Samuel Mráz (born 13 May 1997) is a Slovak 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 forward for Polish club

Motor Lublin Motor Lublin () is a Polish professional football club based in Lublin. The club was founded in December 1950. Their nickname ''The Yellow, White and Blues'' reflects their official colours. They compete in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Polish ...

and the Slovakia national team.

Club career

Senica

Mráz started his football career at hometown club ŠK Malacky, before first moving to TJ Záhoran Kostolište and later to the youth academy of

Senica Senica (; ; ) is a town in Trnava Region, western Slovakia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the Záhorie lowland, close to the Little Carpathians. Etymology The name is derived from the word ''seno'' ' hay' with the suffix ''-ica'' us ...

. In July 2013, Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

showed their interest in him, but in the end he chose to stay in Senica. In February 2014, he won a poll for Best Athlete in the City of Senica in 2013 in the collective category of under-17s. Mráz made his professional debut for Senica against AS Trenčín on 12 April 2014 as a starter, before being substituted in the 62nd minute. That year, he was in the starting lineup eight times under head coach

Pavel Hapal Pavel Hapal (born 27 July 1969) is a Czech former footballer and coach of Baník Ostrava. Playing career As a footballer, Hapal played for Dukla Prague, CD Tenerife, Sparta Prague, and SK Dynamo České Budějovice. At international level, he ...

. On 30 June 2014, he signed a new contract with the team until the end of the 2016–17 season. He scored his first goal for Senica that season in a league match 28 November 2014; a regional derby against

Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Slovak league system, having participated in more seasons than any other club. Founded in ...

, which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 25 February 2015, was awarded Best Athlete in the City of 2014 in the under-19 collective category. He made 15 appearances that year.

Empoli

On 19 July 2018, Mráz joined newly promoted

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

team

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

. Empoli's coach Aurelio Andreazzoli fielded Mráz for his first league fixture on 26 August 2018, against

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in a 2-1 defeat. Mráz came on in 77th minute for Antonino La Gumina. He also became the first Slovak to score in his Serie A debut, when he scored against Federico Marchetti in the 94th minute, after a cross from

Giovanni Di Lorenzo Giovanni Di Lorenzo (born 4 August 1993) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Napoli, which he captains, and the Italy national team. Club career Early career with Reggina and loan to Cuneo Di Lorenzo be ...

. On 30 September 2018, he was selected in the starting XI of a game in Italy for the first time. He played 60 minutes of the game against

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, which Empoli lost 0-1.

Loan to Crotone

On 30 January 2019, Mráz joined

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

club

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

on loan until 30 June 2019. On 10 February, he made his debut in a home match against

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

while scoring his first goal for ''I Rossoblu'' two weeks later in a 3–0 home win over

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Loan to Brøndby

In August 2019, Mráz moved to

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

on a one-season loan while his new club secured an option to sign him on a permanent basis. On 1 September 2019, he made his Superliga debut for Brøndby as a substitute in a 0–1 loss against

FC Midtjylland Football Club Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Superliga, which they ...

. Mostly a substitute through the fall of the 2019–20 season, Mráz made two subsequent starts during regular forward Kamil Wilczek's two-match suspension. In the second fixture, a league match against

Esbjerg fB Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber (; commonly known as Esbjerg fB or EfB in short) is a Danish professional Association football, football club based in Esbjerg, West Jutland, Jylland, that plays in the Danish 1st Division, 1st division, the sec ...

, Mráz scored a brace to secure a 2–1 home win and thereby helped consolidate Brøndby's third position in the league table. After Wilczek left in January 2020, Mráz made more appearances and scored his first goal of the new decade on 23 January in a 2–3 loss to AaB. On 30 June 2020, Mráz and teammate Simon Hedlund tested positive for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, ruling them out for at least a week. He left the club at the end of the season with 23 appearances and five goals to his name, as his loan deal expired.

Loan to Zagłębie Lubin

On 13 August 2020, Mráz joined Polish

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Zagłębie Lubin Zagłębie Lubin S.A. () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Lubin. Founded in 1945 as ''OMTUR Lubin'', the club competes in the Ekstraklasa. History The football team was founded in 1945 as OMTUR Lubin by lo ...

on a season-long loan with an option to buy. He made his debut as a starter on 21 August in 2–1 home win over

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

, before being substituted in the 67th minute for Rok Sirk. On 7 December, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 home draw against Piast Gliwice.

