.jpg) Pašalić withSpartak Moscow in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Pašalić[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1995-02-09)9 February 1995 (age 30)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mainz, Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Atalanta | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | GOŠK Kaštel Gomilica | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2013 | Hajduk Split | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Hajduk Split | 32 | (11) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2020 | Chelsea | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | →Elche (loan) | 31 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | →Monaco (loan) | 16 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | →AC Milan (loan) | 24 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | →Spartak Moscow (loan) | 21 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | →Atalanta (loan) | 68 | (14) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020– | Atalanta | 162 | (33) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Croatia U14 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Croatia U16 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Croatia U17 | 10 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Croatia U19 | 4 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Croatia U21 | 12 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014– | Croatia | 76 | (11) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:51, 6 June 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:10, 9 June 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Mario Pašalić (Croatian pronunciation:[mâːriopǎʃalitɕ];[4][5] born 9 February 1995) is a professionalfootballer who plays as anmidfielder forSerie A sideAtalanta. Born in Germany, he plays for theCroatia national team.
Pašalić began his career atHajduk Split before moving toChelsea for a reported £3 million in 2014. Chelsea loaned him toElche,Monaco,AC Milan,Spartak Moscow and then Atalanta. Following two seasons at theBergamasque club between2018 and2020, he was signed permanently ahead of the2020–21 season.
Pašalić made his senior international debut forCroatia in 2014, representing the side atUEFA Euro 2020, the2022 FIFA World Cup andEuro 2024.
Pašalić started playing football at county club NK GOŠK Kaštel Gomilica before joining theHajduk Split's youth academy in 2006. A youth international, he first gained wider recognition in the 2011–12 season, scoring 17 goals for the under-17s, despite being a midfielder, and scoring the winner for the under-19s in a 3–2 success againstHrvatski Dragovoljac, which secured the club's championship trophy.
During the pre-season, however, Pašalić was diagnosed with astaphylococcus infection, being sidelined for the first half of the2012–13 campaign.[6] He played his first match as a professional on 14 April 2013replacingIvan Vuković in the 90th minute of a 2–1 home success againstCibalia.[7]
In summer 2013, Pašalić signed a four-year professional contract with Hajduk and went on to make 36 appearances in all competitions during the2013–14 season, scoring 11 goals and assisting a further five. On 14 September 2013, he scored two goals in aderby 2–0 victory againstDinamo Zagreb,[8] and repeated the same fate on 8 February the following year, in a 2–1 win at city rivalsRNK Split.[9]
On 9 July 2014,Chelsea announced the signing of Pašalić for an undisclosed fee.[10] Upon signing, Pašalić said, "I am very happy because I am now a Chelsea player."[11]
On 22 July 2014, Pašalić joinedElche on a season-long loan deal.[12][13] He made hisLa Liga debut on 25 August, starting and beingbooked in a 0–3 away loss againstBarcelona.[14] On 12 April 2015, Pašalić scored his first goal in thetop flight of Spanish football, netting the last in a 2–0 win overCórdoba.[15] On 29 April 2015, Pašalić scored in a 4–0 victory overDeportivo de La Coruña.[16] On 3 May 2015, he scored a late goal which turned out to be the winner in the match againstMálaga in a 2–1 victory.[17]
On 3 July 2015, it was announced that Pašalić will spend the2015–16 season on loan atMonaco.[18] StrikerRadamel Falcao went on loan to Chelsea as part of the loan agreement for Pašalić to join the Monégasque side.[19] During an interview about his loan move to Monaco, Pašalić stated that staying at Chelsea this season was never an option and that he "needs to improve, grow and then hope to get a chance with Chelsea".[20]
