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NK Slaven Belupo
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NK Slaven Belupo

Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (English: Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in the Croatian Football League.

Key Information

History

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The first football club in Koprivnica was founded in June 1907, when a student team was formed and named Đački nogometni klub, which is Croatian for Students' Football Club. The name Slaven first appeared when a sports club named HŠK Slaven was founded by the members of the Friedrich family on 20 August 1912 and this is considered to be the foundation date of the present-day club. The club won the Croatian championship in 1920, which was one of the Yugoslav regional championships. Slaven was subsequently renamed HŠK Victorija, but disbanded six years later due to financial difficulties. Subsequently, the city of Koprivnica was without a football club for four years, between 1926 and 1930.

Between 1930 and 1945, the club was known as HŠK Koprivnica, HŠK Danica and RNHŠK Sloga, before the name Slaven returned with the foundation of FD Slaven. From 1953, the club was known as SD Podravka, before being renamed to NK Slaven in 1958. The name Slaven remains until today, with occasional changes to the name of the club's principal sponsors. The club was thus known as NK Slaven Bilokalnik between 1992 and 1994, after which it was changed to its current name following a sponsorship agreement with the Koprivnica-based pharmaceutical company Belupo.

Slaven gained their first promotion to the Prva HNL in 1997 and have never been relegated. In 2000, they finished fifth in the Prva HNL and qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In their first Intertoto Cup appearance, they managed to reach the third round of the competition before being eliminated by Czech club Sigma Olomouc after losing 2–0 at home and getting a goalless draw on the road. One year later, they repeated the success and were eliminated by renowned English club Aston Villa with a 3–2 aggregate defeat. In their next two Intertoto Cup appearances, they were even more successful as they reached the semifinals of the competition on both occasions. They were eliminated after losing to renowned clubs Stuttgart from Germany and Lille from France, respectively. Their last Intertoto Cup appearance in 2005 ended in the third round with a 4–0 aggregate defeat to Spanish club Deportivo La Coruña, having lost the first leg by 1–0[1] and the second leg by 0–3.[2]

Slaven Belupo heads the all-time Intertoto Cup table being the most successful team in history of this tournament.[3]

In 2007, the club reached the Croatian Cup final for the first time, after defeating defending Cup holders HNK Rijeka 3–2 on aggregate. In the final, they lost to Dinamo Zagreb 2–1 on aggregate. Despite having lost the final, Slaven qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history, since Dinamo had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League by virtue of having won the Prva HNL.

Slaven reached the second qualifying round of the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, defeating Albanian side Teuta Durrës 8–4 on aggregate before being eliminated after a 4–2 aggregate defeat to Turkish club Galatasaray.[4] In 2008, Slaven finished runners-up in the Croatian league, which remains their best domestic result to date.[5]

On 28 August 2008 Slaven Belupo qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup by beating Aris of Greece 2–1 on aggregate, thereby achieving arguably the best result in the history of the club.[6][7]

Slaven finished 3rd in the 2011–12 1. HNL, qualifying for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. After defeating Portadown 10–2 on aggregate they bowed out to Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao 4–3 on aggregate.

In 2016, Slaven defeated HNK Rijeka 4–2 on aggregate in the 2015–16 Croatian Football Cup semi-final, reaching the final for the second time in their history.

Supporters

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In 2023 group of fans organized themselves into a fan group under the name Podravske štuke (Podravska pike).

Players

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Current squad

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As of 24 August 2025[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Croatia CRO Matija Jesenović
2 DF Croatia CRO Vinko Međimorec
3 DF Croatia CRO Antonio Jakir
4 DF Croatia CRO Dominik Kovačić
5 DF Croatia CRO Zvonimir Katalinić
6 DF Croatia CRO Tomislav Božić
8 MF Croatia CRO Adriano Jagušić
9 FW Croatia CRO Ivan Božić
10 MF Moldova MDA Mihail Caimacov
11 FW Croatia CRO Josip Mitrović
12 GK Croatia CRO Antun Marković
14 MF Croatia CRO Adrian Liber
15 MF Croatia CRO Ivan Ćubelić
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF Croatia CRO Luka Ćurković
17 DF Croatia CRO Mateo Barać
19 FW Kosovo KOS Ernis Qestaj
21 MF Croatia CRO Ljuban Crepulja
22 FW Croatia CRO Ante Šuto
23 MF Croatia CRO Igor Lepinjica
30 MF Ghana GHA Michael Agbekpornu
31 GK Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Osman Hadžikić
32 GK Croatia CRO Ivan Čović
33 DF Croatia CRO Karlo Išasegi
35 DF North Macedonia MKD Leonard Zuta
90 FW North Macedonia MKD Ilija Nestorovski

Dual registration

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
13 DF Croatia CRO Marko Lešković (at Koprivnica)
18 DF Croatia CRO Filip Krušelj (at Koprivnica)
24 MF Croatia CRO Leon Bošnjak (at Koprivnica)
No. Pos. Nation Player
35 DF Croatia CRO Erik Riđan (at Koprivnica)
99 FW Croatia CRO Patrik Marić (at Radnik Križevci)

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
20 DF Croatia CRO Filip Hlevnjak (at Koprivnica until 20 June 2026)
GK Slovenia SVN Maj Pavli (at Koprivnica until 30 May 2026)
MF Croatia CRO Filip Bošnjak (at Koprivnica until 20 June 2026)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Brazil BRA Lucas Fernandes (at Mladost Ždralovi until 30 May 2026)
FW Croatia CRO Marko Žuljević (at Karlovac 1919 until 20 June 2026)

Recent seasons

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European record

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Summary

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Competition Pld W D L GF GA Last season played
UEFA Cup / Europa League 20 10 2 8 48 24 2012–13
Intertoto Cup 34 17 7 10 50 29 2005
Total 54 27 9 18 98 53

Source: uefa.com, Last updated on 9 August 2012
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against

By result

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Overall Pld W D L GF GA GD
Home 27 18 4 5 65 21 +44
Away 27 9 5 13 33 32 +1
Total 54 27 9 18 98 53 +45

Last updated: 9 August 2012

By season

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Last updated on 9 August 2012

Player records

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Notable players

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To appear in this section a player must have:

  • Played at least 150 league games for the club;
  • Scored at least 50 league goals for the club; or
  • Played at least one international match for their national team while playing for NK Slaven Belupo.

Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.

Historical list of coaches

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References

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