Benjamin Verbič

Benjamin Verbič (born 27 November 1993) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Super League Greece club Panathinaikos and the Slovenia national team.

Benjamin Verbič

Verbič with Copenhagen in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth	(1993-11-27) 27 November 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth	Celje, Slovenia
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Left winger
Team information
Current team	Panathinaikos
Number	77
Youth career
	Vojnik[1]
0000–2012	Celje
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2015	Celje	103	(29)
2012	→ Šampion (loan)	3	(0)
2015–2017	Copenhagen	69	(16)
2018–2022	Dynamo Kyiv	79	(27)
2022	→ Legia Warsaw (loan)	7	(0)
2022–	Panathinaikos	48	(6)
International career‡
2012	Slovenia U19	3	(0)
2013	Slovenia U20	2	(0)
2013–2014	Slovenia U21	5	(1)
2015–	Slovenia	61	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 1 July 2024

Verbič began his senior career with his hometown club Celje, where he made a total of 126 appearances and scored 35 goals in all competitions. With Celje, he was the runner-up of the Slovenian PrvaLiga in 2014–15, and a three-time runner-up of the Slovenian Football Cup. In 2015 Verbič transferred to Copenhagen, where he won a double of Danish Superliga and Danish Cup in both of his full seasons. In January 2018, he signed for Dynamo Kyiv, with whom he won a league and two cup titles, before temporarily moving to Polish club Legia Warsaw when the Russian invasion of Ukraine started.

Having represented Slovenia at various youth levels, Verbič made his senior debut in March 2015 against Qatar.

Club career

Celje

Born in Celje, Verbič made his Slovenian PrvaLiga debut for hometown club Celje on 29 May 2011 in a 3–2 home defeat to Primorje, replacing Iztok Močivnik for the last 24 minutes in his only appearance of the season.^[2]

He made twelve league appearances the following season (eight starts), contributing a first career goal on 3 April 2012, a consolation goal in a 2–1 home defeat against Olimpija Ljubljana.^[3] On 23 May 2012, in the 2011–12 Slovenian Football Cup final against already-crowned league winners Maribor, Verbič scored in extra time in a 2–2 draw but missed the first penalty as his team lost in a shoot-out.^[4]

Verbič made 26 league appearances for Celje in the 2012–13 season, scoring 3 goals.^[5][6] On 24 August he was loaned to Šampion of the Slovenian Second League, where he made three appearances, two as a starter.^[6] Celje again reached the cup final, losing 1–0 to Maribor at Bonifika Stadium in Koper on 29 May 2013, with Verbič playing the entire match.^[7] In the quarter-final first leg on 24 October 2012, he scored both of the team's goals to defeat Dravinja, netting in the second minute and in added time.^[8]

On 25 October 2014, Verbič scored a first career hat-trick in a 5–0 home win against Radomlje.^[9]

Copenhagen

On 27 April 2015, Verbič signed a four-year contract with Copenhagen, to join at the end of the season.^[10] He scored two minutes into his debut on 16 July, a 2–0 home win over Newtown of Wales in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.^[11] His Danish Superliga debut came ten days later, playing the entirety of a 3–1 win at Esbjerg on the first day of the season,^[12] and his first league goal on 16 September, opening their 3–0 home win over Randers.^[13]

Copenhagen won the Danish Superliga and Danish Cup double in both of Verbič's full seasons.^[6] On 17 April 2017, he scored the only goal in a Copenhagen Derby win against Brøndby IF.^[14]

Dynamo Kyiv

On 23 December 2017, Verbič signed a five-year contract with the Ukrainian Premier League side Dynamo Kyiv.^[15] In 2018 he was recognized as the player of the month in the Ukrainian Premier League on three occasions, in May,^[16] July,^[17] and August 2018.^[18]

On 8 July 2020, Verbič scored the equalizing goal in the final of the Ukrainian Cup. He would also convert his penalty kick in the shoot-out, after the match finished 1–1 after extra time, with Dynamo prevailing 8–7 over Vorskla Poltava.^[19]

