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Domagoj Vida
Vida 2018 (cropped).jpg
Vida with Croatia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Domagoj Vida
Date of birth (1989-04-29) 29 April 1989 (age 36)
Place of birth Našice, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.84 m
Playing position Centre-back
Club information
Current club AEK Athens
Number 21
Youth career
1996–2003 NK Jedinstvo Donji Miholjac
2003–2006 Osijek
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2006–2010 Osijek 90 (6)
2010–2011 Bayer Leverkusen 1 (0)
2011–2013 Dinamo Zagreb 44 (6)
2013–2018 Dynamo Kyiv 105 (10)
2018–2022 Beşiktaş 137 (15)
2022– AEK Athens 73 (7)
National team‡
2008 Croatia U19 4 (0)
2007–2009 Croatia U20 10 (1)
2007–2010 Croatia U21 19 (2)
2010–2024 Croatia 105 (4)
Honours
Men's football
Representing  Croatia
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 2018 Russia
Third 2022 Qatar
UEFA Nations League
Runner-up 2023 Netherlands
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:00, 8 December 2024 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:24, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Domagoj Vida (born 29 April 1989) is a professional footballer from Croatia. He plays as a defender for the Greek club AEK Athens. He is known for being able to play in any defensive spot, but he mostly plays as a centre-back.

Domagoj Vida is special because he was the first Croatian footballer to win a league title in four different European countries. He won titles with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine, Beşiktaş in Turkey, and AEK Athens in Greece.

Club Career Highlights

Starting Out in Football

Vida spent his early years playing football in Croatia. He grew up in the Osijek youth system. He first played for the senior team in the 2006–07 season when he was just 17 years old. He played 12 games that season. In the 2007–08 season, Vida played more often for his club.

Domagoj Vida
Vida playing in 2010

Playing for Bayer Leverkusen

On 29 April 2010, Vida joined the German club Bayer Leverkusen. He stayed there for only one season, the 2010–11 season. During this time, he played eight games in the UEFA Europa League. He made his Bundesliga debut on 5 March 2011. This was his only game in the German league.

Time at Dinamo Zagreb

On 14 June 2011, Vida moved to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia. On 25 July 2012, Vida scored a very important goal in the 98th minute against Bulgarian team Ludogorets Razgrad. This goal helped his team win 3–2 at home in a UEFA Champions League match. This win allowed them to move to the next round of the competition.

Moving to Dynamo Kyiv

On 2 January 2013, Vida signed a five-year contract with the Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv. He made his first appearance for Dynamo on 14 February in a Europa League match. His first game in the Ukrainian Premier League was on 3 March. On 17 March, Vida scored his first goal for Dynamo. He scored with a great header after a corner kick. This goal helped Dynamo win 1–0.

On 17 May 2015, Vida scored the winning goal against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. This goal helped Dynamo Kyiv win their first Ukrainian Premier League title in six years.

Playing for Beşiktaş

On 3 January 2018, Vida joined Beşiktaş in Turkey. He signed a contract for four and a half years. Vida played his first game for Beşiktaş on 21 February 2018. This was an away game that Beşiktaş won 2–1. In a UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich, Vida was sent off early in the game. Beşiktaş ended up losing that match.

Joining AEK Athens

On 31 July 2022, Vida signed with the Greek club AEK Athens. He played his first game for them on 20 August 2022. On 22 January, he scored his first goal for AEK Athens. Vida scored a goal in the last minute of a game against his former club, Dinamo Zagreb, in the UEFA Champions League play-offs. This helped AEK win overall and qualify for the Europa League. On 5 October 2023, he scored a powerful header against Ajax, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He scored another header in the same week. On 4 December 2023, Vida scored his fourth goal of the season, helping AEK win 1–0.

International Career for Croatia

Vida Domagoj - Croatia vs. Portugal, 10th June 2013
Vida playing for Croatia in 2013

Vida played for the Croatia national under-21 team before joining the senior team.

On 23 May 2010, he played his first game for the senior Croatia team. This was in a 2–0 win against Wales. He came into the game as a substitute. He later played the full 90 minutes in a game against Estonia.

In 2011, he played in four qualifying matches for Euro 2012. This helped Croatia get a spot in the main tournament. He played one game in the finals, which Croatia lost, and they were eliminated.

On 10 September 2013, Vida scored his first goal for the national team. This was in a friendly match against South Korea.

Vida was part of the Croatian team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. However, he did not play in any games during that tournament. He became a regular player again during the Euro 2016 qualifiers. He also played in three matches at the Euro 2016 finals, where Croatia was knocked out by Portugal.

