Dominik Livaković Height, Weight, Age, Body Statistics

Dominik Livaković is a Croatian professional soccer player who has represented, as a goalkeeper, NK Zagreb (2012-2015) and GNK Dinamo Zagreb (2015-Present) in Croatia. Between 2015 and 2016, he also spent a loan spell with NK Zagreb. With NK Zagreb, he won the Druga HNL (the 2nd tier of the Croatian professional soccer league system) title in the 2013-14 season. With GNK Dinamo Zagreb, he completed the domestic double of winning the Prva HNL (the top division of the Croatian professional soccer league system) title and the Croatian Cup (the premier domestic knockout soccer competition in Croatia) in the 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons. Besides these seasons, Dominik won the Prva HNL in the 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2021-22 seasons as well. With the club, he also won the Croatian Super Cup in 2019. The trophy is annually decided by a one-off match played between the previous season’s winners of the Prva HNL and the Croatian Cup. At the international level, Dominik represented Croatia at the under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20, and under-21 tiers before making his senior national debut in January 2017. He was a non-playing member of the Croatian squad that finished as the runner-up at the 2018 edition of the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup. 4 years later, he was the first-choice goalkeeper and a vital member of the Croatian squad that finished in 3rd place at the2022 FIFA World Cup.

Born Name

Dominik Livaković

Nick Name

Livi

Sun Sign

Capricorn

Born Place

Zadar, Ravni Kotari, Croatia

Residence

Zagreb, Croatia

Nationality

Occupation

Professional Soccer Player

Family

• Father – Zdravko Livaković (Construction Engineer, Former State Secretary in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport, and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia)
• Mother – Manuela Skoblar
• Others – Josip Skoblar (First Cousin Twice Removed) (Soccer Manager (Retired), Professional Soccer Player (Retired)), Vesna Livaković (Paternal Grandmother) (Former Teacher). His paternal grandfather was a radiologist.

Shirt Number

• 1 – Croatia, NK Zadar, NK Zagreb
• 40 – GNK Dinamo Zagreb

Playing Position

Goalkeeper

Build

Athletic

Height

6 ft 2 in or 188 cm

Weight

79 kg or 174 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Dominik has dated –

1. Helena Matić (2017-Present) – Dominik started dating an industrial designer named Helena Matić in 2017. The couple got married in June 2022 at the Zadar Cathedral, the Roman Catholic cathedral in Dominik’s hometown of Zadar. It is the largest church in all of Dalmatia, the coastal region of Croatia.

Race / Ethnicity

White

He is of Croatian descent.

Hair Color

Dark Brown

Eye Color

Green

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Toned physique
• Short-cropped, side-parted hair
• Affable smile
• Clean-shaven look

Brand Endorsements

He has been sponsored by –

• Adidas AG (German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing, and accessories)
• Reusch International (a worldwide operating manufacturer of sports equipment, mainly goalkeeping gloves and winter sports gloves)

