Zvonimir Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former professional footballer who serves as president of GNK Dinamo Zagreb. A midfielder, Boban played most of his career for Italian club AC Milan with whom he won four Serie A titles and one UEFA Champions League title. He also captained the Croatia national team which won third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Before 1990 and the international recognition of Croatia's national team, Boban had played for the Yugoslavia under-20 team which won the 1987 World Youth Championship. Boban scored three times in this tournament, as well as scoring in the final (drawn 1–1 with West Germany) and then converting the decisive penalty in the shootout. Having made his debut for the senior Yugoslavia team in 1988, Boban switched to playing for Croatia after the national team's inception, debuting against Romania in December 1990. Having appeared seven times for Yugoslavia, scoring once, Boban was capped 49 times for Croatia, scoring 12 goals, between 1992 and 1999.
Since retiring from playing in 2002, Boban gained a history degree from the University of Zagreb. He has also become a football pundit on Croatian and Italian television, working most notably for Sky Italia and RTL Televizija.
Club career
Dinamo Zagreb
Born in Imotski, Boban started his career with Dinamo Zagreb. He made his debut for the team in the 1985–86 season, aged 16. He would play 109 games for the club over six seasons, scoring 45 goals and becoming club captain aged 19.
Dinamo Zagreb–Red Star Belgrade riot
In a game against Red Star Belgrade on 13 May 1990, Boban kicked a police officer in the face for assaulting a Dinamo supporter after a riot broke out in the stadium. This incident made Boban an icon of resistance in Croatia.
It is cited by some as the expression of Croatian discontent with the Yugoslav regime. It also earned him a suspension from the Yugoslav national team, causing him to miss the 1990 World Cup in Italy. In January 2011, the match (due to the incident) was named by CNN as one of "five football games that changed the world". The police officer (who turned out to be a Bosniak) later forgave Boban for his action.
Serie A
AC Milan signed Boban in 1991 in a deal worth £8 million. In August 2001, with his role at Milan diminished due to the signing of Rui Costa, where he played in only four league matches. Unhappy with his role as a substitute, he retired in October 2001 and finished his last season earlier than he intended.
International career
Yugoslavia
Boban played a big part in Yugoslavia's win in 1987 World Youth Championship. He scored three goals for Yugoslavia in this tournament, and also scored a decisive penalty in the final shootout. At the full international level, he earned seven caps for Yugoslavia between 1988 and 1991, debuting against the Republic of Ireland on 27 April 1988. He played his last game for Yugoslavia on 16 May 1991 against the Faroe Islands, during which he scored his only goal for Yugoslavia.
Croatia
When the nation of Croatia declared its independence of Yugoslavia, Boban left Yugoslavia to play for Croatia. He played his first international match for Croatia against a Romanian side on 22 December 1990. The match was considered unofficial because Croatia at that time was not affiliated to FIFA. This match was only the second fixture Croatia had played as an independent nation since 1956. Boban played his last match for the national team in a friendly against France on 13 November 1999. He blamed back pain for his decision to quit international football, but would go on to play in two more seasons of club football. In his career with the Croatia national team, Boban won 49 international caps and scored 12 goals.
1998 World Cup
Boban was a member of the Croatian team that finished third at the 1998 World Cup, captaining the squad at that tournament, as he had at the UEFA Euro 1996. At the tournament, he sported a slightly unusual haircut with his number 10 shaved onto the back of his head and highlighted in red dye. A mistake he made in the semi-final allowed France to equalize immediately after Croatia had fought hard to earn a one-goal lead. To make matters worse, Boban was injured and wanted to come off at half time but stayed on until the 65th minute, when he was replaced by Silvio Marić. France won the match 2–1 and eventually won the tournament. Croatia went on to defeat the Netherlands, with Boban providing the pass to Davor Šuker to score the winner, allowing Croatia to attain third place and receive the bronze medal.
Style of play
Nicknamed Zorro, Boban was a talented and creative yet tenacious and hard-working player, known for his use of feints to beat opponents. He was gifted with excellent vision, passing range, dribbling skills, technical ability, and an eye for the final ball; he mixed these attributes with a unique tactical versatility and intelligence, which enabled him to be deployed in several midfield and offensive positions throughout his career. In addition to his preferred playmaking role behind the forwards as an attacking midfielder, he was also capable of playing on the wing, as a central midfielder, or even as a supporting striker, due to his powerful and accurate bending shots from distance; he was also effective from set-pieces. Throughout his career, he also became known for his vocal presence, determination and aggression on the pitch, as well as his strong character.
Post-playing career
thumb|Boban (far left) with Russian President [[Vladimir Putin (centre) at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia]]
Boban officially retired from football in 2002 after receiving little pitch time at Celta Vigo.
Since retiring from football, Boban, always known to be a literary man, completed his history degree at the University of Zagreb. He graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb in 2004, with a thesis named "Christianity in the Roman Empire".
He also started a career in sports journalism, being the administration president for the Croatian daily sports newspaper Sportske novosti, a co-commentator during live broadcasts of the Croatia national team's away matches on the country's commercially funded national TV station RTL Televizija as well as a commentator for SKY Italia and columnist for La Gazzetta dello Sport. As a commentator, Boban has become known as frank and outspoken. Boban also owns a restaurant in Zagreb, called "Boban".
AC Milan
In June 2019, Boban resigned from his FIFA job to return to his former club AC Milan where he was hired as a Chief Football Officer, the closest cooperator of the club's technical director Paolo Maldini. However, he was sacked on 7 March 2020, after he publicly criticized club CEO Ivan Gazidis, who negotiated a possible job offer with German manager Ralf Rangnick for the 2020−21 season behind Boban and Maldini's backs.
