Stefan Ristovski (; born 12 February 1992) is a Macedonian footballer who plays as a right-back for Dinamo Zagreb and the North Macedonia national team.

Club career

Born in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, Ristovski began his career at hometown club Vardar before he signed a five-year deal with Italian club

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in January 2010. He was 17 at the time but the deal could not become official until he turned 18. Ristovski joined Serie B club

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

on loan on 6 July 2011. After not receiving much playing time, the loan was cancelled in the January 2012 and he was then loaned to Frosinone for the remainder of the campaign. On 5 July 2012, he was again sent on loan, to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. He was then loaned out to Latina in the same division for the 2013–14 season, returning to them for a second time in January 2015. Before the bankruptcy of Parma, Ristovski was under contract with Parma until 30 June 2019. In July 2015, Ristovski moved to

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

in Croatia. The transfer was facilitated through Rijeka's Italian partner club, Spezia. In order for Ristovski to remain eligible under Italy's non-EU quota, he was signed by Spezia on a free transfer and then loaned to Rijeka. On 7 August 2017, Ristovski signed with Sporting. On 2 February 2021, he signed for

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional association football, football Football team, club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They ...

. He made his debut for Dinamo on 13 February in a derby against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

. In his debut, he received two yellow cards and was sent off.

International career

Ristovski made his debut for Macedonia on 10 August 2011 in an away friendly against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and has, as of April 2020, earned a total of 52 caps, scoring 1 goal. He represented the nation at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

, their first major tournament.

Personal life

His younger brother

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

is also a professional footballer and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

international. Ristovski also has a Portuguese citizenship, and his son was born in Portugal.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 8 September 2020. North Macedonia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ristovski goal.''

Honours

Club

Rijeka * Prva HNL: 2016–17 * Croatian Cup: 2016–17 Sporting CP *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 2018–19 * Taça da Liga: 2017–18, 2018–19 Dinamo Zagreb *Prva HNL: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24 *Croatian Cup: 2020–21 , 2023-24

Individual

* Croatian First Football League Team of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24

References

External links

*
Profile at Macedonian Football
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ristovski, Stefan 1992 births Living people Footballers from Skopje Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Macedonian men's footballers 21st-century Macedonian sportsmen North Macedonia men's youth international footballers North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers North Macedonia men's international footballers FK Vardar players Parma Calcio 1913 players FC Crotone players Frosinone Calcio players SSC Bari players Latina Calcio 1932 players HNK Rijeka players Sporting CP footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Macedonian First Football League players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Croatian Football League players Primeira Liga players UEFA Euro 2020 players Macedonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Naturalised citizens of Portugal