Luka Zahović (born 15 November 1995) is a 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 plays 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) ** Smal ...

for Polish club

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

. Born in Portugal, he represents the Slovenia national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

, Portugal, Zahović began his career at Spanish club

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

before moving to Portuguese club Benfica. When Zahović was twelve years old, his family returned to Slovenia, and he joined

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

's youth selections in the 2007–08 season after his father Zlatko became a new director of football at the club.

Maribor

He made his professional debut in the final round of the 2012–13 season during a match against

Aluminij Aluminij was a Bosnian aluminium manufacturing company with headquarters in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It operated from 1975 until 2020, when it was leased to the Israeli M.T. Abraham Group and since then has been operating as its subsidi ...

when he came on as a late substitute. In the following year he spent part of the season playing on loan at the

Slovenian Second League The Slovenian Second Football League (), also known by the abbreviation 2. SNL, is the second highest Association football, football league in Slovenia. The league was formed in 1991 and is operated by the Football Association of Slovenia. Format ...

squad

Veržej Veržej () is a settlement in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Veržej. It lies on the right bank of the Mura River. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the Mura S ...

, scoring three goals in ten matches, until being given more opportunities by Maribor's coach

Ante Šimundža Ante Šimundža (born 28 September 1971) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of I liga club Śląsk Wrocław. Club career Šimundža started his career at hometown club Železničar Maribor at the a ...

during the second part of the season, eventually making 11 appearances during the 2013–14 PrvaLiga season. The 2014–15 was his breakthrough season. He made his PrvaLiga season debut in the second round when he came on as a late substitute in the 78th minute during a match against

Radomlje Radomlje (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 28.) is a settlement on the left bank of the Kamnik Bistrica River north of Domžale in t ...

. Maribor was struggling at home against the PrvaLiga newcomers with the score being 1–1 and less than ten minutes of regulation left. However, after only spending seven minutes on the pitch Zahović scored his first official goal for ''The Violets''. He increased the lead three minutes later, securing all three points for the home side. He scored his third goal of the season in late August against

Zavrč Zavrč (, in older sources ''Zavrče'', ) is a settlement in the Haloze area of Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Zavrč. It lies between the right bank of the Drava River and the border with Croatia. The area traditionally belonge ...

and continued his good form in early September when he netted a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

for Maribor B in a match against

Šentjur Šentjur ( or ; ) is a town in eastern Slovenia. It is the seat, and largest settlement, of the Municipality of Šentjur. The town lies on the Voglajna River east southeast of Celje. The settlement, and the entire municipality, are included in th ...

in the

Slovenian Third League The Slovenian Third Football League ( or commonly 3. SNL) is the third tier of the Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football system. Since 2019, the league consists of two regional groups (East and West). They are operated by the Intercommunal Foo ...

. A week later, in his fifth PrvaLiga appearance of the season, he scored another double in a match against Krka, becoming the league's top goalscorer with five goals after eight rounds. Only four days later, on 17 September 2014, in Maribor's first match of the

2014–15 UEFA Champions League The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions Lea ...

group stage at home against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, Zahović made his debut in

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

competitions when he came on as a substitute for

Dare Vršič Dare Vršič (born 26 September 1984) is a Slovenian footballer who plays for Korte as a midfielder. Besides Slovenia, he has played in Slovakia, Romania and Austria. International career Vršič was capped 13 times for the Slovenia national t ...

after Nani had put Sporting ahead in the 80th minute. He then equalised in the 92nd minute. This was only the second time, first time among Europeans, since 1992 when the UEFA Champions League was established in its current format, that a father and son have both scored in the competition. His father Zlatko has scored a total of 11 goals in 32 UEFA Champions League appearances during his career. For his performances Zahović was nominated for the 2014

Golden Boy Award The Golden Boy is an award established by Tuttosport that is given by sports journalists to a young male footballer playing in Europe perceived to have been the most impressive during a calendar year (two halves to two separate seasons). All nom ...

. He finished the 2014–15 season in second place among the club goalscorers with 15 goals in all competitions, 12 of which he has scored in the PrvaLiga.

Heerenveen

In August 2015, Zahović moved to the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

and signed a three-year deal with the Dutch squad, with the possibility of a two-year extension. The transfer fee paid by Heerenveen was undisclosed, but it is believed to have been around €700,000. Zahović made eight appearances for the club in all competitions in the 2015–16 season.

Loan and return to Maribor

On 24 August 2016, Heerenveen loaned Zahović to Maribor. On 27 February 2017, it was reported that Zahović would not return to Heerenveen and would continue his career at Maribor. On 23 May 2017, he extended his contract with Maribor until 2020. On the same day, he was proclaimed as the best young footballer of the

2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga The 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga (also known as the Prva liga Telekom Slovenije for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th edition of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its establishment in 1991. The season began on 16 July 2016 and ended on 27 May 2017. The ...

season. In the next season, Zahović became the top goalscorer of the PrvaLiga with 18 goals; all of them were scored in the second part of the season.

Pogoń Szczecin

On 1 October 2020, Zahović joined

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

, signing a three-year contract.

Górnik Zabrze

On 27 June 2024, Zahović joined fellow Ekstraklasa side

on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract.

International career

Zahović was eligible to represent Portugal and Slovenia at the international level. In 2014, he claimed that he would probably choose Portugal over Slovenia if he received a call-up from both teams.

Youth level

Zahović made his youth international debut for Slovenia in June 2010, when he played for the under-16 team in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against Slovakia. He represented the under-17 team at the

2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eleventh edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship under its current age grouping. Slovenia hosted the tournament between 4 and 16 May. An appeal by the Hungarian Football Feder ...

, where he played in all three group stage matches. Zahović also scored the only goal for Slovenia in a 3–1 defeat against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, who later won the competition. He debuted for the under-21 team on 2 June 2015 in a friendly match 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 ...

, where he scored Slovenia's first goal in an eventual 3–0 victory. Zahović was capped eight times for the team during the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth association football, football championship organised by UEFA for ...

qualifiers, and also scored one goal against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

in the first round.

Senior team

On 23 May 2018, Zahović was included in the senior squad for a friendly match against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. He made his debut on 16 October 2018 in a game against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Personal life

Zahović was born in the Portuguese city of

where his father Zlatko, a former professional footballer and the all-time top goalscorer of the Slovenia national team, was at the time playing for

Vitória Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

. He holds both Portuguese and Slovenian citizenship. Zahović and Maja Žnuderl have a son named Filip (born 2019).

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Maribor *

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19 *

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

Slovenian Supercup The Slovenian Supercup () was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected in 2007 and was held annual ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual * Slovenian PrvaLiga top scorer: 2017–18, 2018–19

References

External links

Luka Zahović
at NZS * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahovic, Luka 1995 births Living people Footballers from Guimarães Slovenian people of Serbian descent Portuguese people of Slovenian descent Portuguese people of Serbian descent Men's association football forwards Portuguese men's footballers Slovenian men's footballers 21st-century Slovenian sportsmen Slovenia men's youth international footballers Slovenia men's under-21 international footballers Slovenia men's international footballers NK Maribor players SC Heerenveen players Pogoń Szczecin players Górnik Zabrze players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Slovenian Second League players Eredivisie players Ekstraklasa players Slovenian expatriate men's footballers Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen