Andraž Šporar

Andraž Šporar (born 27 February 1994) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Super League Greece club Panathinaikos and the Slovenia national team.

Olimpija Ljubljana
In June 2012, Šporar transferred from Interblock to Olimpija Ljubljana. In the 2015–16 Slovenian PrvaLiga season, Šporar was named a team captain. During the first half of the club's season, he played 18 PrvaLiga games and scored 17 goals.

Basel
On 8 December 2015, Basel announced that Šporar had signed a four-and-a-half-year contract up until the end of June 2020. He joined Basel's first team for their 2015–16 season under head coach Urs Fischer. After playing in four friendly games, he made his Swiss Super League debut on 14 February 2016 in a 4–0 away win against Grasshopper Club. Just a few days later, on 18 February, Šporar got injured during warm-up before the away match against Saint-Étienne. The torn tendon required surgery and this kept Šporar out for the rest of the season. At the end of the season his team won the 2015–16 Swiss Super League championship.

Šporar scored his first goal for Basel on 15 April 2017 in a 4–0 away victory over Lausanne-Sport. At the end of the 2016–17 Super League season, Šporar won the championship for the second time. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the 2016–17 Swiss Cup, defeating Sion 3–0 in the final.

Despite this success, Šporar decided to leave the club. He played a total of 26 competitive games for Basel, and scored one goal.

Arminia Bielefeld (loan)
On 25 June 2017, Šporar joined 2. Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld on loan for the 2017–18 season.

Slovan Bratislava
Šporar joined the Slovak First League side Slovan Bratislava in January 2018 for a reported fee of €600,000. In his first season, he won the 2017–18 Slovak Cup. In the 2018–19 season, Slovan won the league title, and Šporar became the league's top scorer with 29 goals, equaling the record for the number of goals scored in a season in the Slovak First League.

Sporting
On 23 January 2020, Šporar transferred to Sporting CP on a five-year contract for a transfer fee of €6 million, making him the most expensive player in the history of the Slovak Super Liga. With bonuses, the total transfer fee may eventually rise above €7 million.

Braga (loan)
On 1 February 2021, Šporar joined Braga on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.

Middlesbrough (loan)
In August 2021, he joined English side Middlesbrough on loan. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against Nottingham Forest on 15 September 2021.

Panathinaikos
On 27 July 2022, Šporar signed a four-year contract with Super League Greece side Panathinaikos for a reported transfer fee of over €3 million.

International career
In November 2016, Šporar received his first call-up to the Slovenia senior squad for the matches against Malta and Poland. He debuted against the former, replacing Milivoje Novaković late in the second half.

On 7 September 2023, Šporar scored two goals against Northern Ireland, becoming the tenth player in the Slovenia national team's history to reach double digits of international goals.

In June 2024, Šporar was included in the 26-man Slovenian squad for UEFA Euro 2024, his first major international tournament.

Personal life
Andraž Šporar is the son of Olimpija's former captain Miha Šporar. In the past, Šporar has stated his ambition to earn a move to Liverpool, which is his favourite club. Liverpool followed the player in 2015, but in the end there was no transfer.

International

 * Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Šporar goal.

Honours
Basel
 * Swiss Super League: 2015–16, 2016–17
 * Swiss Cup: 2016–17

Slovan Bratislava
 * Slovak First League: 2018–19
 * Slovak Cup: 2017–18

Sporting CP
 * Primeira Liga: 2020–21
 * Taça da Liga: 2020–21

Braga
 * Taça de Portugal: 2020–21

Panathinaikos
 * Greek Cup: 2023–24

Individual
 * Slovenian PrvaLiga Top Scorer: 2015–16
 * Slovak First League Top Scorer: 2018–19, 2019–20
 * Slovak First League Player of the Year: 2018–19
 * Slovak First League Player of the Month: November/December 2018, May 2019, November/December 2019
 * Slovak First League Goal of the Month: October 2019
 * Slovak First League Team of the Season: 2018–19, 2019–20
 * Super League Greece Player of the Month: August 2022