Attila Árpád Szalai (born 20 January 1998) is a Hungarian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Kasımpaşa on loan from German club

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

, and the Hungary national team.

Club career

Early years

Szalai started playing football in

Göd Göd () is a small city in Pest County, Hungary. Location The city is northeast of Budapest. Economy Göd has a thriving tourist trade. It has a thermal spa open almost 365 days a year with water rich in minerals. Along the M2 motorway Göd ...

, then moved to youth team of

Vác FC Vác FC is a Hungarian football club based in Vác, north of Budapest. The club of the fourth division of the Hungarian football league was established in June 1899 as ''Váci Városi SE'' plays its home matches at the Stadion Városi Vác. ...

and later to the youth team of Vasas's academy,

Rapid Wien

In 2012,

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

club

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

called Szalai up, and, after a week of trials, he was signed. First, he played in the club's youth and reserve teams, in the third division, and then he was promoted to the senior team. He made his debut as a professional at the age of 18 on 11 May 2016, starting in a 1–1 home tie against

Altach Altach is a municipality in the district of Feldkirch, in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Neighboring municipalities Five other municipalities surround Altach: Hohenems in the district of Dornbirn, Götzis and Mäder in the dist ...

. It was the only time Szalai played for the team in a professional match.

Mezőkövesd

On 1 July 2017, Szalai signed a three-year contract with

Mezőkövesd Mezőkövesd is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies from Miskolc and from Eger. Mezőkövesd is a town in northeastern Hungary, located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, near the Bükk Mountains. It is known as the ...

. On 30 July 2017, he debuted in a 5–0 defeat against

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, commonly known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, FTC is a Hungary, Hungarian professional Association football, football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hunga ...

at the

Ferencváros Stadion The Ferencváros Stadion, also known as the Groupama Aréna for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium in Ferencváros, Budapest, Hungary and the home of Ferencvárosi TC. With a capacity of 22,000, it was for a time the largest stadiu ...

in the

2017–18 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2017–18 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (also known as 2017–18 OTP Bank Liga), also known as NB I, was the 119th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league was officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. Budapest Honvéd FC, ...

season. In his two seasons in the Hungarian top flight, he scored two goals in 45 matches for the club. On 21 July 2018, he scored the second goal in a 3–1 victory over

Paksi FC Paksi FC (''Paks''; ) is a Hungarian professional football club based in Paks. Since its founding in 1952, it has played at either a county or national level. In 2006, it ascended to '' Borsodi Liga'', or NB I, the top division in Hungarian foot ...

in the

2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2018–19 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (also known as 2018–19 OTP Bank Liga), also known as NB I, was the 120th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league was officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. Videoton FC, Videoton ...

season at the

Mezőkövesdi Városi Stadion Mezőkövesdi Városi Stadion is a sports stadium in Mezőkövesd, Hungary. The stadium is home to association football side Mezőkövesdi SE. The stadium has a capacity of 4,183. History The Hungarian government decided to support the reconstr ...

. He scored his second goal in a 1–1 draw with

Újpest FC Újpest Football Club () is a Hungary, Hungarian professional association football, football club based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Formed in 1885, Újpest reached the first division of the Hungarian League in ...

at the

Szusza Ferenc Stadion Szusza Ferenc Stadion (formerly known as Megyeri úti Stadion or simply Megyeri út) is a football stadium in Újpest and the home of Újpest FC. The stadium was designed by Alfréd Hajós and opened on 17 September 1922. The stadium was renovat ...

on 18 August 2018.

Apollon Limassol

On 1 July 2019, Szalai signed a four-year contract with Cypriot team

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

. Szalai made his debut in Cyprus on as a half-time substitute in Apollon's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualifying match against Kauno Žalgiris, which his team won 2–0, on 11 July 2019. He then scored his first goal for his new team in the second leg of the tie on 18 July. In November 2020, Turkish club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

inquired about signing Szalai.

