David Brekalo

David Brekalo
Brekalo with Orlando City in 2025
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-12-03) 3 December 1998
Place of birth Ljubljana, Slovenia[1]
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, left-back[1]
Team information
Current team
 Orlando City
Number 4
Youth career
2007–2017 Bravo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2021 Bravo 124 (12)
2021–2024 Viking 60 (7)
2024– Orlando City 37 (1)
International career‡
2016 Slovenia U18 6 (0)
2016 Slovenia U19 7 (0)
2018–2021 Slovenia U21 14 (1)
2022– Slovenia 22 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 July 2025
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 June 2025

David Brekalo (born 3 December 1998) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for Major League Soccer club Orlando City and the Slovenia national team.

Club career

Bravo

Brekalo is a youth product of Bravo, where he began his football career in 2007.[3] He made his Slovenian PrvaLiga debut for the club on 14 July 2019, in a game against Olimpija Ljubljana.[4]

Viking

In January 2021, he was linked to Swedish club Malmö FF.[5] On 11 August 2021, he instead joined Norwegian club Viking FK, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.[6] He made his debut only four days later, in a 3–2 win against Molde, where he scored the winning goal in added time.[7] On 28 November 2021, he received a red card for pushing teammate Patrik Gunnarsson in the final minutes of a 3–2 win against Kristiansund.[8]

Orlando City

On 8 February 2024, Brekalo signed with Orlando City.[9] The transfer fee was approximately $2.5 million.[10] He made his Orlando City debut on 24 February, against CF Montréal.[11] He scored his first goal for the club on 13 April against D.C. United.[12]

On 15 May 2025, Brekalo was named to the Team of the Matchday for providing two assists in a 3–1 victory over Charlotte FC a day earlier.[13]

International career

Brekalo made his international debut for Slovenia on 26 March 2022 in a 1–1 draw against Croatia.[14][15]

He was included in Slovenia's 26-man roster for UEFA Euro 2024.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of 5 July 2025[2][17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bravo 2016–17 Slovenian Third League 13 0 0 0 — — 13 0
2017–18 Slovenian Second League 26 2 0 0 — — 26 2
2018–19 28 4 1 0 — — 29 4
2019–20 Slovenian PrvaLiga 23 3 0 0 — — 23 3
2020–21 31 3 0 0 — — 31 3
2021–22 3 0 0 0 — — 3 0
Total 124 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 125 12
Viking 2021 Eliteserien 11 2 0 0 — — 11 2
2022 26 2 4 1 6 0 — 36 3
2023 23 3 4 0 — — 27 3
Total 60 7 8 1 6 0 0 0 74 8
Orlando City 2024 Major League Soccer 19 1 — 2 0 7[c] 0 28 1
2025 18 0 2 0 — 0 0 20 0
Total 37 1 2 0 2 0 7 0 48 1
Career total 221 20 11 1 8 0 7 0 247 21
  1. ^ Includes Slovenian Football Cup, Norwegian Football Cup, U.S. Open Cup
  2. ^ Includes UEFA Europa Conference League, CONCACAF Champions Cup
  3. ^ Three appearances in Leagues Cup, four appearances in MLS Cup playoffs

International

As of match played 10 June 2025[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Slovenia 2022 6 0
2023 5 1
2024 8 0
2025 3 0
Total 22 1
Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Brekalo goal.
List of international goals scored by David Brekalo
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 23 March 2023 Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan  Kazakhstan 1–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

Honours

Bravo

References

  1. ^ a b David Brekalo at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ a b "David Brekalo" (in Slovenian). NK Bravo. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Brekalo po 14 letih zapušča Bravo" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Bravo v Olimpija game report". Soccerway. 14 July 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  5. ^ Kristoffersson, Daniel (31 January 2021). "Malmö på jakt efter U21-landslagsman". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  6. ^ Svendsen, Dag Atle (11 August 2021). "David Brekalo klar for Viking" (in Norwegian). Viking FK. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  7. ^ Nilssen, Stig (15 August 2021). "Viking sendte fansen til himmels etter vanvittig snuoperasjon". Stavanger Aftenblad (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  8. ^ Nilssen, Stig (28 November 2021). "David Brekalo: – Jeg gjorde en feil og vil beklage til alle". Stavanger Aftenblad (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Orlando City SC acquires defender David Brekalo from Viking FK | Orlando City". orlandocitysc.
  10. ^ "Orlando City agrees $2.5 million deal for center back David Brekalo". The Athletic. 1 February 2024.
  11. ^ Citro, Michael (24 February 2024). "Orlando City vs. CF Montreal: Final Score 0–0 as Lions Drop Points, Remain Unbeaten in Opener". themaneland.com.
  12. ^ "Match report: Orlando City SC rallies at D.C. United to earn first road win of the season | Orlando City". orlandocitysc.
  13. ^ "Team of the Matchday: Baribo takes Golden Boot lead, Ojeda stays red-hot". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  14. ^ David Brekalo at National-Football-Teams.com
  15. ^ "David Brekalo". 24ur.com (in Slovenian). 14 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  16. ^ "Kek izbral šestindvajseterico za Evropsko prvenstvo" [Kek selected twenty-six players for the European Championship] (in Slovenian). Slovenian Football Association. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  17. ^ a b David Brekalo at Soccerway
  18. ^ "David Brekalo, international football player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.