Dominik Szoboszlai

Dominik Szoboszlai ( born 25 October 2000) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Hungary national team. A versatile player, he is able to play as a box-to-box midfielder, right midfielder or attacking midfielder.

Coming through the youth system, Szoboszlai made his senior debut in 2017 with Austrian club FC Liefering, the reserve team of Red Bull Salzburg. In January 2018, Szoboszlai debuted with the parent club, becoming a starter from the 2018–19 season. Following three seasons, where he helped his club win three league titles and two domestic cups, in January 2021, Szoboszlai moved to Germany at RB Leipzig, a club associated with Red Bull Salzburg, for a reported fee of €20 million, making him the most expensive Hungarian footballer of all time. In his three seasons at the club he helped his side win two DFB-Pokal titles. In July 2023, he joined Liverpool after they paid his release clause of €70 million, making him the club's fourth-most expensive signing of all time.

Szoboszlai represented Hungary internationally, both at youth and senior levels. He made his senior debut at the Euro 2020 qualifiers, helping his country qualify to the finals by scoring in the last minute in the play-offs against Iceland.

Liefering


Szoboszlai made his professional debut in the 2017–18 campaign, playing for the FC Liefering in the second division against Kapfenberg on 21 July 2017. He scored his first professional goal against FC Blau-Weiß Linz on 4 August 2017.

Red Bull Salzburg


During the 2017–18 season, he made his debut against Austria Wien on 27 May 2018. He entered the pitch in the 57th minute as a substitute for Enock Mwepu. He scored his first goal for the club in 6–0 Austrian Cup win against SC Eglo Schwarz. He scored his first league goal against Wacker Innsbruck on 17 March 2019. On 17 September 2019, he made his Champions League debut and scored his first goal in this competition against Genk in a 6–2 victory.

He scored a hat-trick as Salzburg won 5–1 against Sturm Graz on 10 June 2020. He finished the season with 9 goals and 14 assists in 27 league matches, and was voted player of the season for 2019–20 in Austrian football's top tier, the Bundesliga.

2020–2022: Injury and DFB-Pokal
On 17 December 2020, RB Leipzig announced the signing of Szoboszlai on a four-and-a-half-year contract, until June 2025. He became eligible to play in January 2021. With a reported price of €20 million, Szoboszlai became the most expensive Hungarian player in history. However, Szoboszlai could not feature in any match for RB Leipzig in the 2020–21 season due to a long-term injury.

In the 2021–22 Bundesliga season, he made 31 appearances and scored 6 goals.

He debuted on 7 August 2021 in a German Cup game against SV Sandhausen where he entered the pitch in the 78th minute and scored three minutes later. On 20 August, he scored his first two goals in Bundesliga in a 4–0 win over VfB Stuttgart. On 17 April 2022, he scored the only goal of the match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Leipzig on the 30th game week of the 2021–22 Bundesliga season.

2022–2023: Second DFB-Pokal title
In the 2022–23 Bundesliga season he made 31 appearances and scored 6 goals. He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 victory against Borussia Dortmund on 10 September 2022. On 27 January 2023, he scored a double against VfB Stuttgart at the Red Bull Arena on the 18th matchday. The final result was 2–1 to Leipzig. He scored the third goal in a 3–1 surprise victory against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on 20 May on the 33rd matchday. On 3 June, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Liverpool
On 2 July 2023, Liverpool signed Szoboszlai on a five-year contract after triggering his release clause which was reportedly worth £60 million. He is the third Hungarian player to play for the club. On 13 August, Szoboszlai made his debut for Liverpool in their opening game of the 2023–24 season as his side drew to Chelsea with a score line of 1–1. On 19 August, Szoboszlai made his competitive debut at Anfield, in a 3–1 victory against Bournemouth. He was widely praised for his performance and Liverpool fans voted to award him the Player of the Match award. On 3 September 2023, Szoboszlai scored his first goal for Liverpool in a 3–0 Premier League win against Aston Villa, using his weak foot to strike from outside the box in the 3rd minute. He also became the first Hungarian to score for Liverpool. On 19 September 2023, he was named Standard Chartered Men's Player of the Month.

By October 2023, Szoboszlai had created the most chances for Liverpool in the Premier League in the 2023–24 season, with 21. This was the highest number of chances created by a Liverpool player in their first nine Premier League appearances for the club since 2003. On 1 January 2024, he suffered a hamstring injury in a Premier League match against Newcastle United. He returned from his injury in a 5–2 victory in a 2023–24 FA Cup match against Norwich City. However, on 7 February 2024, it was revealed that he returned from his injury too early; therefore, he had to miss several matches in February. On 2 March 2024, he returned from his injury in a 1–0 victory over Nottingham Forest.