Legia Warsaw

In March 2022, Verbič left Kyiv because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His contract with Dynamo was suspended under new FIFA rules, which allowed players to sign with clubs outside Ukraine until 30 June 2022.^[20] Therefore, he joined Ekstraklasa side Legia Warsaw for the remainder of the 2021–22 season.^[21][22] On 31 May 2022, he left the club following the expiration of his contract.^[23]

Panathinaikos

On 29 July 2022, Verbič signed a three-year deal with Super League Greece club Panathinaikos.^[24]

International career

On 30 March 2015, Verbič made his debut for the Slovenia national team, starting in an eventual 1–0 friendly defeat to Qatar at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.^[25][26] He scored his first international goal on 11 November 2016 in an away win over Malta in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.^[27]

On 20 November 2023, Verbič scored the winning goal for Slovenia in the 86th minute in a 2–1 victory over Kazakhstan, which qualified his country for UEFA Euro 2024, their first European Championship appearance since 2000 and their first major tournament since the 2010 World Cup.^[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 May 2024^[6]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Celje	2010–11	Slovenian PrvaLiga	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2011–12		12	1	3	2	—		—		15	3
	2012–13		26	3	6	3	2[b]	0	—		34	6
	2013–14		32	10	3	0	2[b]	0	—		37	10
	2014–15		32	15	7	1	—		—		39	16
	Total		103	29	19	6	4	0	—		126	35
Šampion (loan)	2012–13	Slovenian Second League	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
Copenhagen	2015–16	Danish Superliga	26	3	2	0	4[b]	2	—		32	5
	2016–17		27	6	3	0	10[c]	0	—		40	6
	2017–18		16	7	0	0	11[d]	4	—		27	11
	Total		69	16	5	0	25	6	—		99	22
Dynamo Kyiv	2017–18	Ukrainian Premier League	12	4	2	1	0	0	—		14	5
	2018–19		21	7	1	0	11[e]	5	1[f]	0	34	12
	2019–20		25	11	4	1	7[g]	2	1[f]	0	37	14
	2020–21		12	3	0	0	9[h]	0	0	0	21	3
	2021–22		9	2	1	1	3[h]	0	0	0	13	3
	2022–23		0	0	0	0	2[h]	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		79	27	8	3	32	7	2	0	121	37
Legia Warsaw (loan)	2021–22	Ekstraklasa	7	0	1	0	—		—		8	0
Panathinaikos	2022–23	Super League Greece	26	2	3	1	—		—		29	3
	2023–24		22	4	2	0	4[h]	0	—		28	4
	Total		48	6	5	1	4	0	0	0	57	7
Career total			309	78	38	10	65	13	2	0	414	101

1. Includes Slovenian Cup, Danish Cup, Ukrainian Cup, Polish Cup, Greek Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Nine appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
4. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup
7. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
8. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of 1 July 2024^[29]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Slovenia	2015	1	0
	2016	8	1
	2017	6	1
	2018	6	1
	2019	8	2
	2020	5	0
	2021	4	0
	2022	9	0
	2023	9	1
	2024	5	0
Total		61	6

Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Verbič goal.^[29]

List of international goals scored by Benjamin Verbič

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 November 2016	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	8	Malta	1–0	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	4 September 2017	Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	13	Lithuania	3–0	4–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	16 November 2018	Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	20	Norway	1–0	1–1	2018–19 UEFA Nations League C
4	9 September 2019	Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	25	Israel	1–0	3–2	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
5					3–2
6	20 November 2023	Stožice Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia	56	Kazakhstan	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2024 qualification

Honours

Copenhagen

• Danish Superliga: 2015–16, 2016–17
• Danish Cup: 2015–16, 2016–17

Dynamo Kyiv

• Ukrainian Premier League: 2020–21
• Ukrainian Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21
• Ukrainian Super Cup: 2018, 2019, 2020

Panathinaikos

• Greek Cup: 2023–24^[30]