Dominik Livaković Facts

1. Dominik’s youth career began in 2007 when, as a 12-year-old, he joined the local professional soccer club NK Zadar. In 2012, he joined the youth system of NK Zagreb, an amateur soccer club based in the Croatian capital city of Zagreb. Although he played for the club’s youth team until 2014, he started turning out for NK Zagreb‘s senior team in 2012 itself.
2. In 2018, he and the rest of the Croatian squad that finished as the runner-up at the FIFA World Cup that year were honored with the ‘Order of Duke Branimir’, the 7th most important medal awarded by the Republic of Croatia. The medal is awarded for excellence in promoting Croatia on the international stage and is named after Branimir, a ruler of Croatia who reigned as duke from 879-892 AD.
3. At the annual award ceremony held by the Croatian Association Football Union and Sportske Novosti (a Croatian daily sports newspaper based in Zagreb), Dominik was named the ‘Best Croatian Goalkeeper’ for 4 years in succession – 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. He was also included in the ‘Prva HNL Team of The Year’ in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
4. On July 30, 2019, he broke Dražen Ladić’s 1995 record for the most number of minutes played (413) from the start of GNK Dinamo Zagreb‘s season without conceding a goal. Dominik conceded his first goal of the season 3 days later, extending the new record to 535 minutes.
5. In March 2021, during the 2nd leg of a pre-quarterfinal match of the 2020-21 season of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Europa League (the 2nd-tier club competition in European soccer, ranking below the UEFA Champions League), against English top-flight club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Harry Kane was clear on goal but the attempt was saved heroically by Dominik.
6. This was when GNK Dinamo Zagreb was leading by a 3-0 margin during the extra time of the match. The team managed to hang on to this lead which meant that despite a 0-2 defeat in the first leg, GNK Dinamo Zagreb recorded a 3-2 aggregate victory. Consequently, the club reached the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Europa League for the first time in its history. Although the team bowed out in the quarter-final stage, Dominik was included in the tournament’s ‘Squad of the Season’.
7. In the group stage of the 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup, Dominik recorded a clean sheet (a term used to refer to a goalkeeper who prevents the opposing side from scoring even a single goal in a match) against both Morocco and Belgium. His heroics were instrumental in helping Croatia finish the group stage in the 2nd position (with 5 points).
8. In the pre-quarterfinal stage of the tournament, against Japan, after the teams were tied at 1 goal apiece at the end of extra time, he saved 3 of Japan’s 4 penalties to help his team win the shoot-out by a 3-1 margin. Dominik was named the ‘Player of the Match’ for his stellar performance. This also made Dominik just the 3rd goalkeeper to have made 3 saves in a penalty shoot-out in a FIFA World Cup match.
9. The first such instance was recorded in 2006 by Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Alexandre Martins Soares Pereira when he saved penalty kicks from Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, and Jamie Carragher to give Portugal a 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory over England in the quarter-final stage of the tournament. The win meant that Portugal had reached their first FIFA World Cup semi-final since finishing 3rd in 1966. Portugal eventually finished 4th in 2006 and these (1966 and 2006) remain the only occasions where Portugal made it to the tournament’s semi-final stage.
10. The 2nd instance of a goalkeeper making 3 saves in a penalty shoot-out in a FIFA World Cup match was by Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subašić in 2018, against Denmark in the pre-quarterfinal stage. The 3-2 penalty shoot-out victory, after the teams were tied at 1 goal apiece at the end of extra time, meant that Croatia qualified for the quarter-final stage of the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1998. The 1998 edition was Croatia’s first appearance in the tournament as an independent nation and they finished in 3rd place.
11. Danijel was Croatia’s hero in the quarter-final of the 2018 tournament as well, helping Croatia win the penalty shoot-out by a 4-3 margin after Croatia and hosts Russia were tied at 2 goals apiece at the end of extra time. The result meant that Croatia became just the 2nd team to win 2 penalty shoot-outs in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup – the first was Argentina in 1990 (against Yugoslavia and Italy). Croatia also qualified for the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1998. Croatia eventually finished as the runner-up of the 2018 edition of the FIFA World Cup, their best performance ever in the tournament.
12. Danijel Subašić, David de Gea, and Iker Casillas are Dominik’s soccer role models. Having already emulated his hero Danijel’s 2018 feat of making 3 saves in a penalty shoot-out in a FIFA World Cup match in Croatia’s pre-quarterfinal stage match against Japan in the 2022 edition of the tournament, Dominik matched Danijel’s accomplishment of winning 2 penalty shoot-outs in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup in the quarter-final of the 2022 edition of the tournament.
13. In that match, after Croatia and 5-time champions Brazil were tied at 1 goal apiece at the end of extra time, Dominik saved Brazil’s opening kick in the penalty shoot-out which Croatia went on to win by a 4–2 margin. The win meant that Croatia had reached the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup for the 3rd time (after 1998 and 2018). Dominik earned another ‘Player of the Match’ award for his performance in this match. He also became just the 15th player to have received a perfect 10/10 rating from L’Équipe, a renowned French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sports.
14. In the semi-final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Dominik collided with Argentinian forward Julián Álvarez in the 34th minute following which he was shown a yellow card, and a penalty kick was awarded to Argentina. Lionel Messi converted it to give Argentina a 1-0 lead and Julián rubbed salt into Croatian wounds by scoring goals in the 39th and 69th minutes of the match to give 2-time winners Argentina their 6th entry into the final of the tournament.

Featured Image by Dominik Livaković / Instagram