Matej Mitrović (; born 10 November 1993) is a Croatian 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
defender for
Kerala Blasters
Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in India. The club was esta ...
. He also played for
Croatia national team.
Kerala blasters
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. In September 2013, he signed a two-year contract with
Rijeka
Rijeka (;
Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...
in the
Prva HNL
The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...
. During his first season with Rijeka, Mitrović was member of the squad that won the
Croatian Cup, scoring in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
against
Dinamo Zagreb
Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...
. In June 2016, he signed a new three-year contract which tied him with the club until June 2019. On 6 January 2017, he moved to
Beşiktaş
Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...
on a three-year deal for 4.2 million.
On 29 January 2018, Mitrović joined Belgian club
Club Brugge
(), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...
on a six-month-long loan deal. On 20 July, he signed permanently for the club after agreeing to a four-year deal.
On 1 July 2022, Mitrović returned to Rijeka.
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
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
debut in a
friendly against
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
on 12 November 2014. In October 2016, Mitrović was called up by
Ante Čačić
Ante Čačić (; born 29 September 1953) is a Croatian professional Manager (association football), football manager who was most recently manager of Croatian Football League club GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb.
Čačić graduated from the Fac ...
as an injury replacement for
Dejan Lovren
Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club PAOK.
Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Lyon in January 2010. He spent three and a half seas ...
for
2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
and
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. On 6 October 2016, he scored his first international goal in the match against Kosovo.
In May 2018, he was named in Croatia's preliminary 32-man squad for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...
in Russia. However, he did not make the
final 23. His last international appearance was a friendly match against
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
in October 2018.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Croatia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mitrović goal''
[
]
Honours
Rijeka
*Croatian Football Cup
The Croatian Football Cup (), is an annually held football tournament for Croatian football clubs and is the second most important competition in Croatian football after the HNL championship. It is governed by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS ...
: 2013–14
*Croatian Football Super Cup
The Croatian Football Super Cup is a football match between the winners of the Croatian national top league and football cup. The Super Cup is always held at the beginning of a new football season, and is only held when different clubs win the t ...
: 2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
Beşiktaş
*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 ...
: 2016–17
Club Brugge
*Belgian First Division A
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– ...
: 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21
*Belgian Super Cup
The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...
: 2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
, 2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
Individual
*Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to:
* BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award
* Canadian Press Team of the Year Award
*GPA Gaelic Team of the Year
* IRB International Sevens Team of the Year
* IRB International Team of the Year
* J.League Team of ...
: 2015
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitrovic, Matej
1993 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Požega, Croatia
Footballers from Požega-Slavonia County
Men's association football defenders
Croatian men's footballers
Croatia men's youth international footballers
Croatia men's under-21 international footballers
Croatia men's international footballers
HNK Cibalia players
HNK Rijeka players
Beşiktaş J.K. footballers
Club Brugge KV players
Al Ahli SC (Doha) players
Croatian Football League players
Süper Lig players
Belgian Pro League players
Qatar Stars League players
Croatian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar
Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar
21st-century Croatian sportsmen