References

1. Viškovič, Rok (24 March 2018). "Vzhajajoči nogometni zvezdnik, ki preigrava med branilci, všečki in oboževalkami" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
2. "Celje 2–3 Primorje". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
3. "Celje 1–2 Olimpija". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
4. "Mariborčani po 11-metrovkah do dvojne krone" [Maribor are double champions via penalties] (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
5. "Benjamin Verbič – Statistika sezone 2012/13" [Benjamin Verbic – 2012–13 season statistics] (in Slovenian). Slovenian PrvaLiga. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
6. "B. Verbič". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
7. "Maribor 1–0 Celje" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
8. "Celje 2–0 Dravinja Kostroj" (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
9. "Celje 5–0 Radomlje". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
10. "F.C. København henter Benjamin Verbic" [FC Copenhagen sign Benjamin Verbič] (in Danish). FC Copenhagen. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
11. "FC Copenhagen 2–0 Newtown: Danish giants take first leg advantage ahead of Latham Park return". Wales Online. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
12. "FCK indleder sæsonen med sejr i Esbjerg" [FCK start season with victory in Esbjerg]. Fyens (in Danish). 27 July 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
13. "FCK sætter kurs mod toppen med klar sejr over Randers" [FCK goes top with clear win over Randers]. Fyens (in Danish). 16 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
14. "0–1: Se Benjamin Verbic blive matchvinder mod Brøndby" [0–1: See Benjamin Verbič score matchwinner against Brøndby] (in Danish). FC Copenhagen. 17 April 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
15. Rok Viškovič (23 December 2017). "Zdaj je uradno, Ukrajinci odšteli milijone za slovenskega reprezentanta" (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
16. "Беньямін Вербич — найкращий гравець Чемпіонату УПЛ у травні!". Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
17. "Беньямін Вербич — найкращий гравець Чемпіонату УПЛ у липні!". upl.ua. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
18. "Беньямін Вербич — найкращий гравець Чемпіонату УПЛ у серпні!". upl.ua. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
19. "КУБОК УКРАЇНИ. У ФІНАЛІ «ДИНАМО» ПЕРЕМОГЛО «ВОРСКЛУ» В СЕРІЇ ПЕНАЛЬТІ ТА СТАЛО 12-РАЗОВИМ ВОЛОДАРЕМ ТРОФЕЯ". UAF (in Ukrainian). 8 July 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
20. "FIFA adopts temporary employment and registration rules to address several issues in relation to war in Ukraine". FIFA. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
21. Ziółkowski, Maciej (14 March 2022). "Oficjalnie. Benjamin Verbić zawodnikiem Legii Warszawa". legia.net (in Polish). Retrieved 14 March 2022.
22. "Benjamin Verbić: W lipcu wrócę do Kijowa, ale może w Legii mi się spodoba?" [Benjamin Verbić: I will return to Kiev in July, but maybe I will like it in Legia?]. legia.net (in Polish). 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
23. "Benjamin Verbic odchodzi z Legii" (in Polish). Legia Warsaw. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
24. "Στον Παναθηναϊκό ο Βέρμπιτς" (in Greek). Panathinaikos F.C. 29 July 2022. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
25. T. O. (30 March 2015). "Katančev eksperiment z novinci ni obrodil sadov" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
26. "Qatar vs Slovenia, 30 March 2015". eu-football.info. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
27. "Benjamin Verbic's goal gives Slovenia win in Malta". ESPN. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
28. "Slovenia 2 Kazakhstan 1 - Highlights". beIN Sports. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
29. "Verbič, Benjamin". National Football Teams. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
30. "Slovenska trojica slavi: Adam Gnezda Čerin, Andraž Šporar in Benjamin Verbič s Panathinaikosom postali pokalni prvaki". Planet Nogomet (in Slovenian). 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.

External links

• Benjamin Verbič at NZS (in Slovene)
• Benjamin Verbič at Soccerway
• Benjamin Verbič at UAF and archived FFU page (in Ukrainian)
• Benjamin Verbič at 90minut.pl (in Polish)