On 28 July, Pašalić made his Monaco debut in a 3–1 victory against Swiss sideYoung Boys in theUEFA Champions Leaguethird qualifying round, in which he scored the final goal to make it 3–1.[21] On 8 August, Pašalić made hisLigue 1 debut after playing 25 minutes in a 2–1 win overNice.[22] On 19 August, Pašalić scored againstValencia, but it was not enough to stop Monaco from losing 3–1 in the first leg of theChampions League play-off.[23] On 17 September, he made hisEuropa League debut in a 1–1 away draw withAnderlecht.[24] In the2015–16 Coupe de France, Pašalić scored twice in two appearances.[25]
On 27 August 2016, Pašalić joinedSerie A sideAC Milan on a season-long loan.[26][27] A month after the loan was completed, there were reports that stated Milan was looking to cut the loan short and return Pašalić in January.[28] He made his debut off the substitutes' bench on 30 October 2016 in a 1–0 win againstPescara.[29] In the following game, Pašalić made his first start in a 2–1 win overPalermo.[30] Pašalić scored his first goal for Milan in a 2–1 home victory againstCrotone.[31]
Pašalić scored the winning penalty in the2016 Supercoppa Italiana againstJuventus, bringing Milan its first major trophy since 2011 after the regular match finished in a 1–1 draw (4–5 penalties).[32] On 8 February 2017, Pašalić scored an 89th-minute winner againstBologna in Milan's 1–0 away win. On 2 April, Pašalić scored the equalizer in Milan's 1–1 away draw with Pescara.
On 2 August 2017, Pašalić signed a new four-year deal with Chelsea[33] and joinedRussian championsSpartak Moscow on loan for the2017–18 season.[34] On 12 August, he scored his first goal for Spartak in a 2–1 away defeat toCSKA Moscow.[35] He made hisChampions League debut on 13 September in a 1–1 away draw withMaribor.[36] On 27 November, he scored in a 3–1 home victory overZenit Saint Petersburg.[37] On 10 December, he once again scored in theMain Moscow derby, as Spartak won 3–0 at home.[38]
On 25 July 2018, Pašalić agreed to join Italian sideAtalanta on a season-long loan with an option to purchase at the end of the spell.[39][40] The Italian side finished theseason as third inSerie A, qualifying for the next year'sChampions League.
On 4 July 2019, Pašalić signed a new contract at Chelsea until 2022[41] and returned to Atalanta on loan for a second season.[41] On 18 September, Atalanta made theirChampions League debut, as Dinamo Zagreb beat them 4–0 atStadion Maksimir.[42] On 6 November, Pašalić scored the equalizer againstManchester City in a 1–1 draw atSan Siro.[43] On 11 December, he scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory overShakhtar Donetsk atMetalist Stadium. This made Atalanta the first debutant to reach the final 16 of the Champions League sinceLeicester City in2016–17, and the first team ever to do it with only seven points.[44] On 2 December 2019, Atalanta negotiated a€15 million option to buy to be activated at the end of theseason.[45]
On 15 February 2020, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory overRoma, only nineteen seconds after being substituted forDuván Zapata.[46] On 19 February, he provided two assists forJosip Iličić andHans Hateboer, as Atalanta defeated Valencia 4–1 and went on to reach theChampions League quarter-finals.[47] On 22 June, Mario Pašalić joined Atalanta permanently for €15 million (£13.4 million).[48][49][50] On 14 July, he scored his first careerhat-trick in a 6–2 victory overBrescia, becoming the fifth Croatian to achieve that in Serie A.[51] On 12 August, in a Champions League quarter-final againstParis Saint-Germain atEstádio da Luz, he scored the only goal for Atalanta before getting substituted off forLuis Muriel; however, PSG managed to overturn the result scoring two goals in injury time and knocking Atalanta out.[52] In December 2020, Pašalić underwent asports hernia surgery, which kept him off the pitch for more than two months. He returned to the pitch in a 3–1 defeat toLazio, in which he scored Atalanta's only goal.[53][54]
On 14 May 2014, Pašalić was onCroatia managerNiko Kovač's 30-man list that was named to participate in the2014 World Cup.[11] He was not, however, selected for thefinal squad. He made his debut for Croatia on 4 September 2014 when he replacedMario Mandžukić in a friendly home victory overCyprus.
