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Predrag Mijatović

Mijatović in 2007

Personal information

Date of birth

19 January 1969 (age 56)

Place of birth

Titograd, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia

Height

1.78 m

Playing position

Striker

Youth career

Kom

OFK Titograd

Budućnost Titograd

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps^†

(Gls)^†

1987–1989

Budućnost Titograd

(10)

1990–1993

Partizan

104

(44)

1993–1996

Valencia

104

(56)

1996–1999

Real Madrid

(29)

1999–2002

Fiorentina

(4)

2002–2003

Levante

(3)

Total

434

(146)

National team

1989–2003

Serbia and Montenegro

(27)

Honours

Men's football

Representing Yugoslavia
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Winner	1987
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up	1990

Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (Goals).

Predrag Mijatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Предраг Мијатовић; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin football expert and former player. He was a striker, known for scoring goals.

Mijatović played for six different clubs during his career: Budućnost, Partizan, Valencia, Real Madrid, Fiorentina and Levante. He also played for his country, FR Yugoslavia, in big tournaments like the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. When he played for Real Madrid, many people thought he was one of the best strikers in the world.

In the 1995–96 La Liga season, Mijatović scored 28 goals for Valencia. This led to him joining Real Madrid. There, he scored a very important goal in the 1998 UEFA Champions League final. This goal helped Madrid win their first European Cup in 32 years! In 1997, he was almost named the best player in Europe, coming second for the Ballon d'Or award. After he stopped playing, he worked as a director of football for Real Madrid from 2006 to 2009.

Club Career Highlights

Predrag Mijatović had an amazing career playing for several top football clubs. Let's look at his journey.

Starting at Budućnost

Mijatović became a regular player for Budućnost in the 1987–88 season. In October 1987, he was part of the Yugoslav youth team that won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile. When he came back to Budućnost, he was a key player alongside other talented teammates. He played in 31 league games and scored four goals that season.

Later, Mijatović almost joined Hajduk Split, a Croatian club. However, the president of Partizan convinced him to join their club in Belgrade instead. Partizan paid a large fee for him, which was the highest transfer fee within the Yugoslav league at that time.

Success with Partizan

Mijatović scored in his very first game for Partizan against his old club, Budućnost. He quickly became a very important player for the team. In the 1991–92 season, he led Partizan to win the 1992 Yugoslav Cup. They beat European Cup champions Red Star Belgrade in the final. He was also named the best football player in Yugoslavia that year.

While at Partizan, many big European clubs, like Juventus, were interested in him. In the summer of 1993, he decided to join Valencia in Spain.

Shining at Valencia

Mijatović played his first game for Valencia on 5 September 1993. He became a star in the 1995–96 season, scoring 28 goals in 40 La Liga matches. He was the second-highest goal scorer in the league that season. His great playing helped Valencia finish in second place, just behind Atlético Madrid.

Becoming a Legend at Real Madrid

In 1996, Mijatović signed a contract to join Real Madrid. Other famous players like Davor Šuker, Clarence Seedorf, and Roberto Carlos also joined Real Madrid that summer. The coach, Fabio Capello, often paired Mijatović with Šuker, just like they played together in their youth team.

During the 1996–97 La Liga season, Mijatović scored 14 goals. He scored a memorable goal against Barcelona in the El Clásico match. Real Madrid won La Liga that season and also the 1997 Supercopa de España.

On 20 May 1998, Mijatović scored the winning goal for Real Madrid against Juventus in the 1998 UEFA Champions League final. This was a huge moment because it was Real Madrid's first UEFA Champions League title in 32 years! The next season was his last with Real Madrid. He then moved to the Italian club Fiorentina.

Time with Fiorentina

Mijatović joined Fiorentina in Italy in 1999. He started well, even though Fiorentina had many strong attackers like Gabriel Batistuta. He helped Fiorentina win the Coppa Italia title. He also played in the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League for Fiorentina.

Final Club: Levante

Mijatović joined Levante UD in Spain in 2002. He played there for one season. After that, he decided to retire from professional football because of ongoing injuries.

International Career for Yugoslavia

Mijatović also had a great career playing for his national team.

Youth World Cup Winner

Mijatović was part of the Yugoslavia team that won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship. This was a big achievement for him and his country.

He made his first senior appearance for the Yugoslavia national football team in August 1989. He was also selected for UEFA Euro 1992, but the team could not play due to political reasons in his home country.

1998 FIFA World Cup

Mijatović was the top goal scorer for the FR Yugoslavia national football team during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification. He scored seven goals in the play-off games against Hungary, helping Yugoslavia qualify for the tournament.