Fenerbahçe

On 17 January 2021, Szalai signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Fenerbahçe. On 25 January 2021, he made his debut for the club in a

match against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

at the Ülker Arena, which Fenerbahçe won 3–0. On 8 March 2021, Szalai scored his first goal in the Süper Lig against

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

, at the Konya Büyükşehir Stadium, on the 29th matchday of the

2020–21 Süper Lig The 2020–21 Süper Lig, officially called the Süper Lig 2020–21 season, was the 63rd season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, ...

season; Fenerbahçe won 3–0. On 28 February 2022, Szalai scored his first and only goal in the

2021–22 Süper Lig The 2021–22 Süper Lig, officially called the Spor Toto Süper Lig Ahmet Çalık season, was the 64th season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. Trabzonspor clinched their 7th league title, and first since 1983-84 se ...

season against Kasımpaşa, at the

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium (also known as Kasımpaşa Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in the Kasımpaşa neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and is the home stadium of Kasımpaşa S.K. The st ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. The match ended with a 2–1 victory for Fenerbahçe. In the

2022–23 Süper Lig The 2022–23 Süper Lig, officially called the Spor Toto Süper Lig 2022–23 season, was the 65th season of the Süper Lig, the highest tier football league of Turkey. The season has started on 5 August 2022 and ended on 7 June 2023. Galatasara ...

season, Szalai played 32 matches and scored two goals. He scored his first goal of the season in a 4–0 victory against

on 25 February 2023. On 10 April 2023, he scored in a 2–1 away victory against

Fatih Karagümrük Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

at the

Atatürk Olympic Stadium The Atatürk Olympic Stadium (, ) is a stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Located in the western district of Başakşehir, it is the largest-capacity stadium in the country. The stadium is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first Pre ...

. On 11 June 2023, Szalai won the 2023 Turkish Cup final with Fenerbahçe. In the final, his club beat

İstanbul Başakşehir Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

2–0. Although he was linked with a move to

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

during the early summer of 2023, Szalai was instead purchased by fellow German club

TSG Hoffenheim

On 24 July 2023, Szalai joined TSG Hoffenheim on a four-year contract deal, for a fee of €12.3 million. On 19 August 2023, Szalai debuted against

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

in a 2–1 home defeat in the

2023–24 Bundesliga The 2023–24 Bundesliga was the 61st season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 18 August 2023 and concluded on 18 May 2024. The fixtures were announced on 30 June 2023. On 14 April 2024, Bayer Leverkusen were ...

season. He also scored an own goal in the 39th minute. Consequently, he was substituted at half time and did not feature in the starting line-up for the club's subsequent match against 1. FC Heidenheim. On 2 September, Szalai played against

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

, and was not substituted. On 13 November 2024, he played in a friendly match against TSV Steinbach Haiger, after

Pellegrino Matarazzo Pellegrino Matarazzo (born November 28, 1977) is an American professional soccer coach and retired player. He was previously a youth coach of 1. FC Nürnberg and 1899 Hoffenheim. In December 2019, Matarazzo was appointed head coach of VfB Stut ...

was sacked by Hoffenheim.

Loan to SC Freiburg

On 21 January 2024, Szalai was loaned to

for the remainder of the

season. In an interview, published by

Kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

, Klemens Hartenbach, the sports director of Freiburg, said that how Szalai signed the contract was weird. On 21 January 2024, Freiburg hosted Hoffenheim and Szalai was sitting among the substitutes for the entire match. After the match an agreement was reached between the two clubs and Szalai signed the loan contract wearing the Hoffenheim shirt. On 27 January 2024, he played his first match in a 3–1 defeat from

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. He entered the pitch in the 71st minute as a substitute for

Lukas Kübler Lukas Kübler (born 30 August 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional footbal ...

. On 12 May 2024, it was announced that Freiburg would terminate his contract.

Loan to Standard Liège

On 12 January 2025, he was loaned to

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

club

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. On 26 January 2025, he debuted in a 1–0 victory over

F.C.V. Dender E.H. Football Club Verbroedering Dender Eendracht Hekelgem, also simply known as Dender or F.C.V. Dender, is a Belgian professional football club based in Denderleeuw. The club plays the 2024–25 season in the Belgian top division, the Pro League, ...

on the 23rd game week of the

. He entered the pitch in the 84th minute as a substitute for

Dennis Eckert Dennis-Yerai Eckert Ayensa (born 9 January 1997) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Standard Liège on loan from Union SG. Club career Early career After stints at Pulheimer SC, 1. FC Köln, and Alemannia Aachen, E ...

