Toma Bašić (; born 25 November 1996) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

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 ...

and the Croatia national team.

Club career

Toma Bašić went through the ranks of

NK Zagreb Nogometni klub Zagreb (''Zagreb Football Club''), commonly known as NK Zagreb or simply Zagreb (), is a Croatian football club based in the capital city of Zagreb. It currently competes in the fifth tier league competition of Croatian footbal ...

, before signing for

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

in the summer of 2014, the same generation as

Fran Tudor Fran Tudor (; born 27 September 1995) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a right-back or wing-back for Raków Częstochowa in the Ekstraklasa. Club career Born in Zagreb, Croatia, Tudor started his career with lower-tier side ...

. He remained in the City of

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, however, having been immediately loaned out to the

Druga HNL The Prva nogometna liga (), commonly Prva NL or 1. NL, is the second tier of the football league system in Croatia. The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Second League. The 1. NL is ope ...

side Rudeš, where he remained for the rest of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. The beginning of the 2015–16 season saw him at

Hajduk A hajduk (, plural of ) is a type of Irregular military, irregular infantry found in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and parts of Southeast Europe from the late 16th to mid 19th centuries, especially from Hajdú–Bihar Count ...

, balancing between the main and the reserve squad. He made his first team and

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

debut on 10 August 2015 in a 1–2 away win against Lokomotiva, coming in for

Andrija Balić Andrija Balić (; born 11 August 1997) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian Serie D club Chieti. Club career Early career Born in Split but living in nearby Dugopolje, Balić started to train football at the local NK D ...

in the 84th minute. In August 2018, Bašić joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

for €3.5 million and signed a four-year contract. He debuted on 12 August in a 2–0 home defeat to

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, coming on in 72nd minute for

Aurélien Tchouaméni Aurélien Djani Tchouaméni (; born 27 January 2000) is a French professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and the France national team. He is regarded as one of the best defensiv ...

. On 19 December, he scored his first goal for the club, in a

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

game against

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

that ended in a 1–0 victory. On 25 August 2021, Bašić signed for

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

. He made his debut on 12 September in a 2–0 defeat to

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 ...

, coming on in 74th minute for

Sergej Milinković-Savić Sergej Milinković-Savić ( sr-Cyrl, Сергеј Милинковић-Савић, ; born 27 February 1995), also known mononymously as Sergej, is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal an ...

. He scored his debut goal on 30 September, in a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

2–0 victory over

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

. On 17 January 2024, Bašić moved on loan to

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

until the end of the season.

International career

Bašić was selected to

Nenad Gračan Nenad Gračan (born 23 January 1962) is a Croatian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the coach of the Croatia women's national football team. Club career Born in Rijeka, SFR Yugoslavia, Gračan started playing ...

's 23-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019, remaining an unused substitute throughout the tournament as

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

finished last in their

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

. On 4 November 2020, senior team head coach

Zlatko Dalić Zlatko Dalić (; born 26 October 1966) is a Croatian people, Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player. He has been the manager of the Croatia national football ...

called Bašić up for November fixtures against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He debuted on 11 November, playing last 30 minutes in a friendly 3–3 draw with Turkey. He notably broke the ball during the game. On 17 May 2021, he was included in Dalić's preliminary 34-man squad for the

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 ...

; however, he did not make the final 26.

Personal life

Bašić was born and raised in the Dubrava neighborhood of

, and was a fan of

through his father, who is originally from Pirovac in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

. He has a twin brother

Jakov Jakov ( sr-Cyrl, Јаков, ) is a masculine given name of Biblical origin and a saints' name. It is cognate to Jakob, Yakov, Jacob and James. It is often found in Croatia and Serbia, and also appears elsewhere. The name Jacob is of Hebrew origi ...

, who is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Lazio official profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basic, Toma 1996 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Croatian twins Men's association football midfielders Croatian men's footballers 21st-century Croatian sportsmen Croatia men's international footballers Croatia men's under-21 international footballers Croatia men's youth international footballers Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Ligue 1 players Serie A players HNK Hajduk Split players NK Rudeš players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players SS Lazio players US Salernitana 1919 players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Croatian expatriate sportspeople in France Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Italy