He was a key player for FR Yugoslavia in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He played in all four of his team's games and scored a goal in a 2–2 draw against Germany. However, he missed a penalty kick in the game against the Netherlands in the round of 16, and Yugoslavia lost that match.

UEFA Euro 2000

Mijatović also played for FR Yugoslavia at UEFA Euro 2000. He played in all their games as the team reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to the Netherlands.

Overall, Mijatović played 73 international games and scored 27 goals for his country. His last international game was in June 2003.

Life After Playing Football

After retiring from playing in 2004, Mijatović stayed in Valencia, Spain, and became a player agent, helping other footballers.

In 2006, he became the director of football for Real Madrid. He worked in this important role for three seasons. During his time as director, he helped bring many important players to Real Madrid, such as Fabio Cannavaro, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Marcelo, Gonzalo Higuaín, and Pepe.

In October 2024, Mijatović was appointed as the vice president of FK Partizan, one of his former clubs.

Personal Life

Predrag Mijatović was born in Titograd, which is now called Podgorica, in Montenegro. He grew up in the Masline neighborhood.

Career Statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Budućnost Titograd	1986–87	Yugoslav First League	1	0			—		—		1	0
	1987–88		31	4			—		—		31	4
	1988–89		28	2			—		—		28	2
	1989–90		13	4			—		—		13	4
	Total		73	10			—		—		73	10
Partizan	1989–90	Yugoslav First League	15	1	2	0	2	0	—		19	1
	1990–91		33	14	3	1	6	1	—		42	16
	1991–92		25	12	6	2	2	0	—		33	14
	1992–93		31	17	8	2	—		—		39	19
	Total		104	44	19	5	10	1	—		133	50
Valencia	1993–94	La Liga	35	16	2	1	4	2	—		41	19
	1994–95		29	12	9	3	—		—		38	15
	1995–96		40	28	9	6	—		—		49	34
	Total		104	56	20	10	4	2	—		128	68
Real Madrid	1996–97	La Liga	38	14	5	1	—		—		43	15
	1997–98		24	10	0	0	8	1	2	1	34	12
	1998–99		28	5	4	2	7	2	2	0	41	9
	Total		90	29	9	3	15	3	4	1	118	36
Fiorentina	1999–2000	Serie A	16	2	0	0	9	1	—		25	3
	2000–01		13	1	4	2	2	2	—		19	5
	2001–02		13	1	0	0	4	0	—		17	1
	Total		42	4	4	2	15	3	—		61	9
Levante	2002–03	Segunda División	21	3	0	0	—		—		21	3
Career total			434	146	52	20	44	9	4	1	534	176

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
SFR Yugoslavia	1989	3	0
	1990	0	0
	1991	5	0
	1992	1	0
FR Yugoslavia	1993	—
	1994	2	0
	1995	1	0
	1996	6	3
	1997	8	11
	1998	11	3
	1999	7	2
	2000	12	4
	2001	6	2
	2002	6	1
Serbia and Montenegro	2003	5	1
Total		73	27

Scores and results list Yugoslavia's and Serbia and Montenegro's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mijatović goal.

List of international goals scored by Predrag Mijatović
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 June 1996	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Malta	2–0	6–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	6 October 1996	Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroes	Faroe Islands	3–1	8–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	10 November 1996	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Czech Republic	1–0	1–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	2 April 1997	Stadion Letná, Prague, Czech Republic	Czech Republic	1–0	2–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	30 April 1997	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Spain	1–1	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	8 June 1997	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Slovakia	2–0	2–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	11 October 1997	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	4–0	5–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	29 October 1997	Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	4–0	7–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
9				6–0
10				6–0
11	15 November 1997	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Hungary	2–0	5–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
12				3–0
13				4–0
14				5–0
15	29 May 1998	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Nigeria	2–0	3–0	Friendly
16	21 June 1998	Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France	Germany	1–0	2–2	1998 FIFA World Cup
17	18 November 1998	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
18	8 June 1999	Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece	Malta	1–1	4–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
19	9 October 1999	Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia	Croatia	1–1	2–2	UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
20	23 February 2000	City Stadium, Skopje, Macedonia	Macedonia	1–0	2–1	Friendly
21	23 February 2000	City Stadium, Skopje, Macedonia	Macedonia	2–0	2–1	Friendly
22	28 March 2000	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	China	1–0	1–0	Friendly
23	16 August 2000	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	2–1	2–1	Friendly
24	2 June 2001	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Russia	1–1	1–1	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
25	6 October 2001	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia	Luxembourg	2–2	6–2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
26	12 October 2002	Stadio San Paolo, Napoli, Italy	Italy	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualification
27	12 February 2003	City Stadium, Podgorica	Azerbaijan	1–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualification