The first trophy of Mario Mandžukić’s career was the 2007-08 Croatian league title, won with Dinamo Zagreb in his first season at the club. A centre-forward born on 21 May 1986 in Slavonski Brod, then part of Yugoslavia, he went on to play for Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich, Atlético de Madrid, Juventus, Al-Duhail and AC Milan. He won 89 caps for Croatia and scored 33 goals.
During the Croatian War of Independence his family moved to Germany. In 1992 he joined the youth ranks of TSF Ditzingen, a club near Stuttgart, and stayed there until 1996. That year he went back to Slavonski Brod and continued his development at Marsonia until 2003, followed by a season at Željezničar in the same city. He made his senior debut for Marsonia in 2004 and scored 14 goals in 23 league games in 2004-05.
NK Zagreb and Dinamo Zagreb
In 2005 he signed for NK Zagreb, where he spent two seasons in the Croatian top flight. In 2007 Dinamo Zagreb paid around €1.3 million for him. At Dinamo he won three consecutive league titles, in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, as well as the Croatian Cup in 2008 and 2009. He was the league’s top scorer in 2008-09 with 16 goals. On 17 November 2007, already a Dinamo player, he made his senior international debut against Macedonia.
Wolfsburg and the treble with Bayern
In 2010 he moved to the Bundesliga with VfL Wolfsburg. In 2011-12 he was the team’s top scorer with 12 league goals. In the summer of 2012 Bayern Munich signed him for €13 million. In his first season he scored 15 Bundesliga goals, more than any team-mate, and was part of the 2012-13 treble: Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League. In the final at Wembley against Borussia Dortmund he opened the scoring in the 60th minute and Bayern won 2-1, making him the first Croatian to score in a Champions League final. In 2013 he added the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup, and in 2013-14 Bayern won the league and cup double again. He was named Croatian Footballer of the Year in 2012 and 2013.
One season at Atlético de Madrid
In the summer of 2014 he joined Atlético de Madrid, who had just won La Liga, for around €22 million. In August of that year he won the 2014 Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid with Diego Simeone’s side. He finished 2014-15 with 20 goals: 12 in La Liga, 3 in the Copa del Rey and 5 in the Champions League. It was his only season in Spain.
The Juventus years
Juventus signed him in 2015 for €19 million plus add-ons. In Turin he won four straight Serie A titles, from 2015-16 to 2018-19, three Coppa Italia trophies, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, and the 2015 Italian Super Cup. In the 2017 Champions League final in Cardiff he equalised with an overhead kick in the 27th minute, although Real Madrid went on to win 4-1. UEFA voted that strike its Goal of the Season for 2016-17. He scored 31 goals in 118 Serie A appearances for the club.
Croatia national team
With Croatia he played at Euro 2012, where he scored three goals, the 2014 World Cup, where he scored two, Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. In Russia he scored the extra-time winner against England in the semi-final, in the 109th minute, to send his country into the final. There, in a 4-2 defeat to France, he scored an own goal and later netted Croatia’s second. On 14 August 2018 he announced his international retirement with 89 caps and 33 goals.
Qatar, Milan and the coaching staff
He left Juventus at the end of 2019: his move to Qatar’s Al-Duhail was made official on 29 December, and he played five league games there before his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 5 July 2020. In January 2021 he joined AC Milan, where he made ten Serie A appearances without scoring; the club announced his departure on 24 May 2021. He announced his retirement on 3 September 2021. On 22 November that year the Croatian Football Federation added him to Zlatko Dalić’s national team staff as an assistant coach, and Croatia finished third at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He stepped down in 2024, after the European Championship in Germany.
