Mario Ilich
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Jozef Ilich[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 23 June 1995 | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Auckland City | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Central United | |||
| –2012 | Auckland City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2014 | Auckland City | 3 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Wanderers SC | 12 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | WaiBOP United | 14 | (3) |
| 2016 | Eastern Suburbs | 2 | (0) |
| 2017 | Auckland City | 2 | (0) |
| 2017 | Central United | ||
| 2017–2019 | Team Wellington | 36 | (2) |
| 2019 | Bentleigh Greens | ||
| 2019– | Auckland City | 136 | (13) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 9 May 2026 | |||
Mario Jozef Ilich (born 23 June 1995)[2] is a semi-professional association football player from New Zealand who plays as a midfielder and captains Auckland City.[3][4]
Club career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Growing up in Auckland, Ilich played his youth football for Central United and Auckland City.[5][6]
Ilich spent time at a number of New Zealand Football Championship clubs, before spending a short spell at Bentleigh Greens in the NPL Victoria.[7]
Auckland City
[edit]After leaving Bentleigh Greens, Ilich joined Auckland City, for the third time on 23 September 2019.[8] He has since played in three international FIFA tournaments, the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.[9][10]
Personal life
[edit]Ilich works as a supermarket sales representative for Coca-Cola.[3][11] Ilich has Croatian roots.[12]
Career statistics
[edit]
- As of match played 9 May 2026
Club
[edit]| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Auckland City | 2011–12 | Premiership | 2 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Wanderers SC | 2014–15 | Premiership | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| WaiBOP United | 2015–16 | Premiership | 14 | 3 | — | — | — | 14 | 3 | |||
| Eastern Suburbs | 2016–17 | Premiership | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Auckland City | 2016–17 | Premiership | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Team Wellington | 2017–18 | Premiership | 18 | 0 | — | 8[a] | 1 | 2[b] | 0 | 28 | 1 | |
| 2018–19 | 18 | 2 | — | 5[a] | 1 | 3[c] | 0 | 26 | 2 | |||
| Total | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 55 | 4 | ||
| Auckland City | 2019–20 | Premiership | 14 | 1 | — | 3[a] | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2020–21 | 11 | 0 | — | — | 2[b] | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||||
| 2021 | National League | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2022 | National League | 20 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5[a] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 5 | |
| 2023 | National League | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 32 | 1 | |
| 2024 | National League | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2[a] | 1 | 1[e] | 0 | 32 | 3 | |
| 2025 | National League | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[f] | 0 | 26 | 5 | |
| 2026 | National League | 7 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | |||
| Total | 136 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 164 | 15 | ||
| Career total | ||||||||||||
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Appearance in OFC Champions League
- 1 2 Appearances in New Zealand Football Championship play-offs
- ↑ Two appearances; one goal in New Zealand Football Championship play-offs; one appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
- ↑ Appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
- ↑ Appearance in FIFA Intercontinental Cup
- ↑ Three appearances in FIFA Club World Cup; one appearance in FIFA Intercontinental Cup
Honours
[edit]Auckland City
Individual
References
[edit]- 1 2 "FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Squad List" (PDF). FIFA. 11 June 2025. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
- ↑ "Mario Jozef Ilich". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- 1 2 Borrowdale, James (14 June 2025). "Auckland City aiming to do amateur football proud in Bayern Munich mismatch". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ "Mario Ilich". Oceania Football Centre. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ "The Skipper at the Heart our Club World Cup Journey". Auckland City FC. 30 May 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ "GOOD LUCK SUPER MARIO!!! 💛💛". Central United F.C. 1 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ Saltori, Rafael (27 November 2019). "Mario Ilich: the new Auckland City man shares his experiences". Oceania Football Centre. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ "Mario Ilich makes Navy Blues return". Auckland City FC. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ "Auckland City confirm Club World Cup squad". Oceania Football Confederation. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
- ↑ "Mario Ilich - Auckland City Midfielder". ESPN. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ Fleming, Rory (13 June 2025). "Meet the amateur New Zealand team aiming to topple soccer's biggest names at the FIFA Club World Cup". CNN. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ "The amateur New Zealand club with Croatian roots to take on giants at FIFA Club World Cup". croatiaweek.com. 14 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ↑ "Auckland City FC Claim Back-to-Back Dettol National League Championships With Penalty Shootout Win Over Wellington Olympic". New Zealand Football. 13 December 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025 – via Instagram.
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