Who are the greatest footballers from Serbia?
Serbia has a long and rich history of producing great footballers despite never winning a major international tournament.
The Serbian domestic league may not be well-known on the international stage, but the country’s best players have spread across the world, playing in the best leagues and winning some of the most prestigious honors available in club football. When it comes to cultural roots in football, Serbia has a lot to be proud of.
Since the beginning of Serbian football in 1903, the country has produced some truly great footballers. This list will attempt to rank the greatest of the great, based on their contributions to both Serbian and global football. From early pioneers like Ilija Najdoski to modern stars like Nemanja Vidic, these are players who have made Serbian football what it is today.
Best Ever Footballers From Serbia
- Nemanja Matic
Playing and achieving huge successes in the Premier League don’t often come easy for all players that get to play in the English top-flight, but for Matic, he came and conquered the league with Chelsea following his move from Benfica.
The Serbian three successful years at Chelsea and six at Manchester United birthed a successful career for him in England, and he became one of the most respected players in the league, especially for his thunderous goal scored against Tottenham which secured the FA Cup final ticket for the Blues.
At the international level, he only appeared in 48 games and scored 2 goals for Serbia between 2008 and 2019, before he eventually called it quit in August 2019.
- Aleksandr Kolarov
Former Manchester City wingback Kolarov is a notable name that will go on to strike fear in the mind of any teams that faced him during his stint at City. The Serbian is unarguably one of the most versatile and efficient players ever to play in the English top flight.
Kolarov’s seven-year spell at City earned him legendary status at the club and the Premier League as one of the best left back in the league, for his proficiency on the ball when he bumped forward to deliver some of his incredible crosses into the box for the attackers.
At the club level, he had a successful career, notably at City where he amassed 247 appearances, scoring 21 goals and 37 assists, while at the international level he remains one of Serbia’s most capped players in history.
- Dragan Stojkovic
Stojkovic is one of the most famous Serbian footballers in history despite being renowned for his disciplinary behavior during a career that lasted for 18 years.
He was one of the fortunate players to win the 1992-93 UEFA Champions League for Marseille but missed the final due to his injury he played an important role in helping the team get to the final.
Stojkovic was also well renowned in Japan among the fans having played for Nagoya Grampus where he amassed 184 games, scored 57 goals, and won the J-League most valuable player award (MVP) during his stay in Japan.
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- Dejan Stankovic
Stankovic’s name will go down in the history of the game as one of the best midfielders ever to lace boots for his country and the clubs he played for, despite playing in the same era with equally great midfielders.
Stankovic ranks high on the list of Serbian greats for his leadership skills and contributions on and off the pitch. All of his great quality as a midfielder was evident during his active years at Inter Milan where he shun and led the team to success.
He held the highest game appearances of 103 for Serbia before he was surpassed by his compatriot Ivanovic as one of the nation’s all-time record appearance holders.
- Sinisa Mihajlovic
Sinisa Mihajlovic is to Serbia and all of the clubs he played for what David Beckham was to Manchester United and England in terms of his trademark free-kick during his active days, as a matter of fact, the Serbian legend remains the only player with the highest free-kicks scored in Serie A.
The former Roma and Inter Milan star had an illustrious career that lasted 20 years having played for Italy’s topsides in Serie A winning the Scudetto with SS Lazio and Inter Milan to cement his name as one of the most successful Serbians to play in Italy.
Mihajlovic now works as the coach of Bologna having cut his teeth as an assistant manager at Inter Milan before becoming a senior manager with the Renato Dall’Ara side.
- Branislav Ivanovic
Every football aficionados who saw Ivanovic played for Chelsea will agree to the fact that the Serbian is unarguably one the best defender ever to play the round leather game for his sheer quality, the spirit of a fighter, and dedication.
Ivanovic was a prominent member of the Chelsea team between 2008 and 2017 with 377 appearances and 34 goals for the Blues during his illustrious career. The Serbian picked up three league titles, two league cup titles, an English league cup, Uefa Champions League, and a Europa league title.
Ivanovic isn’t just one of the most famous Serbian footballers in history, he’s also one of the most capped players with 105 appearances at the international level as the captain of the team.
