Dominik Livaković

Dominik Livaković (Croatian pronunciation: [dôminik liʋǎːkoʋitɕ, domǐ-]; born 9 January 1995) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Croatia national team.

Club career

NK Zagreb

Livaković became part of NK Zagreb's first team at the beginning of the 2012–13 season. Initially the club's second-choice goalkeeper, he made his league debut on 31 August 2012, playing the full match in a 1–0 defeat at home to HNK Cibalia. He soon became the club's number one and made a total of 104 league appearances over four seasons, including 90 in the Prva HNL.

Dinamo Zagreb

On 30 August 2015, he agreed to join Dinamo Zagreb at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. He made his league debut for the club on 2 October 2016 in a goalless draw at home to Hajduk Split. On 18 October 2016, he made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League in a 1–0 defeat at home to Sevilla.

On 30 July 2019, in a Champions League qualifying 3–0 victory over Saburtalo Tbilisi, Livaković broke Dražen Ladić's record for most minutes from the start of Dinamo's season without conceding a goal (413), set in 1995. He conceded his first goal of the season three days later, in a 3–1 league victory over Gorica, set the new record at 535.

On 26 August 2020, in a Champions League qualifier against CFR Cluj, Livaković saved Ciprian Deac's penalty kick. The game went to extra time and ended as a 2–2 draw, resulting in a penalty shoot-out. Livaković saved Cătălin Golofca's attempt which would turn out crucial as Dinamo won the shootout 6–5 and progressed to the third qualifying round. In the 2020–21 Europa League group stage, Livaković was praised for his performances after he conceded only one goal in five games and led Dinamo to the first place in their group. He notably saved Steven Berghuis's penalty kick in Dinamo's 0–0 draw with Feyenoord on 22 October. On 18 March 2021, in the Europa League Round of 16 against Tottenham Hotspur, Livaković saved Harry Kane's close-range effort when the score was 3–0 for Dinamo, leading the club to a 3–2 aggregate victory and the first Europa League quarter-final in its history.

Fenerbahçe

On 25 August 2023, Livaković joined Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe on a €6.65 million fee, signing a 5-year contract. On 6 September, he was announced as one of the nominees for the 2023 Yashin Trophy.

International career

Livaković received his first call-up to the Croatia national football team for their friendly match against Moldova in May 2016. He debuted against Chile in the 2017 China Cup where Croatia lost on penalties.

In May 2018 Livaković was named to Croatia's preliminary 32-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and was eventually part of the team that finished runners-up after losing the final against France. He made his competitive debut against England in the 2018–19 Nations League match held on 12 October 2018 at Stadion Rujevica in Rijeka, which ended in a goalless draw.

On 5 December 2022, in the 2022 FIFA World Cup round of 16 match against Japan, Livaković was named Man of the Match after saving three penalties in the shoot-out to help his side advance to the quarter-finals. In said quarter-finals, he saved another penalty in the shoot-out against Brazil, helping Croatia advance to the semi-finals. He produced eleven saves, with the performance earning him another Man of the Match award, as well as the rare 10/10 rating from L'Équipe, making him the 15th player in the magazine's history to be awarded it. Despite being one of the favorites for the Golden Glove award, he lost it to Emiliano Martínez.

Personal life

Livaković hails from a prominent family. His father Zdravko Livaković is a construction engineer and a former State Secretary in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure during the mandate of Božidar Kalmeta. His paternal grandfather and grandmother were a radiologist and an English teacher, respectively. His mother Manuela Skoblar is Josip Skoblar's first cousin once removed.

In June 2022, Livaković married his long-time girlfriend Helena Matić in the Zadar Cathedral.

He credited Danijel Subašić, David de Gea, and Iker Casillas as his football role models.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 May 2024

International

As of match played 24 June 2024

Honours

NK Zagreb

• Druga HNL: 2013–14

Dinamo Zagreb

• HNL: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
• Croatian Cup: 2017–18, 2020–21
• Croatian Super Cup: 2019, 2022, 2023

Croatia

• FIFA World Cup runner-up: 2018; third place: 2022

Individual

• City of Zadar Award: 2018
• Honorary citizen of the Zadar County: 2019
• Trophy Footballer – Prva HNL Team of the Year: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Trophy Footballer – Best Croatian goalkeeper: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Orders

• Order of Duke Branimir: 2018

References

External links

• Dominik Livaković at Soccerway.com
• Dominik Livaković at WorldFootball.net
• Dominik Livaković at National-Football-Teams.com
• Dominik Livaković at FBref.com
• Dominik Livaković at the Croatian Football Federation
• Dominik Livaković at Sportnet.hr (in Croatian)