Josip Juranović (; born 16 August 1995) is a Croatian 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 ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or right wing-back for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club Union Berlin and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, Croatia, Juranović went through the ranks of the third-tier Dubrava, apart from a two-month stint at the nearby

NK Croatia Sesvete NK Croatia Sesvete was a Croatian football club based in the Sesvete district of the City of Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the souther ...

academy. Making his third-level senior debut in the 2012–13 season, he first drew attention to himself by winning the Croatian leg of the Nike Chance competition for amateur players in early 2014, earning the right to vie for a spot in the

Nike Academy The Nike Football Academy was an English football academy funded and administered by Nike, Inc. The academy had a revolving squad of unsigned under-20 players and was run with the intention of helping them find a professional club. The academy was ...

team. Not making the five-person cut, however, he returned to his club. His club performances remained strong, and, touted by some media as the best player of the autumn leg of the 2014–15 Treća HNL Zapad, he drew the attention of HNK Hajduk Split. After signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with Hajduk Split in early 2015, he initially joined their third-tier B team, but was moved to the first team in April 2015 by the new manager Goran Vučević, and he made his Prva HNL debut in a 2–1 home loss against Rijeka. In June 2018, Juranović was selected in the Prva HNL team of the season for his performances during the 2017–18 season.

Legia Warsaw

On July 31, 2020, he signed a three-year contract with the Polish club

Legia Warszawa Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

. He scored the first goal for Legia on October 21, 2020, in a 2-1 win against

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish f ...

. He won the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

at the end of his only season at the club.

Celtic

Juranović signed for Scottish Premiership side Celtic in August 2021 from Legia Warsaw on a five-year deal. The transfer fee was a reported £2.5 million. Despite playing the majority of his professional career as a right-back, Juranovic would start as a left-back during his introductory stage at Celtic, including his debut against rivals Rangers at Ibrox. He would assume the role of Celtic's penalty taker in his first season, notably scoring against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

and three other times in the league. In December, he was a member of Celtic's

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

victory against Hibernian. His contributions to Celtic's title-winning defence would see him earn a spot in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year. On 6 September 2022, Juranović played his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

group stage match in a 3-0 home defeat against Real Madrid at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

. While on international duty with the Croatia national team, Juranović was strongly linked to a move away from Celtic during the 2022 FIFA World Cup with

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Atlético Madrid,

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and being credited with interest ahead of the January transfer window. Speculation heightened after Celtic signed Canadian international Alistair Johnston from Major League Soccer side CF Montréal, who was seen as Juranović's potential replacement at right-back.

Union Berlin

On 22 January 2023, Juranović signed for

side Union Berlin for £7.5 million plus additional add-ons.

International career

On 14 January 2017, Juranović made his international debut in the third-place playoff of 2017 China Cup against China,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

lost 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw. On 17 May 2021, he was selected in Croatia's 26-man squad for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

. He played two games for the team in the tournament, a 3–1 win against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

and a 5–3 defeat by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. On 9 November 2022, Juranović was selected in Croatia's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They were eliminated in the semi-final against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. They played their last game on 17 December in a 2–1 victory against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

; finishing in third-place.

Personal life

Juranović is from the Dubrava area in the capital of

. He went to Mato Lovrak elementary school in Klaka, Dubrava.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Legia Warsaw *

: 2020–21 Celtic *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

: 2021–22 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 2021–22 Croatia *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third place:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

runner-up: 2022–23 Individual *Prva HNL Team of the Season: 2017–18 * PFA Scotland Team of the Year (Premiership): 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Juranovic, Josip 1995 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football fullbacks Croatian men's footballers Croatia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players NK Dubrava players HNK Hajduk Split players Legia Warsaw players Celtic F.C. players 1. FC Union Berlin players Second Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players Ekstraklasa players Scottish Professional Football League players Bundesliga players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Germany