Youth
Szoboszlai was captain of the Hungary U17 team during the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Croatia. He scored two goals as his team finished sixth in this tournament. He also captained the Hungary U19 team during the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship campaign. He made his debut for the U21 team against Germany on 1 September 2017.

Senior
Szoboszlai received his first call-up to the senior Hungary squad for the friendly against Russia and a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Andorra in June 2017. On 21 March 2019, Szoboszlai made his first appearance for the Hungarian senior team as a 54th-minute substitute for László Kleinheisler in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against Slovakia. Three days later, he made his first start in a 2–1 win over Croatia.

On 9 September 2019, Szoboszlai scored his first international goal in a 2–1 loss to Slovakia. He scored his second international goal on 3 September 2020 – the only goal of a 1–0 win in Turkey during the UEFA Nations League.

In the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-off match against Iceland, Szoboszlai scored a last minute winning goal to send Hungary to Euro 2020. Despite being initially selected in Hungary's squad for the Euro 2020 finals, Szoboszlai withdrew injured on 1 June 2021.

2022–23 UEFA Nations League
On 4 June 2022, Szoboszlai the only goal of a 1–0 win over England from a penalty kick in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A, which was Hungary's first win against England since 31 May 1962, during the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

After the retirement of Ádám Szalai and long-term injury of Péter Gulácsi, Marco Rossi appointed Szoboszlai as the new captain of the national team in November 2022. Right after the friendly match against Luxembourg, Rossi said in an interview with M4 that Szoboszlai could become a top player soon, which is why he was elected captain.

UEFA Euro 2024
On 27 March 2023, Szoboszlai scored his first goal as captain against Bulgaria in a 3–0 victory for Hungary in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying at the Puskás Aréna. Later that year, on 19 November, he scored twice in a 3–1 victory over Montenegro, securing his country's qualification to Euro 2024 as Group G winners.

On 14 May 2024, Szoboszlai was named in Hungary's squad for UEFA Euro 2024. On 15 June, he became the youngest captain to feature in the European competition, aged 23 years and 234 days, in which he provided an assist in a 3–1 defeat against Switzerland in the opening match of the tournament. He went on to start against both Germany and Scotland as the Magyars finished third in Group A.

Style of play
He is described as a Box to box midfielder. According to Bundesliga expert Raphael Honigstein, "he's a very technical player, very easy on the eye, quite tall as well, so he looks imposing".

In an interview published on Nemzeti Sport, his manager, Mátyás Esterházy, said that Szoboszlai is a versatile footballer since he plays different positions in Liverpool and the national team. While he has a defined role in Liverpool, Marco Rossi gives more freedom to him in the national team. When asked if Szoboszlai is talented, Esterházy said that anyone can achieve the level Dominik has achieved with the time and energy Dominik invested in his career.

Reception
Szoboszlai is often referred to as Hungary's leading footballer. He has frequently been compared to compatriot Ferenc Puskás, with Hungarian football pundit Ábel Mészáros saying: "Szoboszlai is ahead of everyone since Lajos Détári. You really have to go far back… He is approaching the realm of Puskás and others in that class."

Szoboszlai was listed as the 52nd best player of the world in 2023 by The Guardian.

Personal life


Szoboszlai was born in Székesfehérvár to Zsanett (née Németh) and former footballer Zsolt Szoboszlai, who played in the lower leagues of Austria. When Dominik was born, his mother was only 21 years old, while his father was 25 years old. His father started training him from the age of three by positioning plastic bottles on the ground to slalom with the ball.

In an interview with Nemzeti Sport, Bendegúz Bolla said that Szoboszlai's father often made Dominik practice with golf balls in his childhood.

In 2022, he donated to the charity Cseppkő Gyermekotthoni Központ along with Ádám Szalai. In 2023, he donated a shirt to the foundation that helped to raise money for the family of late Csaba Ponczok, former player of Maglódi TC, who died in 2022.

In addition to his native Hungarian, Szoboszlai also speaks fluent English and German.

In an interview with Fodball, he said that he often feels lonely. In the first couple of days, he had a hard time in Liverpool. However, later he became friends with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah.

International

 * Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Szoboszlai goal

Honours
Red Bull Salzburg
 * Austrian Bundesliga: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
 * Austrian Cup: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21

RB Leipzig
 * DFB-Pokal: 2021–22, 2022–23

Individual
 * Austrian Second League Team of the Season: 2017–18
 * Hungarian Sportsman of The Year: 2020, 2023
 * Bundesliga Rookie of The Month: August 2021, October 2021, April 2022
 * Hungarian Golden Ball: 2020