Spezia

On 9 August 2021, after his loan with Zagłębie Lubin ended, Mráz moved to Serie A club

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

on a permanent deal, signing a three-year contract. He made his debut on 13 August in a

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

match against

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian language, Venetian and ) is a city and (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the capital of the Province of Pordenone, Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone. The name comes from Lati ...

. On 23 August, he made his first league appearance for the club as a substitute in the 69th minute for Emmanuel Gyasi in a 2–2 draw against

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

Loan to Slovan Bratislava

On 2 September 2021, Slovan announced the signing of Mráz on a one-year loan with a subsequent option for a permanent transfer. The move occurred less than a month after his signing with Spezia. Slovan had signed him to increase the internal competition ahead of Europa Conference League group stage as well as domestic duties and to allow Mráz to regain the form, which earned his initial transfer to Serie A.

Loan to Mirandés

On 1 September 2022, Mráz moved on a season-long loan to Mirandés in Spain. He made his debut for the club two days later, replacing Roberto López in the 81st minute of a 3–0 league loss to Villarreal B. The loan was terminated early on 24 January 2023.

Loan to Anorthosis Famagusta

On 24 January 2023, Mráz moved onto another loan, this time to

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

Volos

On 7 July 2023, Mráz moved to

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

. On 30 November 2023, Volos announced the mutual termination of Mráz's contract. During his brief tenure, marked by only three appearances, he failed to make a significant impact during his time at the club.

Motor Lublin

On 12 February 2024, Mráz returned to Poland to join

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

side

, signing a deal until the end of the season, with an option for another year. He scored six goals in sixteen appearances, as Motor went on to win the

2023–24 I liga The 2023–24 I liga (also known as Fortuna I liga due to sponsorship reasons) was the 76th season of the second tier domestic division in the Polish football league system since its establishment in 1949 and the 16th season of the Polish I liga ...

promotion play-offs and returned to the

after 32 years of absence. On 6 June 2024, his contract was extended for a further year.

International career

Mráz has played for every national team youth team from the U15 team through the U21 team. Mráz was first called up to Slovakia's senior

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

on 2 October 2018 by the coach Ján Kozák for matches against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

(a part of

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...

) and a friendly against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

later in October. However, Mráz was also an alternate for friendly games against

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and Slovakia's first

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

match against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Nonetheless Kozák faced questions from the press and criticism from the fans on social media for not calling Mráz up earlier in the year, especially for May/June fixture, as Mráz became the top scorer in the finishing Fortuna Liga season. Mráz, however, did not debut under Kozák. Slovakia's most successful coach resigned on 14 October 2018 after a 1–2 derby match loss to Czech Republic. Nonetheless, he debuted on 16 October 2018 in a 1–1 draw in

Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...

against Sweden, in a game managed by caretaker manager Štefan Tarkovič, coming on as a substitute for Adam Nemec in the 71st minute.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Žilina *

Slovak First Football League The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Slovak football league system. It was formed in 1993 following th ...

: 2016–17 Slovan Bratislava * Slovak First Football League: 2021–22 Individual * Slovak First Football League Player of the Year: 2017–18 * Slovak First Football League top scorer: 2017–18 *

Player of the Month: November 2024

References

External links

*
FK Senica profile

Eurofotbal profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mraz, Samuel 1997 births Sportspeople from Malacky Footballers from the Bratislava Region Living people Slovak men's footballers Slovakia men's international footballers Slovakia men's under-21 international footballers Slovakia men's youth international footballers Slovak expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards FK Senica players MŠK Žilina players Empoli FC players FC Crotone players Brøndby IF players Zagłębie Lubin players Spezia Calcio players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players CD Mirandés footballers Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Volos F.C. players Motor Lublin players Slovak First Football League players Serie A players Serie B players Danish Superliga players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Segunda División players Cypriot First Division players Super League Greece players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Italy Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Poland Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Greece 21st-century Slovak sportsmen