UEFA
In April 2021, Boban was hired by UEFA as the Chief of Football, first ever person to hold that position.
GNK Dinamo
In April 2025 Boban was announced as new chairman of the board of GNK Dinamo Zagreb returning to the club he was captain after almost 34 years. Boban would run entire sports policy of the club. His official term as chairman of the board started at 1 June 2025.
Personal life
thumb|upright|Boban in 2008
Boban married Leonarda Lončar, a fashion designer, in 1994. They have five children: adopted children Marija, Gabrijel, Marta, Rafael, and a biological daughter Ruža (Rose). In 2021, the couple separated, but they reunited in 2024.
Boban is also a keen tennis player. with whom he plays at his private indoor clay tennis court.
Career statistics
Club
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|National cup
!colspan="2"|Continental
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="7"|Dinamo Zagreb
|1985–86
|Yugoslav First League
|2||0||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||2||0
|-
|1986–87
|Yugoslav First League
|28||8||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||28||8
|-
|1987–88
|Yugoslav First League
|30||13||1||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||31||14
|-
|1988–89
|Yugoslav First League
|0||0||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0
|-
|1989–90
|Yugoslav First League
|26||9||2||1||2||0||colspan="2"|–||30||10
|-
|1990–91
|Yugoslav First League
|26||15||2||0||2||1||colspan="2"|–||30||16
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!112!!45!!5!!2!!4!!1!!0!!0!!121!!48
|-
|Bari
|1991–92
|Serie A
|17||2||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||17||2
|-
|rowspan="10"|AC Milan
|1992–93
|Serie A
|13||0||3||0||6||1||colspan="2"|–||22||1
|-
|1993–94
|Serie A
|20||4||2||0||8||0||1||0||31||4
|-
|1994–95
|Serie A
|21||1||3||0||11||2||2||0||37||3
|-
|1995–96
|Serie A
|13||3||2||0||5||3||1||0||21||7
|-
|1996–97
|Serie A
|28||1||3||0||5||1||colspan="2"|–||36||2
|-
|1997–98
|Serie A
|23||2||6||1||0||0||colspan="2"|–||29||3
|-
|1998–99
|Serie A
|27||2||4||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||31||2
|-
|1999–2000
|Serie A
|17||6||3||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||22||6
|-
|2000–01
|Serie A
|16||2||3||1||7||0||colspan="2"|–||26||3
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!178!!21!!29!!2!!44!!7!!4!!0!!255!!31
|-
|Celta Vigo
|2001–02
|La Liga
|4||0||0||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||6||0
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!311!!68!!34!!4!!50!!8!!4!!0!!399!!81
|}
International
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="4"|Yugoslavia
|1988||2||0
|-
|1989||1||0
|-
|1990||2||0
|-
|1991||2||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!7!!1
|-
|rowspan="8"|Croatia
|1992||1||0
|-
|1993||1||0
|-
|1994||5||0
|-
|1995||5||2
|-
|1996||9||2
|-
|1997||8||3
|-
|1998||13||5
|-
|1999||7||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!49!!12
|}
:Scores and results list Yugoslavia's and Croatia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Boban goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Zvonimir Boban
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
!colspan="8"|Yugoslavia goals
|-
|style="text-align:center"|1
|16 May 1991
|Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
|
|style="text-align:center"|5–0
|style="text-align:center"|7–0
|UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
|-
!colspan="8"|Croatia goals
|-
|style="text-align:center"|1
|25 March 1995
|Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia
|
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|4–0
|UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
|-
|style="text-align:center"|2
|3 September 1995
|Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia
|
|style="text-align:center"|4–1
|style="text-align:center"|7–1
|UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
|-
|style="text-align:center"|3
|2 June 1996
|Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
|
|style="text-align:center"|2–1
|style="text-align:center"|2–2
|Friendly
|-
|style="text-align:center"|4
|16 June 1996
|Hillsborough, Sheffield, England
|
|style="text-align:center"|2–0
|style="text-align:center"|3–0
|UEFA Euro 1996
|-
|style="text-align:center"|5
|rowspan="2"|2 April 1997
|rowspan="2"|Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia
|rowspan="2"|
|style="text-align:center"|2–0
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–3
|rowspan="2"|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
|style="text-align:center"|6
|style="text-align:center"|3–1
|-
|style="text-align:center"|7
|6 September 1997
|Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia
|
|style="text-align:center"|3–2
|style="text-align:center"|3–2
|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
|style="text-align:center"|8
|22 April 1998
|Stadion Gradski vrt, Osijek, Croatia
|
|style="text-align:center"|1–0
|style="text-align:center"|4–1
|Friendly
|-
|style="text-align:center"|9
|rowspan="2"|6 June 1998
|rowspan="2"|Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia
|rowspan="2"|
|style="text-align:center"|4–0
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|7–0
|rowspan="2"|Friendly
|-
|style="text-align:center"|10
|style="text-align:center"|7–0
|-
|style="text-align:center"|11
|rowspan="2"|14 October 1998
|rowspan="2"|Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia
|rowspan="2"|
|style="text-align:center"|2–1
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–2
|rowspan="2"|UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
|-
|style="text-align:center"|12
|style="text-align:center"|3–2
|}
Honours
AC Milan
- SN Yellow Shirt Award: 1991
- Franjo Bučar State Award for Sport: 1998, 2002
- UEFA Jubilee Poll (2004): #92
- AC Milan: The 20 Greatest Rossoneri of All-Time
- AC Milan Hall of Fame
- Globe Soccer Awards 2018: Special Career Award
Orders
- 50px Order of Danica Hrvatska with face of Franjo Bučar: 1995
- 50px Order of the Croatian Trefoil: 1998