Matej Mitrović

Matej Mitrović
Personal information
Full name Matej Mitrović[1]
Date of birth (1993-11-10) 10 November 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Požega, Croatia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Al Ahli
Number 5
Youth career
2002−2005 Kutjevo
2005−2009 Kamen Ingrad
2009−2011 Papuk Velika
2011 Cibalia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Cibalia 40 (0)
2013–2017 Rijeka 77 (3)
2017–2018 Beşiktaş 9 (0)
2018 → Club Brugge (loan) 10 (0)
2018–2022 Club Brugge 29 (0)
2022–2024 Rijeka 31 (2)
2024– Al Ahli 7 (0)
International career‡
2012 Croatia U19 8 (1)
2012–2013 Croatia U20 5 (1)
2013–2014 Croatia U21 5 (0)
2014–2018 Croatia 12 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2018

Matej Mitrović (Croatian pronunciation: [mǎtej mǐtroʋitɕ];[2][3] born 10 November 1993) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Al Ahli. He also played for Croatia national team.

Club career

Mitrović made his professional debut for Cibalia on 25 February 2012, aged 18, coming on as a substitute in an away win against Slaven Belupo.[4] In September 2013, he signed a two-year contract with Rijeka in the Prva HNL.[5] During his first season with Rijeka, Mitrović was member of the squad that won the Croatian Cup, scoring in the final against Dinamo Zagreb.[6] In June 2016, he signed a new three-year contract which tied him with the club until June 2019.[7] On 6 January 2017, he moved to Beşiktaş on a three-year deal for €4.2 million.[8]

On 29 January 2018, Mitrović joined Belgian club Club Brugge on a six-month-long loan deal.[9] On 20 July, he signed permanently for the club after agreeing to a four-year deal.[10]

On 1 July 2022, Mitrović returned to Rijeka.[11]

International career

In November 2014, Mitrović received his first senior national team call-up, when Niko Kovač called him up as an injury replacement for Gordon Schildenfeld. He made his Croatia debut in a friendly against Argentina on 12 November 2014.[12] In October 2016, Mitrović was called up by Ante Čačić as an injury replacement for Dejan Lovren for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Kosovo and Finland. On 6 October 2016, he scored his first international goal in the match against Kosovo.[13]

In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's preliminary 32-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[14] However, he did not make the final 23.[15] His last international appearance was a friendly match against Jordan in October 2018.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 22 May 2024[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cibalia 2011–12 1. HNL 4 0 1 0 – – 5 0
2012–13 33 0 6 0 – – 39 0
2013–14 2. HNL 3 0 – – – 3 0
Total 40 0 7 0 – – 47 0
Rijeka 2013–14 1. HNL 8 0 4 1 – – 12 1
2014–15 26 1 2 0 8[b] 0 1[c] 0 37 1
2015–16 23 1 5 0 1[b] 0 – 29 1
2016–17 20 1 3 1 2[b] 0 – 25 2
Beşiktaş 2016–17 Süper Lig 7 0 3 0 4[b] 0 – 14 0
2017–18 2 0 4 0 2[d] 0 0 0 8 0
Total 9 0 7 0 6 0 0 0 22 0
Club Brugge (loan) 2017–18 Belgian First Division A 10 0 2 1 – – 12 1
Club Brugge 2018–19 12 0 0 0 1[d] 0 1[e] 0 13 0
2019–20 7 0 0 0 5[f] 0 0 0 12 0
2020–21 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
2021–22 4 0 1 0 0 0 1[e] 0 6 0
Total 39 0 4 1 6 0 2 0 51 1
Rijeka 2022–23 1. HNL 5 0 – – – 5 0
2023–24 26 2 2 0 3[g] 0 – 31 2
Total 108 5 16 2 14 0 1 0 139 7
Career total 196 5 34 3 26 0 3 0 259 8
  1. ^ Includes Croatian Football Cup, Turkish Cup, Belgian Cup
  2. ^ a b c d Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearance in Croatian Football Super Cup
  4. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ a b Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
  6. ^ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 15 October 2018[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 2014 1 0
2015 0 0
2016 3 1
2017 5 0
2018 3 1
Total 12 2
As of match played 15 October 2018
Croatia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mitrović goal[18]
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 6 October 2016 Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër, Albania 2  Kosovo 4–0 6–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 15 October 2018 Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia 12  Jordan 2–0 2–1 Friendly

Honours

Rijeka

Beşiktaş

Club Brugge

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Matej Mitrovic" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Màtej". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Màtej
  3. ^ "Dìmitar". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Retrieved 17 March 2018. Mìtrović
  4. ^ Croatian Football Statistics
  5. ^ Radio Rijeka
  6. ^ Croatian Football Statistics
  7. ^ HNK Rijeka
  8. ^ "Beşiktaş complete the signing of Matej Mitrović". Besiktas International. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  9. ^ "Matej Mitrovic joins Club Brugge". Club Brugge KV. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Matej Mitrović definitief naar Club Brugge" [Matej Mitrović finally to Club Brugge] (in Dutch). Club Brugge KV. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Matej Mitrović novi igrač Rijeke: "Lijepo se vratiti u Rijeku nakon toliko godina"" (in Croatian). Rijeka. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Sharbini za vodstvo, Messi za pobjedu: Argentina svladala borbenu hrvatsku" [Sharbini For The Lead, Messi For The Victory: Argentina Defeated Fighting Croatia]. hns-cff.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Football Federation. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Kosovo 0–6 Croatia". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad – Final 23-man lists". goal.com. Goal. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Head coach Dalić presents 24-man Croatia squad". hns-cff.hr. Croatian Football Federation. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  17. ^ Matej Mitrović at Soccerway. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Mitrović, Matej". National Football Teams. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  19. ^ TOM VAN AKEN (13 May 2018). "Club kampioen na een punt in Luik". www.sport.be. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  20. ^ "Club Brugge awarded Belgian Pro League title as season ended early". Sky Sports. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Club Brugge wins back-to-back Belgian titles". USA Today. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021. 2021–22
  22. ^ "Club Brugge vs. Gent 3-2". Soccerway. 17 July 2021.