Mitja Ilenič (born 26 December 2004) is a Slovenian 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 le ...

who plays as a right-back for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club New York City FC.

Club career

Early career

Ilenič started his football career in 2011, at the age of six, with

Bela Krajina White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alth ...

, and then joined Domžale in the summer of 2019. He initially played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, but later moved to the position of right-back when he was still a youngster. He signed his first professional contract with Domžale at the age of sixteen, and made his Slovenian PrvaLiga debut on 22 May 2021 against

Aluminij Aluminij is a Bosnian aluminium manufacturing company with headquarters in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2016, it was one of the largest regional producers of aluminium with sales of 156,500 tons of aluminium, and third-largest exporte ...

, in the final round of the 2020–21 season. In October 2022, Ilenič extended his contract with Domžale until 2025. Throughout 2022, he established himself in the club's starting eleven, as he attracted the interest of several foreign clubs, including Sturm Graz, Hellas Verona, Lugano, Sparta Prague and New York City FC.

New York City FC

On 4 January 2023, Ilenič joined

club New York City FC on a permanent deal, signing a contract until 2026, with an option for another year.

International career

Ilenič has represented Slovenia at all youth international levels from under-17 to under-21. He made his debut for the Slovenian under-21 national team on 25 March 2022, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw against Kosovo, a match from the

qualification round Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional expe ...

of the

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) will be the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ...

. At the age of 17 years, two months and 27 days, he became the second youngest player to ever represent the team, behind only

Jan Oblak Jan Oblak (born 7 January 1993) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and captains the Slovenia national team. He is frequently ranked as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Ob ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilenic, Mitja 2004 births Living people Slovenian men's footballers Slovenia men's youth international footballers Slovenia men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Slovenian PrvaLiga players Major League Soccer players NK Bela Krajina players NK Domžale players New York City FC players Slovenian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in the United States