Ervin Zukanović (; born 11 February 1987) is a Bosnian former 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 played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Zukanović started his professional career at Željezničar. After leaving the club, he had short spells with Austria Lustenau II, Velež, Sulzberg and

KFC Uerdingen KFC Uerdingen 05 was a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side, which had its greatest successes in the 1980s, plays in the fourth-level Regionalliga. In 2025, t ...

, before settling in Belgium, where he played for

Dender The Dender () or Dendre () is a long river in Belgium, the right tributary of the river Scheldt. The confluence of the two rivers is in the Belgian town of Dendermonde. The Western or Little Dender is long and begins in Barry near Leuze-en-Hain ...

Eupen Eupen (, , ; ; ; former ) is the capital of German-speaking Community of Belgium and is a city and municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Liège Province, province of Liège, from the Germany, German border (Aachen ...

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

and

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

. In 2014, he was loaned to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

. The following year, Zukanović was transferred to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

. One year after, he switched to

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

, who loaned him to

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

in 2016 and to

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 2017, with whom he signed permanently a year later. In 2019, Zukanović joined Al-Ahli. The following year, he moved to

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly referred to by the acronym SPAL (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. During the 2024–25 season the team played in Serie C, the third tier of the Italian foot ...

. Later that year, he signed with

Fatih Karagümrük Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

. In 2022, he joined

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club (), currently known as Asteras AKTOR for sponsorship reasons, commonly referred to as Asteras, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Asteras Tripolis ...

. Zukanović made his senior international debut for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

in 2012, earning over 30

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

until 2019.

Club career

Early career

Zukanović came through the youth academy of his hometown club Željezničar. He made his professional debut in 2005 at the age of 18. After leaving the team, he had short spells with mostly lower-league sides like Austria Lustenau II, Sulzberg and

. In January 2009, he joined Belgian outfit

. On 7 March, he scored his first professional goal against

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

. In July 2010, Zukanović switched to

. In June 2011, he was transferred to

. In December 2012, he moved to

Chievo

In June 2014, Zukanović was loaned to Italian side

until the end of the season. He made his official debut for the team on 24 September against

. On 26 October, he scored his first goal for Chievo against

. In June 2015, Chievo signed him on a four-year deal.

Sampdoria

In July, Zukanović was transferred to Sampdoria for an undisclosed fee. He made his competitive debut for the squad in a UEFA Europa League qualifier against

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

on 30 July. A month later, he made his league debut against

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. On 25 October, he scored his first goal for Sampdoria in a triumph over

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

Roma

In January 2016, Zukanović was sent on a six-month loan to

, with an option to make the transfer permanent. He debuted officially for the club against

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

on 30 January. A month later, Roma exercised their buy clause and signed him on a contract until June 2019. On 8 March, Zukanović debuted in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

away at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. In July, he was sent on a season-long loan to

Genoa

In July 2017, Zukanović was loaned to Genoa for the remainder of the campaign. He debuted competitively for the side against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

on 17 September. In March 2018, Genoa signed him on a three-year deal.

Later stage of career

In August 2019, Zukanović was transferred to Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ahli. In January 2020, he signed with

. In August, he joined Turkish team

. In August 2022, he moved to Greek side

. He announced his retirement from football on 16 July 2024.

International career

In October 2012, Zukanović received his first senior call up to

, for 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. He debuted against the latter on 16 October. Zukanović was selected in Bosnia and Herzegovina's preliminary squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. He failed to join the team, which had a training camp in the United States, due to

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

problems. However, he later blamed the Bosnian FA, which subsequently got him dropped from the team. He retired from international football on 20 October 2020.

Managerial career

In August 2024, Zukanović was appointed as Čelik Zenica assistant coach.

Personal life

Zukanović married his long-time girlfriend Emina in July 2011. Together they have three children, a daughter named Alin and two sons named Armin and Din. He is a practising

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

; together with international teammates Ibrahim Šehić, Muhamed Bešić, Armin Hodžić,

Izet Hajrović Izet Hajrović (; born 4 August 1991) is a former professional footballer who played as a winger. Born in Switzerland, he played for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Hajrović started his professional career at Grasshoppers, before j ...

Sead Kolašinac Sead Kolašinac (; born 20 June 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Atalanta. Born in Germany, he plays for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. Kolašinac started his professional career at Sch ...

and

Edin Višća Edin Višća (; born 17 February 1990) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. Višća started his professional career at Budućnost Banovići, before joining Željezničar in 2009. Two yea ...

he visited a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Zenica Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...

during the national team's concentration. Zukanović possesses Belgian passport since 2015.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links