. On the 26th game week, he was included in the starting lineup against Genk. Szalai was not substituted; however, the result was a 2–1 defeat against the leaders of the

2024–25 Belgian Pro League The 2024–25 Belgian Pro League (officially known as the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons) is the 122nd season of top-tier football in Belgium. Teams K Beerschot VA, Beerschot and F.C.V. Dender E.H., Dender EH were promoted respectiv ...

Loan to Kasımpaşa

On 11 July 2025, Szalai moved on a new loan to Kasımpaşa in Turkey.

International career

Szalai made his senior debut for the Hungary national team on 15 November 2019, in a friendly against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. He was substituted for

Botond Baráth Botond Baráth (; born 21 April 1992) is a Hungarian football player who plays for Vasas as a defender. Club career From Budapest, Baráth is a right-footed central defender, who joined his hometown club Budapest Honved FC as a youth. Afte ...

in the 72nd minute. On 1 June 2021, Szalai was included in the final 26-man squad to represent Hungary at the rescheduled

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

tournament. He played all three of the team's

Group F Group F may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant dif ...

matches as a left-sided centre back as the ''Magyars'' lost to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and drew with both

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 17 November 2022, Szalai scored his first international goal against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, in a friendly match played at the

Stade de Luxembourg The Stade de Luxembourg is the national stadium of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, located in the Luxembourg City quarter of Gasperich. The stadium is host to Luxembourg's national Luxembourg national football team, football and Luxembourg nation ...

Gasperich Gasperich (, ) is a quarter in southern Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. , the quarter has a population of 10,208 inhabitants. In 2017, major building works began on a new development providing for dozens of large office buildings, hun ...

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

. On 14 May 2024, Szalai was named in Hungary's squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. He started the team's opening match of the tournament against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, playing 79 minutes of the 3–1 loss before being substituted for

Márton Dárdai Márton Dárdai (born 12 February 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for 2. Bundesliga club Hertha BSC. Born in Germany, he plays for the Hungary national team. He's also son of the former Hungarian international P� ...

. After being an unused substitute in the second match against

, he appeared as a 74th minute substitute for Dárdai in the 1–0 win over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

that ensured Hungary would finish third in

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

. On 27 August 2024, Marco Rossi did not invite him to play against

in the

2024–25 UEFA Nations League The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League is the fourth season of the UEFA Nations League tournament, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The competition is being held f ...

match due on 7 September 2024. In March 2025, he was called up against Turkey in the

2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs are matches deciding promotion and relegation for some teams in the 2024–25 season of the UEFA Nations League, the fourth season of the international football competition involvin ...

after almost a year of pause. However, he did not play in the first leg of the playoff in Istanbul. On 23 March 2025, he entered the pitch as a substitute for Márton Dárdai in the 60th minute against Turkey in the

at Puskás Aréna.

Personal life

Szalai is the third most popular sportsperson in Hungary, based on followers on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. In an interview with

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

, his father, also named Attila Szalai, said that in a transfer the most important factor is not the money, but being happy with the move. On 27 December 2022, he played an important role before the match against

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...

by holding a picture of a 6-year-old boy who suffers from

Leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

. In this way, Mustafa Roni Güclü could 'participate' in the match. He donated blood to the victims of the

2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

along with other footballers of Fenerbahçe. His nickname is Sancho (in Hungarian: Szancsó). He can speak fluently in Turkish.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Szalai goal.''

Honours

Fenerbahçe *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Szalai, Attila 1998 births Living people Footballers from Budapest Hungarian men's footballers Hungary men's youth international footballers Hungary men's under-21 international footballers Hungary men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders SK Rapid Wien players Mezőkövesdi SE footballers Apollon Limassol FC players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players SC Freiburg players Standard Liège players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Austrian Football Bundesliga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Cypriot First Division players Süper Lig players Bundesliga players UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA Euro 2024 players Hungarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen