Luka Sučić

Luka Sučić (; born 8 September 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Sociedad. Born in Austria, he plays for the Croatia national team.

Club career

Red Bull Salzburg On 15 July 2020, Sučić signed a new contract with Red Bull Salzburg, until the summer of 2024.

He made his Bundesliga debut for Salzburg on 13 September 2020 in a game against Wolfsberg. On 25 November 2020, he made his Champions League debut, replacing Dominik Szoboszlai in 71st minute and providing Rasmus Kristensen with a pre-assist for Mërgim Berisha's goal, as Salzburg lost 3–1 to Bayern Munich. On 10 February 2021, Sučić scored his debut Bundesliga goal in a 3–1 victory over Austria Wien, coming off the bench to replace Berisha.

By the beginning of the 2021–22 season, Sučić already established himself in Salzburg's squad, most notably scoring an impressive goal against Barcelona in a friendly 2–1 victory on 4 August 2021. On 14 September, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 1–1 draw with Sevilla.

Real Sociedad On 1 August 2024, he signed a 5-year contract with La Liga club Real Sociedad for a €10m fee plus a 10% sell-on clause. Later that year, on 6 October, he scored his first La Liga goal in a 1–1 draw against Atlético Madrid. On 20 February 2025, he netted a brace in a 5–2 win against Midtjylland during the Europa League knockout play-offs second leg, helping his team advance to the round of 16.

International career

Eligible for Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, Sučić explicitly opted for Croatia, despite interest from the Austrian Football Association. On 9 March 2021, he was named in Igor Bišćan's 23-man squad for the group stage of UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021; however, he was ruled out on 21 March due to an injury and replaced by Matej Vuk. On 17 May, he was named in Bišćan's 23-man squad for the knockout stage of the tournament; however, the same occurred and he was replaced by Neven Đurasek on 25 May.

During UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023 qualifiers in September and October 2021, Sučić scored three goals and assisted once in three games, prompting Zlatko Dalić to call him up to the senior team on 9 October, two days ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia, due to Mateo Kovačić's suspension. He made his senior debut in the said qualifier, which ended as a 2–2 draw.

On 9 November 2022, Sučić was named in Dalić's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he remained an unused substitute as Croatia finished third. Due to the recovery process from knee surgery he underwent in March 2023, Sučić was omitted from Croatia's 23-man squad for the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals.

On 20 May 2024, Sučić was named in Dalić's preliminary 35-man squad for UEFA Euro 2024; on 7 June 2024, he made it to the final 26. At the tournament, he played in all three matches, as Croatia finished their campaign already in the group stage.

In May 2025, Sučić was called up for Croatia's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Gibraltar and Czechia, played on 6 June and 9 June, respectively. Ahead of the Czechia game, Sučić left the national team's camp to attend his sister's wedding in Uskoplje, allegedly angering Dalić. Dalić refrained from commenting on the issue in public.

When Dalić announced the list of players for the September matches against the Faroe Islands and Montenegro, it was apparent that Sučić was not called-up. Dalić denied that Sučić was "either written off, or punished, or chased away" at a press conference ahead of the Faroe Islands game. Sučić eventually received an additional call-up before the October matches against Czechia and Gibraltar. On 12 October, in a 3–0 victory against the latter opponent, he scored his first goal for the national team.

On 18 May 2026, Sučić was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Personal life Sučić was born in Linz to Bosnian Croat parents Željko and Branislava from Bugojno who fled from the Bosnian War. Despite being born in Linz, Sučić does not hold Austrian citizenship. He declared himself a fan of Hajduk Split and Barcelona; however, he named Luka Modrić, a legend of those clubs' respective rivals Dinamo Zagreb and Real Madrid, as his footballing role model. His cousin Petar Sučić is also a footballer.

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Croatia goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sučić goal.

Individual La Liga Goal of the Month: October 2024 La Liga Goal of the Season: 2024–25 Real Sociedad Player of the Season: 2024–25