^[23] 2023,^[24] 2024^[25]

Individual

• Russian Premier League Forward of the Season: 2021–22^[26]
• Russian Premier League Top scorer: 2023–24 (21 goals).^[15]