In May 2018, he was named inZlatko Dalić's preliminary 32-man squad for the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but did not make thefinal 23.[55]
He scored his debut goal for the national team on 7 October 2020 in a friendly 2–1 victory overSwitzerland.[56]
Pašalić was born inMainz, Germany, but grew up inKaštel Gomilica, Croatia. His father Ivan is aBosnian Croat fromSarajlije nearTomislavgrad. His mother Slavica hails fromVrlika. They both moved to Germany due to theYugoslav Wars. He is a cousin of fellow footballerIvan Krstanović.[57][58][59]
In June 2019, Pašalić married his longtime girlfriend Marija Grbeša on theisland ofČiovo.[60] In February 2022, Pašalić and Grbeša became parents of a baby boy, whom they named Luka.[61]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hajduk Split | 2012–13 | Prva HNL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | 30 | 11 | 3 | 0 | — | 3[a] | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 37 | 11 | |||
| Total | 32 | 11 | 3 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 11 | |||
| Elche (loan) | 2014–15 | La Liga | 31 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 35 | 3 | |||
| Monaco (loan) | 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9[c] | 2 | — | 29 | 7 | |
| Milan (loan) | 2016–17 | Serie A | 24 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 1[d] | 0 | 27 | 5 | ||
| Spartak Moscow (loan) | 2017–18 | Russian Premier League | 21 | 4 | 4 | 1 | — | 7[e] | 0 | — | 32 | 5 | ||
| Atalanta (loan) | 2018–19 | Serie A | 33 | 5 | 5 | 2 | — | 4[a] | 1 | — | 42 | 8 | ||
| 2019–20 | 35 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | 9[f] | 3 | — | 45 | 12 | ||||
| Atalanta | 2020–21 | Serie A | 25 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | 5[f] | 0 | — | 33 | 6 | ||
| 2021–22 | 37 | 13 | 2 | 0 | — | 9[g] | 1 | — | 48 | 14 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 33 | 5 | |||||
| 2023–24 | 34 | 6 | 5 | 1 | — | 11[a] | 1 | — | 50 | 8 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 34 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 10[f] | 3 | 1[h] | 0 | 47 | 6 | |||
| Atalanta total | 230 | 47 | 19 | 3 | — | 48 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 298 | 59 | |||
| Career total | 354 | 73 | 35 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 67 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 460 | 90 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatia | 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 14 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 16 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 10 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 76 | 11 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 October 2020 | Kybunpark,St. Gallen, Switzerland | 15 |  Switzerland | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 11 November 2020 | Vodafone Park,Istanbul, Turkey | 18 |  Turkey | 2–2 | 3–3 | |
| 3 | 27 March 2021 | Stadion Rujevica,Rijeka, Croatia | 22 |  Cyprus | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 28 June 2021 | Parken Stadium,Copenhagen, Denmark | 27 |  Spain | 3–3 | 3–5 (a.e.t.) | UEFA Euro 2020 |
| 5 | 7 September 2021 | Stadion Poljud,Split, Croatia | 30 |  Slovenia | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 11 November 2021 | National Stadium,Ta' Qali, Malta | 33 |  Malta | 3–1 | 7–1 | |
| 7 | 10 June 2022 | Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark | 39 |  Denmark | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A |
| 8 | 14 June 2023 | De Kuip,Rotterdam, Netherlands | 53 |  Netherlands | 2–1 | 4–2 (a.e.t.) | 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals |
| 9 | 8 September 2023 | Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia | 55 |  Latvia | 5–0 | 5–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
| 10 | 15 October 2023 | Cardiff City Stadium,Cardiff, Wales | 58 |  Wales | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| 11 | 6 June 2025 | Estádio Algarve,Faro/Loulé, Portugal | 75 |  Gibraltar | 1–0 | 7–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Hajduk Split reserves
Hajduk Split
AC Milan
Atalanta
Croatia
Individual
Mȃrio
Pašàlīć
Croatia squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