Вида Домагой на ЧМ по футболу 2018 год Россия Хорватия (Кадрировано)
Vida (left) with his Croatian teammates Vedran Ćorluka (center) and Dejan Lovren (right) celebrating a goal during the 2018 World Cup quarter-final against Russia.

On 3 September 2017, Vida scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Kosovo in a World Cup qualifying game.

In June 2018, he was chosen for Croatia's team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Vida scored a header in the quarter-final game against the host country, Russia. This goal gave Croatia a 2–1 lead in extra time. The game ended 2–2, and Vida scored his penalty kick in the penalty shootout, helping Croatia move forward. In the final match, he helped set up Croatia's first goal. Croatia finished as runners-up after losing to France 4–2.

On 15 October 2018, he was the captain of the national team for the first time. He also scored a goal in a 2–1 friendly win against Jordan.

On 16 November 2022, Vida played his 100th game for Croatia in a friendly match. He was a substitute at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where Croatia finished in third place. He also played in the UEFA Euro 2024. After Euro 2024, he announced that he was retiring from international football.

Personal Life

Domagoj Vida was born in Našice, Croatia. He grew up in Donji Miholjac. His father, Rudika Vida, was also a footballer.

In 2015, Vida and his fiancée Ivana Gugić had their first child, a baby boy named David. Vida and Gugić got married in Umag in June 2017.

Career Statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Osijek 2006–07 Prva HNL 12 0 0 0 – – 12 0
2007–08 21 0 1 0 – – 22 0
2008–09 30 2 1 0 – – 31 2
2009–10 27 4 3 0 – – 30 4
Total 90 6 5 0 – – 95 6
Bayer Leverkusen 2010–11 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 8 0 – 9 0
Dinamo Zagreb 2011–12 Prva HNL 29 2 6 0 12 0 – 47 2
2012–13 15 4 1 0 12 2 – 28 6
Total 44 6 7 0 24 2 – 75 8
Dynamo Kyiv 2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 12 1 0 0 2 0 – 14 1
2013–14 17 0 4 1 5 0 – 26 1
2014–15 20 2 6 0 10 1 1 0 37 3
2015–16 18 2 3 0 5 0 1 0 27 2
2016–17 28 3 4 0 6 0 1 1 39 4
2017–18 9 2 0 0 8 0 1 0 18 2
Total 104 10 17 1 36 1 4 1 161 13
Beşiktaş 2017–18 Süper Lig 13 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 18 1
2018–19 31 3 0 0 7 0 – 38 3
2019–20 31 5 2 0 5 0 – 38 5
2020–21 34 5 4 1 1 0 – 39 6
2021–22 28 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 32 1
Total 137 15 11 1 16 0 1 0 165 16
AEK Athens 2022–23 Super League Greece 31 1 2 0 – – 33 1
2023–24 29 6 1 0 9 2 – 39 8
2024–25 4 0 0 0 3 0 – 7 0
Total 64 7 3 0 12 2 – 79 9
Career total 440 44 43 2 96 5 5 1 585 52

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Croatia 2010 2 0
2011 5 0
2012 8 0
2013 6 1
2014 6 0
2015 7 0
2016 12 0
2017 9 1
2018 16 2
2019 8 0
2020 5 0
2021 11 0
2022 5 0
2023 3 0
2024 2 0
Total 105 4
Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vida goal.
List of international goals scored by Domagoj Vida
No Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 September 2013 Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju, South Korea 19  South Korea 1–0 2–1 Friendly
2 3 September 2017 Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia 50  Kosovo 1–0 1–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 7 July 2018 Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi, Russia 63  Russia 2–1 2–2 2018 FIFA World Cup
4 15 October 2018 Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia 69  Jordan 1–0 2–1 Friendly

Honours and Awards

Team Trophies

Dinamo Zagreb

  • Prva HNL: 2011–12, 2012–13
  • Croatian Cup: 2011–12

Dynamo Kyiv

Beşiktaş

  • Süper Lig: 2020–21
  • Turkish Cup: 2020–21
  • Turkish Super Cup: 2021

AEK Athens

Croatia National Team

Special Recognitions

  • Order of Prince Branimir.jpg Order of Duke Branimir: 2018

Individual Awards

  • Ukrainian Premier League Centre-back of the Year: 2016–17
  • Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2018–19, 2020–21
  • Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2023–24

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Domagoj Vida para niños

  • List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
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