- Nemanja Vidic
Vidic is unarguably one of the deadliest modern-era centers back to come out of Serbia. The former Manchester United defender is well known for his quality defending and leadership skills in marshaling the defense for both club and country.
Vidić spent eight trophy-laden years at Old Trafford winning five league titles, along with a UEFA Champions League trophy to ink his name in the game’s folklore as one of the best defenders of the 21st century.
He amassed over 300 appearances for United during his active years and he undoubtedly ranks as one of the best Serbians to play in the Premier League.
- Stjepan Bobek
Bobek passed away in 2010 at the age of 86, even in death his name still remains on the lips of the fans as one of the most famous Serbian footballers in history.
His national career was as successful as that of his club career scoring 38 goals in 63 games for the national and 198 games with 121 goals scored for his club.
The late Bobek participated in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil and also represented his country at the Olympic Games, where he went on to show how brilliant a footballer he was for the team at the tournament.
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- Vladimir Beara
As a football enthusiast, if you call Vladimir Beara the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the country you won’t be wrong, even the great Lev Yashin widely regarded him as the best goalie in the history of the game.
Beara was one of the best shot-stoppers of his era with great reflexes and tactical know-how a team can bank on while on the pitch. The hands of steel as many called him can be said to be the Buffon or Casillas of the modern era.
With Beara in your goalpost, defenders can literally go to sleep (they dare not, lol ) due to the quality he possessed as a reliable shot-stopper any could wish to have in their team.
- Dragan Dzajic
Dzajic was too good that he got a memorable commendation from a football legend Pele whom many regarded as unarguably the greatest player in the history of the game.
Pele described him as the Balkan miracle and a real wizard of the game for how wonderful a player he was during his active days netting a total of 144 goals in 361 official games for only two teams Red Star Belgrade and Bastia.
As good as Dzajic was, he was well renowned for his wizardry dribbling, finishing, and leadership skills that even got the almighty Pele named him one of the finest players to come out of Serbia
Conclusion
CheapGoals is certain that there are other great Serbian footballers who are worthy to be included on the list, such as Sergej Milinković-Savić, Dušan Tadić, Milan Gali, Savo Milosevi, Aleksandar Tirnani, and others. However, we had to limit it to just 10
FAQ
Who is the best football team in Serbia?
By far the two most popular clubs in the country are Partizan and Crvena Zvezda, both from Belgrade.
How many leagues are in Serbia?
Below the SuperLiga is found the Serbian First League containing 18 clubs. The last 4 are relegated to the Srpska Liga, the 3rd level, divided into 4 leagues Serbian League Belgrade, Serbian League East, Serbian League Vojvodina, and Serbian League West every one of them containing 16 clubs.
Is soccer popular in Serbia?
Soccer also known as football is the most popular sport in Serbia, and the Football Association of Serbia with 146,845 registered players, is the largest sporting association in the country.
Who won Serbia League?
Serbian Superliga Champions since 2006 since the time of writing.
- 2018–19 Red Star (30) Radnički Niš
- 2019–20 Red Star (31) Partizan
- 2020–21 Red Star (32) Partizan
- 2021–22 Red Star (33) Partizan
Is Serbia a poor country?
The World Bank classifies Serbia as a middle-income country and its economy is transitioning from being dominated by the state sector to a market-driven model. The service sector accounts for more than half of the country’s gross domestic product.
What is Serbia best known for?
Serbia is famous for its capital city, Belgrade, and its national brandy, rakija. Serbia is also known for its nightlife, palaces, fortresses, and tennis player Novak Djokovic.
How wealthy is Serbia?
$65.037 billion (nominal, 2022 est.) $163.6 billion (PPP, 2022 est.)
What is the main food in Serbia?
National dishes of Serbia include sarma (a mix of ground pork or beef with rice rolled in leaves of cabbage), gibanica (an egg and cheese pie made with filo dough), pljeskavica (ground beef or pork patty), ćevapi (grilled meat), paprikaš (a soup made of paprika), gulaš ( soup of meat and vegetables usually seasoned
Who is the most famous Serbian?
Nikola Tesla. The genius who tamed lightning. The man largely responsible for the functioning of the everyday life of millions of people across the globe comes from Serbia. Nikola Tesla was born in Smiljan in 1856.
